John Parker

John Parker is Senior Lecturer in the History of Africa at SOAS University of London, affiliated with the Department of History and School of History, Religions and Philosophies. He earned his BA and PhD from the University of London.

His research examines African social history, particularly urbanization, cultural flows, and mortuary practices in Ghana. He is currently writing a book on death and burial in Ghana and co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Modern African History with Richard Reid.

Key research areas include:

• Colonial and postcolonial Accra
• North-South cultural interactions
• Historical anthropology of death
• Coastal societies in West Africa

His publications analyze state-society relations in Ghana, religious syncretism, and the impact of colonialism on African urban development. He supervises PhD projects on Cypriot leprosy policies and Ghanaian culinary history.