Mhoze Chikowero

Mhoze Chikowero is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His research focuses on African cultural, social, and economic histories with a specialization in Southern Africa, emphasizing African epistemologies and methodologies to challenge Eurocentric archives. He holds a Ph.D. from Dalhousie University (2008).

Chikowero’s work explores themes such as colonialism, self-liberation, music, radio, electrification, and the political economy of beer. His current projects include a book on the military-entertainment complex in Zimbabwe’s Chimurenga movement and studies on radio broadcasting’s role in state formation across Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. He advises graduate students including Claudia Ankrah and Mark Makukutsi.

His teaching spans African history surveys, seminars on urban history, labor history, and liberation struggles. Notable courses include Colonial Southern Africa to Independence and African Urban History. He has held prestigious fellowships like the ACLS Ryskamp Fellowship and Hellman Family Fellowship.

Chikowero’s publications include African Music, Power and Being in Colonial Zimbabwe (2015) and articles on topics like propaganda in colonial media and musical identity in postcolonial Zimbabwe. His research bridges historical analysis with contemporary debates on epistemic justice and decolonizing knowledge systems.