معرفی
Wale Adebanwi is the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Political Science. He directs the Center for Africana Studies and previously held roles such as Rhodes Professor of Race Relations at the University of Oxford. His academic journey includes professorships at the University of Ibadan, UC Davis, and Oxford, alongside leadership roles like Director of Oxford’s African Studies Center (2017–2020).
Education: BSc in Mass Communication (University of Lagos), MSc and PhD in Political Science (University of Ibadan), and MPhil/PhD in Social Anthropology (University of Cambridge as a Bill & Melinda Gates Scholar).
Research focuses on ethnicity, nationalism, race, political elites, state-civil society dynamics, and media in Nigeria and South Africa. Recent work explores everyday state interactions, African spirituality, and democratic governance. His influential books include How to Become a Big Man in Africa (2024) and Everyday State and Democracy in Africa (2022).
- Scientific Awards: Guggenheim Fellow, MacArthur & Rockefeller Foundation grants.
- Grants: SSRC, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Teaches courses on Africa’s political economy, media, and urban formations. Advises students in political science and African studies. Active in editorial roles for Journal of Contemporary African Studies and .
Led initiatives like the African Studies Center (Oxford) and currently collaborates with Rhodes University as a visiting professor. Specializes in interdisciplinary approaches linking intellectual history, social theory, and ethnography.
