Faculty

CHRISTOPHER ADEJUMO, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Adejumo received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts (Graphic Design) from the University of Benin, Nigeria in 1983. He studied at the University of Massachusetts, in Dartmouth, where he received an MFA degree in Visual Designs (Printmaking) in 1993. In 1997 he received a Ph.D. in Art Education from Ohio State University. His artwork has been shown in various solo exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the United States.

OMONIYI AFOLABI, Ph.D.
Niyi Afolabi holds a PhD in Portuguese and Africana Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He is the author of The Golden Cage, Afro-Brazilians, and editor of a number of volumes on African migrations, African diaspora, and Lusophone Africa.  He  holds a joint appointment in Spanish and Portuguese as well as the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies.  Professor Afolabi teaches courses in Yoruba language, culture, literature, religion and Yoruba diaspora formations in Brazil.  He is currently working on a book-length study of Yoruba presence in Brazil.

JOSSIANNA ARROYO MARTINEZ, Ph.D.
An Associate Professor with a doctorate from University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Arroyo Martinez’s interests are in Latin American, Carribean, Luso-Brazilian, Afro-Diasporic literatures and cultures, race, gender and sexuality in colonial and postcolonial societes, as well as Latin American discourses in literature, ethnography and sociology.

TOYIN FALOLA, Ph. D.
The Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History, Dr. Falola is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the author of numerous books, including “Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide,” “Nationalism and African Intellectuals,” and many edited books including “Traditions and Change in Africa” and “African Writers and Readers.” He is the co-editor of the “Journal of African Economic History,” Series Editor of “Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora,” and the Series Editor of the “Culture and Customs of Africa” by Greenwood Press. Dr. Falola has received numerous awards and honors, including the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the Texas Exes Teaching Award, and the Ibn Khaldun Distinguished Award for Research Excellence.

FEHINTOLA MOSADOMI, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Mosadomi holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Linguistics with a minor in Francophone Studies from Tulane University, including two Masters from the University of Delaware. She is a poet who has authored several articles in books and journals on Creole Studies, Language and Gender, African Linguistics, and Pedagogy. Dr. Mosadomi is currently completing her manuscript on Yoruba Grammar for the Yoruba Language courses taught here at UT-Austin. She was awarded the Dana-Dartmouth Fellowship and is a Fellow at the Center for Research on Women at Tulane University.

OMI OSUN JONI L. JONES, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Performance Studies in the Department of Theatre and Dance, and Associate Director of the Center for African & African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Jones conducts ethnographic work on Yoruba cosmology specifically related to the divine force Osun. She received her doctorate from New York Univeresity and was a Fullbright Senior Fellow as Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Her print scholarship can be found in “Text and Performance Quarterly,” “TDR,” “Theatre Topics,” and “Black Theatre Network News.”

MOYOSORE OKEDIJI, Ph.D.
Moyo Okediji is an artist, art historian, and art museum curator. He is author of   African Renaissance: New Forms, Old Images in Yoruba Art; and The Shattered Gourd: Yoruba Forms in 20th Century American Art. He has exhibited his work in various museums and galleries in Europe, Africa, and the United States. He teaches in the Department of Art and Art History in the University of Texas at Austin. Currently he is researching the works of women artists in Africa.

OLADOTUN B. AYOBADE, Ph.D.
Dotun Ayobade is a Nigerian poet and playwright whose artistic interests are in the exploration of Yoruba indigenous performance aesthetics in addressing socio-political issues in contemporary Africa. Recently, he has accepted a Lecturer appointment in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department (AADS) at The University of Texas at Austin where he will be teaching courses in Yoruba history, language and culture, as well as West African Popular Culture with an emphasis on the iconic Afrobeat women. Ayobade's research centers on the contribution and responses of Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat performance to society and politics in Nigeria particularly between the 1970s and 90s. He has written an anthology of unpublished poems and two plays, Ijapa and Shrouds in the Womb, both of which attempt to reimagine Yoruba mythologies and folklore in contemporary socio-political contexts. Dotunrecently presented a paper titled “Poor Performances: Poverty and Survival in the Performances of Nigerian Standup Comedians” at the 2012 edition of The Toyin Falola Annual International Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora.