Abidemi Bonita Akinbo
Abidemi Bonita Akinbo is an African feminist thinker and a public policy and advocacy enthusiast. She received her B.A in Mass Communication from Bowen University, Nigeria and holds a Master of Arts in English from Western Illinois University. Bonita’s immersive experience while writing her master thesis on “Afropolitanism and its Diasporic Subjectivities” and the breadth of academic resources she received from her professors and mentors informed her decision to pursue a doctorate degree. As a PhD student in African and African Diaspora Studies, Bonita’s research focuses on the theories of Post-colonialism and decolonization. She is interested in postcolonial approaches to the study of African politics, economy, and cultures. In her down time, Bonita enjoys DIYs, thrifting, and other eco-friendly alternatives to live sustainably and reduce waste.
Email: aakinbo@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Stephen Boluwaduro
Stephen is a Ph.D. student in the African and African Diaspora Studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Email: sbolu@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Maria Hamming
Maria Hamming graduated in 2018 from Grand Valley State University with a B.S. in Global Studies & Social Impact, and a minor in African American Studies. As a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, Maria’s research interests in the broad topic of racial identity began to form. Maria’s research is primarily interested in black travel/tourism to West Africa, and how this influences the formation of one’s racial identity.
Email: mhamming@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Jane Kariuki
My name is Jane Nyambura Kariuki, I was born in Kenya but am currently situated in Minnesota. I received my bachelor’s degree in Peace and Justice Studies and Global, Cultural, and Language Studies with a concentration on women and gender studies at the college of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. I am currently a Ph.D. student in African and African Diaspora studies. My research interests include understanding Black women’s autonomous communities as they strive to exist in neocolonial and patriarchal conditions. I am specifically interested in East African women and how they bargain their survival and their communities. My interest seeks to understand how these women opt out of the communities they are born in and in turn create alternative spaces.
Email: jkariuki@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Jackline Kirungi
Jackline Kirungi is a graduate of Makerere University, Kampala-Uganda. She holds a Master of Philosophy in interdisciplinary social sciences, a Master of Arts in Gender and Women Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences all from Makerere University. Interacting with scholars and researchers in the university space, Jackline has developed an interest in pursuing an academic career.
Her main research and academic interests revolve around gender, marriage, family and racial identities. Jackline is a member of Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
As a researcher in Uganda, she has undertaken several research explorations in gender and health, gender and education in adolescents, gender and feminism studies in Africa (Makerere University), gender and migration, gender and local government and water. Jackline currently seeks to explore gender, marriage, family, and racism in different communities.
Email: jkirungi@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Jamee Pritchard
Jamee Pritchard is a librarian and a public historian. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science, a Master of Arts in History, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She received a B.A. in Cultural Geography from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. As a Ph.D. student in African and African Diaspora Studies, Jamee’s research centers on Black women’s history with a focus on Black feminisms and print and literary cultures.
Email: jamee@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Nakia Spencer
Nakia Spencer received her BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and her MA in English from UW-Milwaukee.
Email: nspencer@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220
Madina Tall
My name is Madina Tall and I am originally Cameroonian and Malian but am currently an international student from Ethiopia. I received my Bachelors degree in Global, Cultural and Language Studies and Philosophy with a magna cum laude honors distinction. Primarily, my research interests relate to studying the benefits of empowering an African identity in the context of a post-colonial society in order to inform social transformation and a higher communal consciousness in Africa. Specifically, looking at empowering the African identity in certain aspects of society such as the educational, socio-cultural and political structures.
Email: mttall@uwm.edu
Office: MIT 220