Curriculum Vita
Dr. Opolot J. Okia
Bancroft 356
(803) 323-4676
Education
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
Ph.D., 2002
African History, with emphasis on Modern East Africa (colonial)
Secondary fields are trans-Atlantic Migrations, African Development
and African American History.
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
M.A. 1992
African Studies
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
B.A., March 1990
History
Professional Experience
August 2005 – Assistant Professor in Sub-Saharan African History
Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C.
August 2001 to May 2005 – Lecturer African History
University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN
Dual appointment in the department of History and the Program in African
and African American Studies.
August 2000 to May 2001 – Dissertation Fellow
University of Tennessee Knoxville, Athens, OH
August 1997 to May 1998 – Graduate History Instructor
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
“In the Interests of Community: Archdeacon Walter Owen and The Issue of
Communal Forced Labor in Kenya, 1921-1930”
Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
32 (2) January 2004, 19-40
“The Northey Forced Labor Crisis: A Symptomatic Reading”
Under Consideration (revised submission) by the Historian
Articles
“The NRM and The Winning of Political Power”
“Slavery to the 18th Century: The trans Atlantic Slave Trade
Effects on Africa and the Americas”
Encyclopedia of African History
Routledge Publishers (September 2004)
Articles
“National Association of Minority Contractors”
“National Association of Minority Accountants”
“National Association of Black Media Consultants”
Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African
American Associations
Routledge 2001
Book Reviews
Various book reviews in: African Studies Quarterly
Journal of Third World Studies
Liberian Studies Journal
History: A Review of Books
Africa Today
Conference Presentations
“Democracy in Uganda: A New Hope Under Museveni?”
2nd annual Graduate African Studies Conference University of Illinois 1996.
“African Voices: Historiography and Imperialism”
Third annual Graduate African Studies conference at University of Wisconsin
Madison 1997.
“Slavery in Latin America and North America: A discourse Analysis” West Virginia
University Department of History
Seminar October 1997.
“Slavery and State Formation in Africa: A Historiographical Essay”
Holt History Conference
West Virginia University
September 1998
“Forced Labor in Colonial Kenya, 1911-1834”
Middle States African Studies Association
Charleston, West Virginia March 2000.
“The Northey Crises: A Symptomatic Reading”
African Studies Association
Nashville, Tennessee
November 2000
“Communal Labor and Administrative Policy in Kenya”
Ohio Academy
Columbus, Ohio April 2001
“Archdeacon Owen and Forced Labor in Kenya: A Case Study”
African Studies Association
Houston, Texas
November 2001
“Forced Labor in Rhodesia and Kenya, 1900-1934”
African Studies Associations
Washington, D.C.
November 2002
“The Idea of Slavery and Forced Labor in Colonial Kenya”
South Eastern Regional African Studies Conference
Charleston, SC
April 2004
“British Humanitarians and the Idea of Forced Labor”
Southern Conference on British Studies
Memphis, TN
November 2004
Courses Taught
August 2002 World Civilization from 1500
World Civilizations to 1500
Africa and the International Slave Trade
Introduction to African Studies
Introduction to African American Studies
History of East Africa 338A/538A
August 1997 History 2, Western Civilization since 1560
Prospective Courses
Comparative Slavery in World History, Africa and the Indian Ocean,
Colonialism and Imperialism in African History, African History Through Novels and Film, Afrocentricism and African History, The Diaspora in Comparative Perspective Forced Labor in African history.
Current Projects
“The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and Slavery and the Slavery Trade in East Africa, 1839-1911 (will submit to Slavery and Abolition)
“The 1912 Native Labour Commission and Forced Labor” (will submit to the Journal of Third World Studies)
The Northey Forced Labour Crises”
Forced labor in British East Africa (manuscript)
Seminars
July 2002 to August 2002
NEH Summer Institute “Indian Ocean Cradle of Civilizations”
http://lrrc3.plc.upenn.edu/indianocean/group1/home05.html
June 1998 to August 1998-
Summer Foreign Language Area Studies program for intensive Study of the language Luganda at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Research Trips
I have undertaken overseas research in Kenya (Kenya National Archives Summer 2003), England (Rhodes House Library in Oxford, Public Records Office in London and Church missionary Society Archives in Birmingham).
Professional Organizations
January 1997 – African Studies Association
January 1997 – Third World Studies Association
March 2000 – Middle States African Studies Association
May 2000 – The American Historical Association
Scholarships and Awards
Dissertation Scholar in Residence Ohio University (2000-2001)
W. E.B. DuBois Fellowship West Virginia University
Board of Regents Minority Doctoral Fellowship West Virginia University