Akinwumi O. Ogundiran (Florida International University, Miami)

Submitted:  Wed, 5 September 2001


Dr. Akin Ogundiran
Assistant Professor of History
Department of History
Florida International University
University Park
Miami, Florida  33199  USA

phone:  305-348-3191
fax:    305-348-3561
e-mail: ogundira@fiu.edu


Ph.D. in Archaeology, Boston University, 2000.

I am an historical archaeologist with a specialty in the cultural history
of West Africa. My methodology involves using archaeological and oral
historical data to study the history of African institutions and ideas. My
previous work had focused on understanding the dynamics of sociopolitical
formations and regional interactions in central Yorubaland (in Nigeria)
between the 13th and 19th centuries.

I am in the process of initiating a new research project in Nigeria with a
view to examining the impact of the Atlantic world economy upon the Yoruba
communities. This long-term project intends to provide a detailed account
of how the global developments associated with the transatlantic commerce
shaped the Yoruba cultural historical experience between ca. 1500 and
1900.

The geographical area that the research will cover is the Upper Osun
region of Yorubaland. The region includes Ijesa, Ede, Ejigbo, Osogbo, and
Oyo areas.These areas were not only linked with the transatlantic trade as
suppliers ofcommodities to the Portuguese during the 16th and 17th
centuries but they also became a major source for the transatlantic human
cargo in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In fact, a significant number
of the African-derived populations in Central and South America,
especially the Caribbean and Brazil originated from the Upper Osun area of
Nigeria.

The first phase of this long-term project is scheduled to commence in the
summer of 2002. The activities planned for the first phase of the project
include the identification of archaeological sites (villages, towns,
markets, and trade routes); and the collection of oral historical
narratives on the social and economicconnections between the Upper Osun
region and the coastal areas between the 16th and 19th centuries.

My teaching interests range broadly from survey classes in World
Civilizations and African history to specialized courses in African
Atlantic history, material culture, oral historiography, and comparative
social history.