Dr. Afis Ayinde Oladosu
Visited the IAS from October to December 2024
I am Afis A. Oladosu, a Professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Letters (FNAL). My disciplinary expertise, interest and specializations straddle Arab-Islamic Studies broadly-defined, Arabic Literary Writings of Egypt and Sudan, Arabic Manuscript Culture of West African origin, Race, Gender and Global politics. My recent publications include 'The Human and the Humanities in the Age of Globalization (Cambridge, 2024), 'Therefore, Let Man Ponder His Food' (JIMS, 2024), Modern Sudanese Literature (Oxford Univ. Press, 2024) and Arabic Manuscript Writings at the University of Ibadan (Cambridge, 2023). In the past two years, l co-edited three different books on Islam in Africa including Islamonigeriana (PanAfrican Univ. Press, 2023).
My short stay in Bayreuth (Mid-October to Mid-December, 2024) was extremely useful. Apart from facilitating access to the rare collections of Arab-Islamic manuscripts at the IWALEWAHAUS, my access to the University library at Mensa proved particularly fortuitous. This is with reference to the quality data that I was able to gather on yet another research project of mine tentatively titled 'Looking through Your Eyes- On Being and Becoming Muslim in Nigeria and in Contemporary Africa'. Indeed, the quality data that I gathered at the end of my stay in December led to a change in the plans that I drew up for the project ab initio. In other words, I have since decided to widen the scope of the project with a view to producing a complete book on the subject. I hope that this will eventually be ready for publication before the end of this year, or early next year.
In line with the philosophy of 'IWALEWA', gratitude becomes obligatory to the IAS, University of Bayreuth, for facilitating my stay; thankfulness is due to Professor Seessemann Rudiger for being, first, a brother, and then, my wonderful host.