<\/p>\n
About Education<\/strong> Recent Awards Research My first book, Acholi Intellectuals: Knowledge, Power, and the Making of Colonial<\/em> This book\u2019s fundamental contention is that the first group of Acholi who became mission My second book project, supported by a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a\u00a0Philips Fellowship, is tentatively titled Caught in between the Warring Parties: A History of<\/em>\u00a0Terror and Survival in Northern Uganda, 1950\u20132008<\/em>. This project aims to offer a fresh look at\u00a0the war between the Lord\u2019s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government of Uganda (GoU).\u00a0Specifically, it seeks to shift the focus away from the LRA, the GoU, and the different categories\u00a0of victims\u2014such as child soldiers, women who were abducted and forced to marry LRA\u00a0commanders and bear their children, and victims of wartime sexual crimes\u2014to everyday,\u00a0ordinary people who experienced the war in their homes or camps.\u00a0At its core, the project asks: How did ordinary civilians manage to keep alive? I am hoping not only to uncover decisions and choices ordinary people made during wartime, but also to offer a more nuanced insight into the multiple contours of sufferings of everyday ordinary people.<\/p>\n Selected Publications
\n<\/strong>I am an associate professor of history at Bates College and a faculty member in the Africana Program. Previously, I was a Mellon Diversity and Faculty Renewal Postdoctoral Fellow.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nA.B., Makerere University
\nPGDip in Conflict and Peace Studies, Gulu University
\nPGDip in Education, Gulu University
\nM.A., University of Notre Dame
\nM.A., University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison
\nPh.D., University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2024\u20132025
\nPhilips Fellowship, Bates College, 2024\u20132025
\nMellon Diversity Faculty Renewal Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bates College, 2016\u20132017<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>My research and teaching interests include African intellectual history, Christianity and Islam,
\nrace and ethnicity, health and healing, and transitional justice.<\/p>\n
\nNorthern Uganda, 1850\u20131960<\/em> (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2024), is an intellectual history of
\nthe Acholi people in northern Uganda. It examines the roles of Acholi leaders\u2014whom I call
\nAcholi intellectuals or, in certain contexts, precolonial or transitional intellectuals\u2014in the spread
\nof Christianity and colonial rule in northern Uganda. They included oteka (war leaders), lu or Pa
\nrwodi (royal messengers), ajwakaker (royal healers), lutumpiny (priests), and lugo-nanga (poet-
\nmusicians).<\/p>\n
\nand colonial employees were not ordinary or marginalized young men, as Europeans had
\nportrayed them. Rather, they were much more sophisticated. In fact, their lives contrasted
\nsharply with Europeans\u2019 depictions. They joined Europeans from positions of power and brought
\nwith them significant knowledge, skills, and experiences, coupled with sociopolitical status and
\nlegitimacy. These attributes, I argue, gave the Acholi intellectuals considerable leverage,
\nallowing them to play a pivotal yet overlooked role in the transition to, and spread of,
\nChristianity and colonial rule. They contributed significantly to the success of European projects
\nbut in ways many Europeans did not fully understand at the time because they were ignorant of
\ntheir Acholi employees\u2019 backgrounds, especially the kind of power and authority they wielded.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Book
\n<\/strong>Acholi Intellectuals: Knowledge, Power, and the Making of Colonial Northern Uganda, 1850\u20131960<\/em><\/a>
\n(Athens: Ohio University Press, 2024).<\/p>\n