Bright Alozie, who joins Portland State as an assistant professor of Black Studies, says his journey has been centered around preparing himself to be the best scholar-teacher he can become.
"I have always been knowledge-driven and my dream of being an academic was shaped by hard work, determination and commitment to excellence," he says.
Alozie graduated from the University of Nigeria with a bachelor's degree in history and international studies before going on to pursue graduate studies. He earned two master's degrees — one in history and international studies from the University of Nigeria and another in international politics and diplomacy from the University of Liverpool — and a Ph.D. in history from West Virginia University.
His core research interests are social and political history in Nigeria and West Africa; petitions, slavery and African studies; women, gender and sexuality; war; identity and memory politics; digital and oral history; protests; and resistence movements. Alozie's grandmother participated in the famous Aba Women's War of 1929 in colonial Nigeria — the first successful revolt against colonial authorities entirely led by women — and he says it was her lived experience that she shared with him in vivid details that helped shape his interest in the women and gender aspect of his research.
He's currently working on a book, Voices in Ink, which brings together global, historical, geographical and gender perspectives in exploring over 3,000 previously untapped petitions written by Igbo subjects of colonial southeastern Nigeria to British officials. Borne out of a need to project local voices through underutilized historical sources, the project is a response to the challenge of how to extract social and political history from a study of petitions.
What makes this work meaningful to you?
Overall, my work is meaningful to me in the way it engages with society and scholarship. At one level, my research is concerned with documenting history from below. With limited access to the traditional sources that scholars typically use to document their work, it has become necessary to find new ways to explore the voices of ordinary peoples who have been [historically] denied a voice, so to speak. Through my research, I illuminate the trials and travails of ordinary peoples in their everyday lives, situating them as agents of change for the world they live[d] in, often in the face of overwhelming difficulties. It is also meaningful to me in the way it engages with scholarship by connecting multiple themes and approaches: power, voices, justice, gender, and sexuality, [in]equality, resistance, agency, rights, war, imperialism, social and political change – themes that cut across all fields of [historical] scholarship, and which are particularly emphasized in the SGRN. My sources and methods not only allow me to humanize my subjects and give them a voice but also to carry out my research more broadly, and into the more contemporary period.
What drew you to PSU and in particular, the School of Gender, Race and Nations?
For one thing, I want to be in an institution that prioritizes excellence in scholarship, good teaching practice and commitment to helping students learn, grow, and succeed. Portland State University ticked the boxes for me. I saw how much PSU, as an institution, is living up to its motto to “let knowledge serve the city.” So, I was quite naturally drawn.
For SGRN particularly, it fits into my specialization. I love the overarching areas – gender, race, and nations – which is evident in the school’s name. The school’s aptitude for excellence in studies and research of culture, race, ethnicity, sovereignty, nation, migration, class, gender, and sexuality was particularly attractive. The departments in the SGRN reflect the kind of cutting edge educational and intellectual innovation that led me to apply to be here. I am attracted to the abundance of experience and curriculum courses offered in the different departments of the school. Let’s just say that the SGRN is the round peg in the round hole of my career; it represents how I intend my academic career to be nestled within history, diversity, intersectionality, transnational, and multidisciplinary approaches.
On a personal note, and based on my experience so far, SGRN faculty and staff are like family willing to help whenever they can. I also love that sense of community and care that the school fosters (I have had a beautiful welcome from my colleagues despite the trying times we are all experiencing). It feels friendly here and I hope it continues.
What’s a course you’re particularly excited to teach?
Tough one. It has to be between two courses I just proposed: "Protests, Activism and People Power in Contemporary Africa" and "Women in African History." These two courses are at the core of my essence and research.
What’s one thing you hope students who take a class with you will come away with?
My primary goal as an instructor is to create a welcoming classroom environment where I can engage students in meaningful [critical] thinking, interactive learning, and practical application of lessons learned. So, I hope to help my students work to their fullest potential and help them learn that they can be active agents in the process of knowledge production and communication by getting them involved in hopes that their experience in my class[es] will help them to succeed both in the class and "the city."
What are you most looking forward to doing in your first year at PSU?
These are truly challenging times. So, I simply look forward to sharing a smile, chat, or coffee and bonding well with colleagues and students in and outside the classroom.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Fun Fact: I am a spoken word artist and poet. I am currently working on my first book of poems tentatively titled "Boobs in Public, Butts in Parliament," which is a tribute to Black women’s power, activism, and naked protests throughout Africa and beyond. I hope to use poetry/spoken word to teach protest and activism in Africa.
Fun Fact: I love soccer [the real football that has to do with the feet haha] and since Portland is a soccer city, I can say that I am a Timbers fan: "We are the Timbers . . . Whoa-oh-oh . . . Keep it up, Rose City! Don’t let up, no pity!"
My office, PKM 213, is always open to all and I look forward to getting along with you all and doing my part to ensure the progress of the SGRN in fulfillment of PSU’s mission to "let knowledge serve the city."