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Toyin Falola

{{Short description|Nigerian historian (born 1953)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Toyin Falola

|image = Toyin Falola.jpg

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|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|1|1|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria

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|occupation = Historian and university professor

|field = African History

|work_institutions = University of Texas, Obafemi Awolowo University

|alma_mater = University of Ife
University of Ibadan

|doctoral_advisor =

|doctoral_students =

|known_for = Historiography in Africa

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|prizes =

|religion =

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|website = {{Official URL}}

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Toyin Omoyeni Falola (born 1 January 1953) is a Nigerian historian and professor of African Studies. Falola is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, and has served as the president of the African Studies Association.{{cite web|date=|title=Toyin Falola, History, University of Texas, Austin|url=https://africanstudies.org/uncategorised/toyin-falola-statement/|website=African Studies Association}} He is currently the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin.{{cite web|url=https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/history/faculty/falolaoo|title=Toyin Falola|website=Department of History, College of Liberal Arts|publisher=The University of Texas at Austin|access-date=8 October 2022}}

Biography

=Early life and education=

Falola was born on 1 January 1953, in Ibadan, Nigeria. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. in History (1981) at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in Nigeria.{{Cite web |title=Professor Falola discusses with Lead City 89.1 FM |url=https://www.lcu.edu.ng/index.php/journal-of-capital-development-in-behavioural-sciences/2-uncategorised/187-professor-falola-discusses-with-lead-city-89-1-fm |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=::LCU |language=en-gb}} In December 2020, he earned an academic D.Litt. in Humanities from the University of Ibadan.{{Cite web|date=2021-02-19|title=Nigerian professor, Toyin Falola, awarded Doctor of Letters|url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/443864-nigerian-professor-toyin-falola-awarded-doctor-of-letters.html|first=Yusuf|last= Akinpelu|website=Premium Times|access-date=2021-10-22|language=en-GB}}

=Academic career=

Falola began his academic career as a schoolteacher in Pahayi, Ogun State, in 1970, and by 1981 he was a lecturer at the University of Ife.{{cite web|date=1 January 2006|title=Falola, Toyin 1953–|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3483000046.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128230806/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3483000046.html|archive-date=28 January 2016|access-date=20 May 2012|publisher= Contemporary Authors|series=New Revision }} He joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991, and has also held short-term teaching appointments at the University of Cambridge in England, York University in Canada, Smith College, Massachusetts, in the United States, The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Nigeria.{{Cite magazine|title=Toyin Falola|date=18 May 2016|url=https://issuu.com/nigeriantribuneonline/docs/180516|access-date=2020-05-29|magazine=Nigerian Tribune|page=16|via=Issuu|language=en}}

==Research and pedagogy==

The primary focus of Falola's research is African history since the 19th century, in the tradition of the Ibadan School.{{cite web|author1=Falola, T|author2=Heaton, M|name-list-style=amp|year=2006|title=The Works of A.E. Afigbo on Nigeria: An Historiographical Essay|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v033/33.1falola.pdf|access-date=2009-08-11}} His geographic areas of interest include Africa, Latin America and the United States; and his thematic fields include Atlantic history, diaspora and migration, empire and globalization, intellectual history, international relations, religion and culture.{{Cite web |title='Africa in Global History' book launch |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/africa-in-global-history-book-launch |date=2022-03-09|access-date=2022-05-16 |website=www.kcl.ac.uk}}

Falola is the author and editor of more than one hundred books, as well as the general editor of the Cambria African Studies Series (Cambria Press).{{Cite web|title=LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84135529.html|access-date=2020-05-29|website=id.loc.gov|publisher=Library of Congress}}

Recent courses he has taught include "Introduction to Traditional Africa", an interdisciplinary course on the peoples and cultures of Africa, designed for students with varied backgrounds in African Studies, and "Epistemologies of African/Black Studies", a course on the rise and evolution of African/Black Studies, with a focus on pedagogy, methodology, and the historical development of scholarship in the field.{{Cite web|title=Toyin Falola On Telling Africa's Story|url=https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2013/10/toyin-falola-on-telling-africas-story/|access-date=2020-05-29|website=lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu}}

=Academic honours and awards=

Falola has received honorary doctorates, lifetime career awards and honors in various parts of the world, including:

  • Emeritus Professor of Humanities,{{Cite web |date=2022-12-14 |title=Falola becomes professor emeritus in humanities at Lead City University |url=https://www.thecable.ng/falola-becomes-professor-emeritus-in-humanities-at-lead-city-university |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=TheCable |language=en-US}} Lead City University Ibadan
  • The Lincoln Award,{{Cite web|title=Equip Your Library With Dr. Toyin Falola Publications.|url=https://sunshinenigeria.com/blog/equip-your-library-with-dr-toyin-falola-publications/|last=admin|date=2019-10-01|website=Sunshine Nigeria|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-29}}
  • Nigerian Diaspora Academic Prize,{{Cite web|title=Toyin Falola|url=https://africanstudies.org/toyin-falola/|website=African Studies Association Portal – ASA |language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-31}}
  • Cheikh Anta Diop Award,{{Cite web|title=Success Story from Nigeria: Dr. Toyin Falola Promotes African Studies|url=https://africandevelopmentsuccesses.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/success-story-from-nigeria-dr-toyin-falola-promotes-african-studies/|date=2015-07-18|website=african development successes|language=en|access-date=2020-05-29}}
  • Amistad Award,{{Cite web|title=Dialogues: USA Africa Dialogue Series – Text of Toyin Falola's Book Presentation|url=http://dialogueseriesnew.blogspot.com/2013/10/usa-africa-dialogue-series-text-of.html|last=Toinho|date=2013-10-14|website=Dialogues|access-date=2020-05-29}}
  • SIRAS Award for Outstanding Contribution to African Studies,{{Cite web|title=Prof. Toyin Fálọlá|url=https://tfp.lunaris.com.ng/prof-toyin-falola/|website=Toyin Fálọlá Prize|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-31}}
  • Africana Studies Distinguished Global Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award,{{Cite web|title=Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology {{!}} Lead City University Ibadan|url=http://www.euni.de/tools/jobpopup.php?lang=en&option=showJobs&jobid=43851&jobtyp=9&university=Lead+City+University+Ibadan&country=NG&sid=12085|website=www.euni.de|access-date=2020-05-31}}
  • Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters,{{Cite web|title=About Us – Toyin Falola Center for the Study of Africa|url=http://toyinfalolacenter.org/about/|access-date=2020-05-29}}
  • Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria, and The Distinguished Africanist Award.{{Cite web|title=Center for the Study of Africa and the African Diaspora – Distinguished Speakers Series February 12, 2019: Toyin Falola|url=https://csaad.nyu.edu/distinguished-speakers-series/|website=Center for the Study of Africa and the African Diaspora|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-31}}
  • He has also received honorary degree of doctors of letters from thirteen universities, including the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) during FUNAAB 26th convocation ceremony in November 2018,{{cite news |last1=Sowole |first1=Adeniyi |title=26th Convocation Ceremony FUNAAB To Honour Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. Toyin Falola. |url=http://community.unaab.edu.ng/blog/2018/11/15/26th-convocation-ceremony-funaab-to-honour-prof-wole-soyinka-prof-toyin-falola/ |access-date=14 March 2019 |agency=FUNAAB Community |publisher=Seyibabs |date=15 January 2019}} and Babcock University, in Ilishan-Remo.

Falola served as the president of the African Studies Association in 2014 and 2015.

Books

  • Islam and Christianity in West Africa. With Biodun Adediran (1983), {{ISBN|978-978-136-043-5}}.
  • The Military in Nineteenth Century Yoruba Politics (1984), {{ISBN|978-978-136-064-0}}.
  • The Rise and Fall of Nigeria's Second Republic, 1979–1984. With Julius Ihonvbere (1985), {{ISBN|978-0-86232-380-6}}.
  • Transport Systems in Nigeria. Edited (1986), {{ISBN|978-0-915984-67-1}}.
  • Britain and Nigeria: Exploitation or Development? Edited (1987). {{ISBN|978-0-86232-304-2}}.
  • Modern Nigeria: a tribute to G. O. Olusanya. Edited (1990), {{ISBN|978-978-30553-1-5}}.
  • Yoruba Historiography (1991), {{ISBN|978-0-942615-10-4}}.
  • Rural Development Problems in Nigeria. Edited with S. A. Olanrewaju (1992), {{ISBN|978-1-85628-240-6}}.
  • The Political Economy of Health in Africa. Edited with Dennis Hyavyar (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-89680-168-4}}.
  • Warfare and Diplomacy in Precolonial Nigeria: Essays in honor of Robert Smith. With Robin Law (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-942615-14-2}}.
  • Pawnship in Africa: debt bondage in historical perspective. Edited with Paul. E. Lovejoy (1994), {{ISBN|978-0-8133-8457-3}}.
  • Religious Militancy and Self-assertion: Islam and Politics in Nigeria. With M. H. Kukah (1996), {{ISBN|978-1-85972-474-3}}.
  • Violence in Nigeria: the crisis of religious politics and secular ideologies (1998), {{ISBN|1-58046-018-6}}.
  • Yoruba Gurus: Indigenous Production of Knowledge in Africa (1999), {{ISBN|0-86543-698-3}}.
  • Culture, Politics and Money among the Yorubas. With Akanmu Adebayo (2000), {{ISBN|978-1-4128-2111-7}}.
  • African Politics in Postimperial Times, with Richard L. Sklar (2001), {{ISBN|0-86543-985-0}}.
  • Culture and Customs of the Yoruba. With Akintunde Akinyemi (2001), {{ISBN|978-1-943533-18-3}}.
  • Nationalism and Africa Intellectuals (2001), {{ISBN|1-58046-085-2}}.
  • Yoruba Warlords of the Nineteenth Century, with D. Oguntomisin and G. O. Oguntomisin (2001), {{ISBN|978-0-86543-784-5}}.
  • Culture and Customs of Ghana. With Steven J. Salm (2002), {{ISBN|0-313-32050-0}}.
  • The Transformation of Nigeria: Essays in honor of Toyin Falola. (2002), {{ISBN|0-86543-998-2}}.
  • Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide. (2002), {{ISBN|978-0313361227}}
  • Pawnship, Slavery, and Colonialism in Africa, with Paul E. Lovejoy (2003), {{ISBN|1-59221-039-2}}.
  • The Foundations of Nigeria: Essays in honor of Toyin Falola. Edited by Adebayo Oyebade (2003), {{ISBN|1-59221-120-8}}.
  • African Urban Spaces in Historical Perspective, with Steven J. Salm (2005), {{ISBN|0-89089-558-9}}.
  • Yoruba Creativity: Fiction, Language, Life and Songs, with Ann Genova (2005), {{ISBN|1-59221-336-7}}.
  • [https://www.press.umich.edu/169470/mouth_sweeter_than_salt Mouth Sweeter than Salt: An African Memoir] (2005), {{ISBN|978-0-472-03132-0}}.
  • A History of Nigeria, with Matthew M. Heaton (2008), {{ISBN|978-0-521-86294-3}}.
  • The Atlantic World, 1450–2000, with Kevin David Roberts (2008), {{ISBN|0-253-21943-4}}.
  • The Power of African Cultures (2008), {{ISBN|978-1-58046-297-6}}.
  • Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. With Ann Genova (2009). {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6316-3}}.
  • Narrating War and Peace in Africa. Edited with Hetty Ter Haar (2010), {{ISBN|978-1-58046-330-0}}.
  • Africa, Empire and Globalization. Essays in Honor of A. G. Hopkins, with Emily Brownell. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, NC (2011), {{ISBN|978-1-59460-352-5}}.
  • [https://www.press.umich.edu/7499717/counting_the_tigers_teeth Counting the Tiger's Teeth: An African Teenager's Story] (2014), {{ISBN|978-0-472-11948-6}}.
  • Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society 3 vols. Edited with Daniel Jean-Jacques (2015), {{ISBN|978-1-59884-666-9}}.
  • Encyclopedia of the Yoruba. With Akintude Akinyemi (2016), {{ISBN|978-0-253-02156-4}}.
  • Decolonizing African Knowledge: Autoethnography and African Epistemologies (2022), {{ISBN|978-1-316-51123-7}}.
  • African Spirituality, Politics, and Knowledge Systems: Sacred Words and Holy Realms. (2022), {{Isbn|9781350271968}}. {{Cite book |last=Falola |first=Toyin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Spirituality_Politics_and_Knowle/usVcEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |title=African Spirituality, Politics, and Knowledge Systems: Sacred Words and Holy Realms |date=2022-03-10 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-27196-8 |language=en}}
  • A History of West Africa. (2023), {{ISBN|9781003801665}}
  • African Memoirs and Cultural Representations. (2023), ISBN {{ISBN|9781839987755}}. {{Cite book |last=Falola |first=Toyin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Memoirs_and_Cultural_Representat/cpGoEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |title=African Memoirs and Cultural Representations: Narrating Traditions |date=2023-02-14 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-83998-775-5 |language=en}}
  • Global Yorùbá: Regional And Diasporic Networks. (2024), {{ISBN|9780253070579}}.

TOFAC

In Nigeria, there is a conference named after Toyin Falola by the Ibadan Cultural Studies Group; a group chaired by Professor Ademola Dasylva.{{cite web | title = TOFAC | url =http://www.ibadanculturalstudiesgroup.org/toyinfalolaconference/ | date = | access-date = 17 July 2012}} The first Toyin Falola International Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora (TOFAC) was held in 2011 at the University of Ibadan.{{cite web|url=https://toyinfalolanetwork.org/about-tofac/|title=About TOFAC|website=Toyin Falola Network}} The second was hosted in Lagos by the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) under the watch of the director general of the centre Professor Tunde Babawale.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Additional reading

  • Adeboye, O. A. Toyin Falola and Yoruba Historiography: The Man, The Mask, The Muse. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, 2010.
  • Bangura, Abdulkarim. Toyin Falola and African Epistemologies. Springer, 2015.

External links

  • {{official website}} {{in lang|en}}
  • Sam Saverance, [http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/falola.html Biography of Dr. Toyin Falola], The University of Texas at Austin, 2005.
  • [http://afripod.aodl.org/2015/11/afripod-96/ "Episode 96: Creativity and Decolonization: Nigerian Cultures and African Epistemologies"], Africa Past and Present podcast. Toyin Falola speaking to Peter Alegi and Peter Limb (17 November 2015)
  • [https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/student/coursedocs/nlogon/download/1854688/ Toyin Falola, CV]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falola, Toyin Omoyeni}}

Category:1953 births

Category:20th-century Nigerian historians

Category:21st-century Nigerian historians

Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge

Category:Historians of Africa

Category:Historians of Nigeria

Category:Historians of Yoruba

Category:Living people

Category:Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States

Category:Obafemi Awolowo University alumni

Category:Academic staff of Obafemi Awolowo University

Category:People from Ibadan

Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty

Category:Academic staff of York University

Category:Yoruba historians

Category:Presidents of the African Studies Association

Category:University of Ibadan alumni