Ademola Adesola, PhD
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Office: EA3112
Phone: 403.440.6092
Email: aadesola@mtroyal.ca
BA (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria)
MA (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria)
PhD (University of Manitoba)
Ademola is an Assistant Professor, Postcolonial Literatures, in the Department of English, Languages, and Cultures. Prior to his appointment at MRU Ademola taught literature at the International College of Manitoba, University of Manitoba. He has worked in Nigeria as a journalist on the Arts Desk of The Nation Newspapers and as a lecturer at Kings University, Nigeria.
Scholarly Interests:
My research and teaching interests are multidisciplinary and lie at the intersection of Postcolonial Literatures, African/Black Diaspora Literatures, Child Soldier Narratives, War and Literature, Popular Culture, and Human Rights Issues. I have published essays and book chapters on African literature and sociopolitical issues. My forthcoming monograph explores literary representations of contemporary African child soldiers. My articles, book chapters, and reviews have appeared in different publications and they largely engage the literary and cultural productions of African and Black diaspora writers. My research and teaching interests celebrate epistemic differences and underline the invaluable significance of knowledge systems that have over time been disparaged, sidelined, and undervalued.
Teaching Statement:
I always adopt mixed teaching methods that combine the use of technology and digital media interaction, lecture, student presentation, and group work. I innovate with different teaching and assignment practices and text selections. In the class discussions of selected course materials, I do unwaveringly prioritize individual student’s perspective and contribution. The goal of these practices is to bring out my students’ expressive best, grow their capacity to generate and articulate ideas, and encourage them to be critical receivers of ideas and information. My overall aim is always to make every class into a story worth telling, into one of those stories that we live by. I am interested in using stories to help students hone their writing and critical thinking skills, and to examine from varied perspective what it means – for them and others – to live in and experience the world in its many complexities and contradictions.
Selected Publications:
“A Tale of Two Fighters: Images of Child Soldiers in Jewish and African Child Soldier Narratives,” Journal of the African Literature Association, 2022.
“Notes on the Nervous Condition of Black and African Immigrants in Canada” in The paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging (2023).
On Blackness and Related Subjects: Concluding Conversations,” in The paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging (2023).
"Tragedy and Resilience in Lagos – The Truth About Sadia by Lola Akande" https://africainwords.com/2023/11/10/review-tragedy-and-resilience-in-lagos-the-truth-about-sadia-by-lola-akande/
“Child Soldier Narratives and the Underrepresentation of Females in Fighting Forces,” in International Research in Children’s Literature (June 2024)
Selected Grants, Honours, and Awards:
EDI Opportunity Fund (for project on African and Black Writings in Canada Speaker Series: Enhancing EDI Via Stories and Conversations) 2023
Dr. Vernon B. Rhodenizer Graduate Scholarship (awarded for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Manitoba) 2022
Berdie and Irvin Cohen Scholarship in Peace and Conflict Studies, 2022
Biking and playing recreational tennis are some of Ademola’s cherished pastimes.