Ibrahim K. Sundiata
Encyclopedia
Ibrahim K. Sundiata is an American
scholar of (West) African
and African-American history
. He received his undergraduate education at Ohio Wesleyan University
(B.A., 1966), and a Ph.D.
(1972) at Northwestern University
, where he studied under Ivor Wilks
. He is currently the Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African-American Studies at Brandeis University
.
Previously, Sundiata served as the chairman of the history department of Howard University
, and taught at Rutgers University
, Northwestern University
, the University of Illinois at Chicago
, and the Universidade Federal da Bahia
. He has received grants from the Ford Foundation
, Woodrow Wilson Center, and Fulbright Program
, and was a fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute
at Harvard University
. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
.
Sundiata's research has focused on colonialism
and its legacies in Africa
, Atlantic slavery
, and, more recently, on race relations in the United States
and Latin America
, particularly in Brazil
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scholar of (West) African
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and African-American history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. He received his undergraduate education at Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
(B.A., 1966), and a Ph.D.
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1972) at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, where he studied under Ivor Wilks
Ivor Wilks
Ivor G. Wilks is a noted British Africanist and historian, with a specialism in Ghana.Wilks is an authority on the Ashanti Empire in Ghana. He has also written on Chartism in Wales, and the working class movement in the nineteenth century. His work examines the nature of power and leadership, and...
. He is currently the Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African-American Studies at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
.
Previously, Sundiata served as the chairman of the history department of Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, and taught at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
, and the Universidade Federal da Bahia
Universidade Federal da Bahia
The Universidade Federal da Bahia is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. The largest university of the State of Bahia, and one of the most prestigious Brazilian universities.Students can study there without having to pay tuition fees, as it is a public university...
. He has received grants from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, Woodrow Wilson Center, and Fulbright Program
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
, and was a fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute
The W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research is located at Harvard University and was established in 1969. It is named after W. E. B. Du Bois who was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
Sundiata's research has focused on colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
and its legacies in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Atlantic slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, and, more recently, on race relations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, particularly in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Works
- Brothers and Strangers: Black Zion, Black Slavery, 1914-1940. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2003.
- From Slaving to Neoslavery: The Bight of Biafra and Fernando Po in The Era of Abolition, 1827-1930. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.
- Equatorial Guinea: Colonialism, State Terror, and the Search for Stability. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1990.
- Black Scandal: The United States and the Liberian Crisis of 1929. Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1980.