Professional headshot of Motilola against a black background, wearing a tie-dye dress and smiling.

Dr. Motilola Akinfemisoye-Adejare

PhD
Pronouns: she/her

Positions

Assistant Professor (Teaching)

Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology

Contact information

Email

motilola.akinfemisoy@ucalgary.ca

Phone number

Office: 403.220.6688

Location

Office: ES602E

Preferred method of communication

E-mail

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Funding

Background

Educational Background

PhD Journalism, Communication and Media, University of Central Lancashire, Preston United Kingdom, 2015

MA Global Media and Communication (with Distinction), Coventry University, United Kingdom, 2011

BSc Mass Communication (First Class Honours), Bowen University, Nigeria, 2008

Biography

Dr Motilola Akinfemisoye-Adejare teaches courses on the African Studies program in the department of Anthropology and Archaeology. Before joining the University of Calgary in July 2022, Motilola taught both theoretical and practical broadcast courses in the Media Studies department at the University of Botswana for five years. She supervised many dissertations as well as radio documentary and radio drama projects, and was instrumental in the development of the department's radio station. She is an Africanist scholar focused on the intersection of popular media, politics, journalism and technology in Africa, and has published in these areas. She also particularly interested in the representation of women politicians in Africa and what these might mean for their inclusion (or not) in governance. 

Motilola worked as a journalist for Nigerian Tribune in 2006 and as an on-air anchor and newsreader at Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Enugu, Coal City FM. She moved to the United Kingdom in 2010 and pursued her MA and PhD degrees at Coventry University and University of Central Lancashire respectively. Motilola has served on the advisory board of Journal of African Media Studies and is a regular peer reviewer of submissions from journals including African Journalism Studies, Journal of African Media Studies, and others.

Research

Areas of Research

Ethnography of African newsrooms, Journalistic appropriation of new digital technologies in African contexts, Media representations of women politicians in African media, Teaching anti-Black racism in Canada, Climate change journalism in Africa, Diaspora engagements in Africa

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Human dynamics in a changing world

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
AFST 302 Anti-Black Racism in North America
AFST 303 Critical Contemporary Issues in Africa
AFST 305 Introduction to Black/African Diaspora
AFST 401 Special Topics in African Studies: Contemporary African Media
AFST 407 Topics in African and African Transnational Studies: Diaspora Engagements in Africa

Projects

Co-Executive Producer and Co-producer (together with Dr. Selina Mudavanhu, McMaster University) of the Black Professors’ Podcast

This podcast highlights the stories of triumph and resilience as told by Black professors in Canada. It serves not only as a living repository but also as an alternative to the single stories usually told of Black professors in Canada. The podcast will be launched on Monday February 10, 2025.

Awards

  • SSHRC Partnership Grant - Stage 2, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. 2024
  • Winner, Faculty of Arts , SU Teaching Excellence Award. 2024
  • SSHRC Partnership Development Grant , Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. 2022
  • International Students’ Scholarship Award for Doctoral studies, University of Central Lancashire. 2011
  • Received Prize for Best Graduating Student in the department of Human Communications, Bowen University. 2008

Publications

  • “Data Journalism in Nigeria: Interrogating the Nigerian mainstream media’s data-driven reporting of the elections of 2019” . Akinfemisoye-Adejare,M.. in Mutsvairo, Bruce, Bebawi, Saba, Borges-Rey, Eddy (Eds.) Data Journalism in the Global South Palgrave Macmillan. (2019)
  • Whose voice, whose visibility? Interrogating the representation of religion and disability in Botswana newspapers. Akinfemisoye,M.. In Amanze, James (Ed.) Religion and Disabilities in Southern and Central Africa . (2019)
  • “‘Type Amen and share to receive a instant miracle’: Expanding the frontiers of religious satisfaction online in Africa” . Akinfemisoye,M.. in Lesitaokana, W and Faimau, G New Media and Mediatisation of Religion: An African Perspective Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. (2018)
  • ‘We Cannot Bite the Finger that Feeds Us’: Journalists’ Dilemmas and the Appropriation of ‘Alternative’ Media in Nigerian Print Newsrooms” . Akinfemisoye,M.. in Mabweazara, Hayes, Newsmaking Cultures in Africa: Normative Trends in the Dynamics of Socio-Political & Economic Struggles Palgrave Macmillan. (2017)