CENES PhD Candidate, Ajibola Fabusuyi, has received a grant from the Waterloo Centre for German Studies.
Ajibola has an ongoing Dissertation titled “Becoming in Black German Autobiographical Nonfiction and Documentary Filmmaking”. The public-facing component of this research supported by the grant will take on the form of a blog that reflects on the methodology underpinning the dissertation.
He is using an African (Adinkra)-oriented Sankofa philosophy to reconstruct a deeper historical relationship of Black Germans that goes beyond Germany and Europe, using Black feminist works of Ika Hügel-Marshall’s memoir Daheim unterwegs, ein deutsches Leben (1998), Ines Johnson-Spain’s documentary Becoming Black (2019), and Natasha Kelly’s collection Millis Erwachen (2018).
The study will contribute to the body of knowledge aimed at facilitating the construction of a decolonized and more inclusive German history and identity, thereby promoting diversity and inclusion in German Studies. By sharing these findings through the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, Ajibola hopes to inspire new approaches to German Studies and would speak to the guiding principles outlined in the Waterloo Diversity and Inclusion Grants in German Studies.
Congratulations to Ajibola!
