Years in Program: 3
Advisor: Dr. Nwando Achebe
Fields: Africa (West Africa), World History, African American
Educational History: B.A. History M.A. History North Carolina Central University
Email: blackw41@msu.edu
James K. Blackwell, Jr is a doctoral student in African History, advised by Dr. Nwando Achebe. His doctoral work at Michigan State will center on Colonial Cameroon and Nigeria, specifically the migration of Igbo into British Cameroon. This research will touch on themes of identity, migration, language and culture. Prior to coming to Michigan State University he completed his B.A and M.A. in History at North Carolina Central University. His thesis was entitled “From the Colonial Periphery: The Construction of the African Identity in German South-West Africa and the Shaping of German Racial History, 1885-1945.” It dealt with the roles of race and identity in Germany both during and after its colonial period. James K. Blackwell, Jr’s research intersects with the histories of labor, entrepreneurship, migration and resistance within the African Diaspora.