Dr. Shadrack Nasong’o, professor of international studies at Rhodes College, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Fellowship for the 2025–26 academic year. He will spend 10 months in residence at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where his research will focus on the global decline of the humanities and social sciences under neoliberal economic policies.
Nasong’o selected the University of Johannesburg as his host institution because of its Institute for Global African Affairs (IGAA), a joint initiative between the University of Johannesburg and the University of the West Indies. The institute’s mission of fostering collaboration between Africa and its diaspora in pursuit of solutions to shared challenges to African progress and global prosperity aligns closely with his scholarly objectives. Diaspora is a group of people who live outside their original homeland but maintain cultural connections.
“The institute also seeks solutions to shared challenges and to advance common aspirations, using the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 as guiding frameworks,” Nasong’o said. “In addition, the director of IGAA, Professor Siphamandla Zondi, was prepared to host me at the institute given my research interests and scholarly background.”
Nasong’o’s research will examine how neoliberal economic policies, first aggressively implemented by Western leaders such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and later imposed on African nations through structural adjustment programs, have contributed to a global crisis in the humanities. He aims to explore how these policies have reshaped college curriculums, particularly the devaluation of humanities and social science disciplines in favor of career-oriented training.
“Indeed, in the Global North, many colleges and universities have discontinued some of these disciplines — hence the crisis in the humanities,” he said. “My research seeks to understand how neoliberal policies have affected these disciplines and what can be done to recuperate their teaching and popularity, given their significance to human existence and progress.”
While at IGAA, Nasong’o plans to conduct workshops and seminars open to both local and international participants. Following his time in Johannesburg, Nasong’o intends to share his findings with students and colleagues at Rhodes and deepen institutional ties.
“I hope to establish a lasting relationship between my host institution and home institution that generates mutual benefits for faculty and students,” he said. “I look to more actively engage in promotion of educational exchanges with a particular focus on bringing renown international scholars to Rhodes and sending Rhodes scholars into the global arena.”
A native of Kenya, Nasong’o has previously participated in research and academic programs in Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda, Great Britain and Canada. Although these previous experiences were shorter, he said his professional experiences over the years have prepared him for this longer academic journey in South Africa.
“My personal journey from Kenya through the American East Coast to the South, has shaped me as a teacher-scholar,” he said. “I believe in being both a rigorous researcher and an accessible mentor. In the classroom, I combine traditional lecturing with collaborative learning to meet students where they are.”
The research supported by the Fulbright fellowship will ultimately result in a book publication. Nasong’o hopes the project will elevate Rhodes College’s academic profile and underscore the role of engaged scholarship in addressing global challenges.
