Paul Ocobock

Associate Professor
History

Research Interests

History of Modern Africa, Gender and Sexuality, Histories of Capitalism, Race, Comparative Imperialisms and Colonialisms

Related Courses Taught

Modern Africa; Early Africa and the Slave Trades; Global Africa; Gender and Sexuality in Africa; Empires and Colonies

Biography

I am a historian of twentieth-century Africa and British Empire, focusing on histories of capitalism as well as gender and sexuality. I specialize in using a mixed methods approach, combining ethnographic and archival research. My recent book, An Uncertain Age: The Politics of Manhood in Kenya (Ohio University Press, 2017) won the 2018 Morris D. Forkosch Prize from the American Historical Association and was a finalist for the 2018 Bethwell A. Ogot Prize from the African Studies Association. I received my PhD from Princeton University as well as an MPhil in Economic and Social History from Oxford University. I am a fellow at the Kellogg Institute where I have run the Africa Working Group for many years, bringing an interdisciplinary and diverse group of scholars to campus to enrich our students intellectual lives. I am also spent several years chairing my department's Inclusive Excellence Committee, working to develop specific actionable policies and goals to improve diversity, equity and retention in my department. Lastly, I am very committed to supporting my students' research in Africa, and I have overseen many excellent projects from students in History and Africana Studies.