Alaba Ilesanmi, PhD
Scholar | Educator | Musician
Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, I am an interdisciplinary musicologist, educator, and musician. As an inaugural fellow, I recently completed the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship (Mellon/ACLS DIF), which supports interdisciplinary and innovative research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. The Mellon/ACLS DIF is awarded to scholars “who show promise [in] leading their fields in important new directions.”
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My primary training is in ethnomusicology and historical musicology; however, my research interests cover various areas within the humanities. My work goes beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, making interdisciplinary connections across diverse fields such as Africana studies, diaspora studies, ethnic studies, popular music studies, sound studies, and urban studies. My work has received support from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the West African Research Association (WARA), the Presser Foundation, and the Florida Education Fund, among other prestigious institutions.
Research Interests
I specialize in African/Black expressive cultures, cultural life and productions, transnational exchanges and solidarities, global Black identities, sonic histories, and the intellectual and cultural history of popular and art music in Africa and the Black diaspora. My research broadly explores the intersection of sound, music, history, culture, and extra-musical contexts (exploring questions of decoloniality, globalization, identity, indigenous knowledge, and post-coloniality).
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My other interests include popular cultures (including Afro-nightlife cultures), music and memory, music and spirituality, colonial copyright law and Indigenous ownership, global music pedagogy, musical biography, public and creative musicology, and sound studies. I am interested in musical indigenization (how communities localize "foreign" music and musical materials). I am also interested in why and how people make music, how people experience it, and the historical and cultural foundations of auditory practices.
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Methodologically, I am interested in ways Digital Humanities and its fusion with indigenous knowledge can transform ways of knowing, knowledge production, and modes of scholarly dissemination and presentation in the humanities.
Publications
Op Ed.
"Fela Kuti is more famous today than ever – what's behind his global power." The Conversation (2024)
"From Fela Kuti to Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead – the story of music manager Rikki Stein." The Conversation (2024)
"Fela Kuti est aujourd'hui plus célèbre que jamais: les raisons de cette obsession mondiale." Op ed. The Conversation (2024)
Book Chapter
"African-Focused Approaches to Teaching African Popular Music in Western Classrooms." In Navigating Stylistic Boundaries in the Music History Classroom (2024)
Encyclopedia Entry
"Fela Anikulapo-Kuti." In Oxford Bibliographies in Music (2021)
Awards, Fellowships, and Grants
- 2023 Inaugural recipient, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
- 2023 Presser Graduate Music Award, Presser Foundation
- 2023 Semi-finalist, Fulbright Student Program International Study/Research Award
- 2022 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, West African Research Association
- 2022 Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
- 2022 Moellership Program Summer of Service, The Center for Leadership and Service
- 2021–25 McKnight Doctoral Fellowships, Florida Education Fund
- 2019–25 Carol F. and Richard P. Krebs Ethnomusicology Scholarship