Prof. Shose Kessi is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town and Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her work in the field of political psychology explores the complex ways in which individuals construct their identities and shape their behaviours within society, and how they join forces to drive change—whether through institutional reforms, social movements, or other forms of individual and collective action. She is co-founder of the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa, a space for research and academic work that embraces a decolonial and feminist aesthetic and praxis for psychological work in South Africa, Africa, and the diaspora. She is also the co-founder and first chairperson of the UCT Black Academic Caucus; a UCT Mandela fellow of the WEB DuBois Research Institute, Hutchins Centre, Harvard University; and recipient of the Erik Erickson Award from the International Society for Political Psychology. She has published on the psychology of racism in higher education and other critical approaches to psychology. Select works include: Kessi, S., Boonzaier, F., & Geleker, B. (2021) Pan-Africanism and Psychology in Decolonial Times. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Kessi, S., Suffla, S., Seedat, M. (2021) Decolonial Enactments in Community Psychology. Cham: Springer. Kessi, S., Marks, Z., Ramugondo, E. (2020) Decolonizing African Studies. Critical African Studies, 12(3).
OLADIPO AGBOLUAJE attended Abeokuta Grammar School and went on to read for a BA in Theatre Arts at the University of Benin. He gained an MA in Representation and Modernity at the London Metropolitan University followed by a PhD in African Drama at the Open University. His first play Early Morning was produced in 2003 at Oval House Theatre in London, and was followed by a number of original plays, adaptations and radio plays. He has taught creative writing and post-colonial theatre and literatures at Florida State University (London campus), Goldsmiths University of London, City University and University of Greenwich. He was a research fellow at the International Research Centre, Freie University in 2018. He was a writer in residence at New Wolsey Theatre, Soho Theatre and the National Theatre, London. His plays have been performed in Nigeria, Ghana, France, Brazil and the United States. He is a winner of the Alfred Fagon Prize for playwriting, and a nominee for an Olivier Award and a Writers’ Guild Award. He is Treasurer of the African Theatre Association (AfTA), artistic associate of Pursued By A Bear, and patron of Beeta Universal Arts Foundation, Nigeria. Oladipo is course director of the Black British Theatre and Performance program at the British American Drama Academy in London.
Oladipo’s plays include: Early Morning, Mother Courage (adaptation), The Estate, Iyale, The Christ of Coldharbour Lane, The Hounding of David Oluwale (adaptation), New Nigerians, Here’s What She Said to Me, Crown of Blood (Macbeth adaptation).
