For the 2022-23 academic year, the Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Shanks Alexander (Religious Studies) and Oludamini Ogunnaike (Religious Studies) as faculty fellows!
Elizabeth Shanks Alexander's research focuses on the classic texts of rabbinic Judaism (midrash, Mishnah and Talmud). She will be working on a project entitled "The Social Implications of Grammatical Gender in Biblical Law & Early Rabbinic Commentary (c. 300 CE)."
Oludamini Ogunnaike's research examines the philosophical and artistic dimensions of postcolonial, colonial, and pre-colonial Islamic and indigenous religious traditions of West and North Africa, especially Sufism and Ifa. His research falls into two general areas: a) the intellectual history and literary studies of the Islamic and indigenous traditions of West Africa, and b) employing the insights and ideas from these traditions to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates relevant to a variety of disciplines. His project is titled "Dreaming Sufism in the Sokoto Caliphate: Dreams and Knowledge in African Islamic Philosophy."