ABOUT ME

I am a specialist in African, Indian Ocean, and World history/studies, with a PhD in History from SOAS, University of London. I live in my adopted country of Canada with my wife and our two young children. I am deeply committed to advancing the study of Africa in global contexts, past and present, while striving for equity and accessibility in the classroom, in my research, and in the wider world.

Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC), McGill University. Having completed my first book manuscript, On the Frontiers of the Indian Ocean World: A history of Lake Tanganyika, c.1830-1890, during the the first part of my fellowship, I am now embarking on my second project, Climate History and Human-Environment Interaction in Equatorial Eastern Africa, c.1780-1900. Both projects are highly interdisciplinary, with the latter incorporating climatological materials and digital methods from across the social sciences. More details are findable on the 'forthcoming book' and 'ongoing project' pages.

I met my wife in London in 2012, and we married each other on a beach in Zanzibar in 2013. We moved to Canada in 2015, and since then we have been incredibly lucky to begin our own Canadian-British family, following the births of our two children in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In July 2020, I was proud to attend a Zoom citizenship ceremony, joining my wife and children in having Canadian citizenship. 

In my work, I encounter every day the global and institutional inequalities that disproportionately affect the lives of women, people of colour, disabled people, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. As a white, cis, able-bodied male who primarily teaches and researches African history/studies, I am acutely aware of the dangers that my role could have in perpetuating these inequalities. I hope that through highlighting the voices of minority organisations and individuals, using sound pedagogical strategies, and through listening to my students, I can be a positive advocate for real global change.