Soumaila Guirou

Soumaila Guirou is a Ph.D. candidate and Teaching Assistant who teaches courses on Africa and its diaspora. Within his research in the department, Soumaila centers his attention on youth activism in Francophone West Africa, investigating the deterritorialized practices and transformative social engineering initiated by engaged citizens, and highlighting the importance of unity and shared objectives in their pursuit of justice and equality. His primary focus is on the collaboration and symbiosis between grassroots movements in their collective endeavor to combat oppression, imperialism, and neo-colonialism. Soumaila's academic curiosity extends to crucial aspects such as democracy and globalization within the African continent. He is also interested in Pan-Africanism and black internationalism, particularly the networking and collaboration between civil rights leaders and African figures during the transformative era of the 1960s, African politics, transnational solidarity, and the challenges of post-colonial states in Africa. Soumaila graduated from the University of Bamako, Mali, with a BA in English, an M.Ed. in General Secondary Education from École Normale Supérieure de Bamako, Mali, and an MA in American Studies from the University at Buffalo.