Kehinde Ilegbusi

I work at the intersection of intellectual, legal, new international history, and digital public humanities. My research traces the global entanglements of African states and societies with the United States and the wider world across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. At the center of my dissertation is the Ogoni people of Nigeria – Atlantic community whose experience became entangled with the ideas and visions of European oil giant Shell and the politics of post-independence Nigeria. This dissertation will straddle the field of West African, Atlantic, empire, law, militarism, environmental, public, and memory studies. My work builds on the intellectual traditions I have engaged, and I am grateful for the genuine gifts of those who have become ancestors, for every adviser whose mentorship continues to shape my path, and for the colleagues who have created space for collaboration. I serve as a Doctoral Research Assistant with the Reckoning Project, working with Professor Uta Poiger. I also work with Professor Kris Manjapra and Professor Margaret Burnham on the Donated Body/Dignity for the Dissapeared Ancestors project. Outside my research, I belong to Stories of Home (SOH), a Lagos-based nonprofit that uses storytelling, hope traditions, and community learning to plant seeds of healing and possibility across Africa. As a Hope Ambassador, I carry that same conviction into everything I do: that hope, honestly pursued and generously shared, can make our world better.  I am from southwestern Nigeria. I graduated with first-class honors in History and Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos in 2021, and completed my Master’s degree in World History at Northeastern University in 2025, summa cum laude.