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Githuku, Nicholas

Githuku, Nicholas

Associate Professor

History, Philosophy and Anthropology

Phone: 718-262-2579
Office Location: AC-3E18
Email: ngithuku@york.cuny.edu

Personal Website

Dr. Githuku's first publication is a study of the social and cultural history of the mentalité of struggle in Kenya, which reached a high water mark during the Mau Mau war of the 1950s, but which continues to resonate in Kenya today in the ongoing demand for a decent standard of living and social justice for all. This work catalyzes intellectual debate in various disciplines regarding not just the evolution of the Kenyan state, but also, the state in Africa. It not only engages historians of colonial and postcolonial economic and political history, but also sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and those who study personality and social branches of psychology, postcolonialism and postmodernity, social movements, armed conflict specialists, and conflict resolution analysts.

Curriculum Vitae

Office Hours

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Education

DegreeInstitutionFieldDates
PhD West Virginia University African History/East and West African & British National and Imperial History August 2009-June 2014 
non-degree Mid-Level Professional Development Studies, Rotary International Certificate in Development and Peace & Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok –Thailand Conflict and Peace Studies June-September 2008 
MA University of Nairobi Armed Conflict and Peace Studies (History) 2002-2005 
BA First Class Honors, University of Nairobi Political Science & Public Administration and History 1997-2001 

Areas of Expertise

  • Cross-cutting themes in the making and evolution of the postcolonial African state: race, ethnicity [contemporary politics & political economy], gender & women history, class, labor, social movements
  • The inner workings of power and authority
  • Social & environmental justice, social movements, state (il)legitimacy and the rule of law
  • Region of specialty: East Africa (and contemporary Kenyan politics in particular)
  • Kenya
  • Other regions: Sub-Saharan Africa & Central and Eastern Europe [with specific interest in the origin and development of states and the state-system or state-formation); the relationship between the state and capitalism; and military history and memorialization]
  • Political and social theory

Publications in Field Of Expertise

Other