The Future of Du Bois

This lecture aims to bring Du Bois’s rich and complex concept of consciousness to the study of citizenship and epistemology in Africa. Dr. Wariboko examines Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness, relates it to contemporary citizenship in Africa, and uncovers the logic of triple consciousness that now defines political identity on the continent. The lecture will also demonstrate how these logics of consciousness generate, undergird, or interact with emerging epistemologies in the African public square. If the past of Du Boisian thought is double consciousness, and its present is triple consciousness, then the future is triple epistemology, focusing on the role forms of consciousness play in matters of citizenship, political deliberation, inquiry, and understanding in Africa.

A book signing will follow the program.

Bio: Nimi Wariboko, PhD, is Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics, Boston University School of Theology and Chair, Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics Department, Boston University. He is author and co-editor of several books, including Global Exchanges, Migrations, Exchanges and Connections; The Collected Essays of Ogbu Uke Kalu, Volume 1, co-edited with Wilhelmina Kalu and Toyin Falola (Africa World Press, 2010); The Charismatic City and the Public Resurgence of Religion: A Pentecostal Social Ethics of Cosmopolitan Urban Life (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); and most recently, Ethics and Society in Nigeria: Identity, History and Political Theory (University of Rochester Press, 2019). Among his many awards, Dr. Wariboko is the recipient of the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN-USA) Award for Excellence and Distinction in Academics; The Ali Mazrui Award for Scholarship and Research Excellence; and the Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra-Legon, Ghana Seminary Medal of Honor, 2015. In 2018, he was elected to the American Theological Society, whose membership includes renowned theologians, philosophers, and ethicists.

Sponsored by the Africana Studies Department; Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the Center for Social Science Scholarship; the Dresher Center for the Humanities; Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation; the Office of Alumni Engagement; and the Philosophy Department.