Emma Dabiri

Emma Dabiri is a social historian, writer and broadcaster. Her first book A History of Hair will be published by Penguin in 2018. Emma is a teaching fellow in the Africa Department at the School of Oriental and African Studies and is currently completing her PhD in Visual Sociology titled Mixed-Race A Ghost Story in the Sociology Department at Goldsmiths university. Her thesis explores the category 'mixed-race' and its relationship to the concept of 'identity'. Emma also works as a TV presenter, presenting social history films for The BBC One Show. She presented Back in Time Brixton for BBC2 which broadcast in November 2016 as part of the BBCs Black British Season. She is currently presenting Back in Time Confectioners for BBC 2 and Just Not My Type for Channel 4. She is a freelance writer and has been widely published in the national press. Emma's work is truly interdisciplinary, drawing on and contributing to; African Studies, sociology, history, film, literature, theatre, and music, with a heavy dose of popular culture. Emma has utilized her own background - which encompasses diverse class and racial intersections- to develop a voice that resonates with a large cross-section of people. In 2016 she collaborated withLift Theatre Festival. Lift invited Emma on-board to commission and curate creative digital content for their 2016 festival. Emma is also currently working as a research assistant on a two year AHRC funded fellowship investigating Contemporary 'Africa Rising' narratives in historical perspectives.