Womai Song, Ph.D.

About me

I am a proud son of the Kom Fondom. Kom is located in the Boyo Division of the northwest region of Cameroon. I received my B.A. & M.A. degrees in history from the University of Buea and later studied and earned my Ph.D. in history and African diaspora studies at Howard University in Washington D.C.

In addition to traveling for conferences, research, mentorship, and monitoring developments in the African world, I enjoy spending time with my family, listening to African music and watching soccer.

I was drawn and kept here by Earlham’s mission; its perspicacious students; its small liberal arts structure; its diversity; and the humility, camaraderie, and virtuousness radiated by many of its stakeholders.

Education

• Ph.D., Howard University
• M.A., University of Buea (Cameroon)
• B.A., University of Buea (Cameroon)

Professional memberships

• African Studies Association (ASA)
• American Historical Association (AHA)
• Italian Association of African Studies (ASAI)
• Association for the Study of African American Life and History

Research projects

I am currently working toward establishing an off-campus study experience. If a collaboration agreement between Earlham and the African Union Commission comes to fruition, I will lead qualified students in the years ahead for immersion and experiential studies on a rotational basis to the African Union Commission Complex at Addis Ababa and the five Pan-African University host campuses in Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Algeria.

Scholarly interest

As a scholar of the historical and contemporary experiences of “modern” Africa and Africans, my primary areas of interest include transitions in colonial and post-colonial erstwhile African German colonies. I am particularly interested in the legacy of the unfortunate double colonial jeopardy suffered by the former German colonies of Cameroon, Togo, Namibia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Within this context, I am also keen on measuring the much-neglected role of African Women as political actors and/or constituencies in the emancipatory narratives of these states.

In regards to the African Diaspora, I examine the intersection between the Caribbean African Diaspora and Modern Sub-Saharan Africa. My focus here is on the role of descendants of enslaved Africans as agents of European colonization of West and Central Africa. I am also venturing into the fields of historical memory (with particular interest in enslavement and colonialism in Cameroonian historical memory); Sexual Violence, Pan-Africanism and Neo-colonialism.

Published works

Publications
Talla T. Richard, Nkwi G. Walters, & Womai I. Song, “Negligent Attitudes Towards Cameroonian Works of Art: The Need for an Appropriate Attention.” The Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 113 (July 2014): 237 – 246.

Talla T. Richard & Womai I. Song, “Animal Transport in the Early Indigenous Market Economy of Northern Nigeria.” International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (IJHSSE), Vol. 1, Issue No. 7 (2014): 148 – 156.

Womai I. Song & Talla, T. Richard, “Endangered Indigenous Archives in Mbum Land of Cameroon: Which Way Forward.” The International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (IJHSSE), Vol. 1, Issue No. 7 (2014): 157 – 170.

Conferences, workshops, seminars, talks and panels
“Colonialism Never Left: Crisis in Cameroon”. Roundtable @ the 2019 African Studies Association (ASA) Conference in Boston, Massachusetts (Nov. 2019)

“Oral History in the Liberal Arts Introductory Regional Workshop: Community-based Learning through Interview, Fieldwork and Digital Scholarship”. @ Hope College, Holland, Michigan. (May 2018)

“Remembering Winnie Madikizela Mandela.” (Organizer and panelist). @ Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. (April 2018)

“Deconstructing Stereotypes About Africa and the African Diaspora.”    (Co-organizer and panelist).  @  Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana  (February 2018)

“African Cultural Festival.” (Organizer).  @ Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana (December 2017)

Keynote Speaker for a book launch in Lexington Kentucky. Ernest Timnge,  African Folk Tales From the Kom Kingdom. (Bloomington, IN: Author House) (Oct. 2017)

“African Food Security in the Age of Globalization: The Case of the Kom Fondom of the Cameroon Grass fields.” Unpublished article presented in the Italian Association of African Studies (ASAI) Conference in Maseratta, Italy (Sept. 2014)

“The Clash of the Titans: Augustine Ngom Jua, Solomon Tandeng Muna and the Politics of Transition in Post-Colonial Cameroon, 1961 – 1972.”  Condensed dissertation presented at the Howard University Department of History Alumni Symposium in commemoration of the centenary anniversary of foundation of the department (April 2014)

“Historicizing the 11^th February in Anglophone Cameroon’s PoliticalStory: The Birth/Rebirth Day, The Youth Day, Or the Dawn of Uncertainty?”. Presented at the SCNC North America Conference in Maryland (2013).

“Globalization and the need for the revival of African Economies.” An article presented at the Howard University Graduate Students Symposium in Washington DC, USA (2012)

“Cameroon in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1750-1850: A Re-examination.” Presented in the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Richmond – Virginia. (2011)

“The 1961 Plebiscite in British Southern Cameroon: The dawn ofuncertainty in the lives of Anglophone Cameroonians.” Presented in a conference organized by the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) of North America at Maryland, USA (2011).