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PhD Candidate
Department of Information Studies, University College London
Visiting Graduate Student, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto (January 2023 to April 2023)
Provisional Thesis Title
Information, Coloniality and Migration: Conceptualising Local and Global Systems in Salone Return Movements
Research Summary
My doctoral study explores the ways return migration is constructed through information-gathering and documentation. Conducting oral histories with Sierra Leonean returnees from the UK, my research seeks to understand the information resources, information systems and information landscapes developed and used within the community. My (current) guiding question is: How do the information experiences of Sierra Leonean returnees, challenge the conceptual framework and deployment of Eurocentric information systems used to understand human movement?
This study addresses the themes of information journey, (critical) user journey, information-seeking, (critical) data analysis, administrative data collection, coloniality, Border Thinking and homing.
Research Interests
Bordering Thinking, bordering, return migration, information landscapes, information environments, Sierra Leonean diaspora, information systems, circular migration, transnationalism, (post)colonialism, population longitude studies, narrative cartographies, Spatial Humanities, Sierra Leone Studies, Black British Studies.
Wider Research Interests
West African Studies, Digital Humanities, Critical Race Theory (CRT), data visualisation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), African studies, African diaspora.
Supervisors
Dr Oliver Duke-Williams (Department of Information Studies, UCL)
Professor Annemaree Lloyd (Department of Information Studies, UCL)
Dr Adam Crymble (Department of Information Studies, UCL)
Dr Ben Page (UCL Department of Geography)
Grants
UKRI and Mitacs: UK-Canada Globalink doctoral exchange scheme at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Arts Humanities Research Council (AHRC), London Arts & Humanities Partnership (LAHP): studentship
Global Engagement Office Fund, UCL: research and study abroad visit to Fourah Bay College, The University of Sierra Leone.
Academic Background
MSc in Digital Humanities, UCL
MA in Arts Policy and Management, Birkbeck, University of London
BA (Hons) in Combined Arts in History of Art and History, University of Leicester
Public Engagement
ɛmti bag nɔ ba tinap - Documenting the intangible with the diaspora and the homeland
Partners: Krio Heritage Foundation and Freetong Players
Funder: UCL Centre for Critical Heritage Studies Small Grants 2019-20
Blog piece: Collaborating with those at home and overseas, UCL DIS Student blog
Creating & Finding Voices: The Role of Oral History and Community-Led Archives in the African Diaspora
Lead: Dr Hannah Ishmael (Senior Teaching Fellow, DIS)
Partner: Salone Abroad
Funder: UCL Culture, Beacon Bursary 2018-17
Diaspora & I Talk Series
Funder: UCL Culture, Beacon Bursary 2018-17
Diaspora & I Talk with Yovanka Paquete Perdigao
Diaspora & I Talk with Sheila Maurice-Grey
Diaspora & I Talk with Jojo Sonubi, Black in the Day
Centres and Networks
iSchools Black Coalition, co-chair (2022-present)
UCL Centre for Digital Humanities
Racism and Racialisation PhD group
Migration Research Unit (MRU)
UCL Black Doctoral Student Network
Contact Details
Email: nenna.chuku.17@ucl.ac.uk