Chima Korieh

Chima Jacob Korieh (born 1962) is a Nigerian writer and professor of African History who was the former president of "Igbo Studies Association", and the founding editor of Igbo Studies Review, a journal of the association. He was awarded the Rockefeller Foundations "African Dissertation Internship Award" in 1999 and has written many books and scholarly articles including The Land Has Changed and The Way We Lived. Korieh is a Fellow of the African Studies Centre, Leiden and at University of Oxford in 2008. While in Nigeria, he taught History and International Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was also the director of Africana Studies at Marquette University, Milwaukee.

Early life and education Chima as he is called in Igbo was born in 1962 in Mbaise, a locality in Imo State, Nigeria. He attended Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, where he earned his Ordinary National Diploma in Print Technology in 1989. He proceeded to the University of Nigeria and earned a bachelor's degree in History and Education in 1991. Chima left Nigeria for Finland and studied at University of Helsinki, Finland, where he earned a master's degree in education in 1994. Two years later, he also acquired a Master of Philosophy degree in history from the University of Bergen, Norway. Continuing in 2003, he got his PhD in African History from the University of Toronto, Canada.

Career Chima began his career in 2001 as an instructor in African History at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. Later, he became a Jacob Jameson Teaching Fellow at Hartwick College, Oneonta from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to 2004, he was an assistant professor of African History at Central Michigan University, US as well as an associate professor at Rowan University, New Jersey subsequently from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, he was awarded a British Academy Fellow at Oxford University. Chima later became an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada and in 2014, he was promoted to professorship at the University of Nigeria, as well as Marquette University.

He served as the Head of Department at the Department of History and International Studies, University of Nigeria (2015-2017) and later was appointed the deputy director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria. In 2005, he co-edited with Ogbu Kalu a book entitled, Religion, History, and Politics in Nigeria and was the African associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Western Imperialism and Colonialism since 1450.

His researches have spanned teachings on imperialism, colonialism and African Diaspora history, which is evident to his writings. On March 27, 2014, Korieh delivered a paper entitled "Fighting for the Empire: Petition as African Voices During the Second World War" at the "Eye on Africa" weekly seminar series of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. He was the Director of Africana Studies at Marquette University, Milwaukee where his research focused on West African economic and social history in the colonial period. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Chima Korieh advised that online classes in summer at Marquette University would help to continue the process of teaching and learning. He began teaching classes online to demonstrate his resolve. His view on racism is for greater respect for and inclusion of black people in America and more communalism with lesser individualism in that regard.

In 2021, he was appointed member, of the Governing Council, Ihechukwu Madubuike Institute of Technology, Isuochi, Abia State. In 2023, he was part of the documentary film about Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Editorship of journals He is the founding editor of the Igbo Studies Review in 2013. Editor, Nigerian Studies Review as from 2015.; Editorial board member, Notes and Records: An International Journal of African and African Diaspora, Kentucky State University; Editor-in-Chief, Ikenga International Journal of African Studies, Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Scopus-indexed).; Managing Editor, Ofo: Journal of Transatlantic Studies (African Studies Program, Bowling Green State University); Editor, Nsukka Journal of History and member of the Goldline and Jacobs Publishing company.; and, Editorial board member, Lexington Books – After the Empire: The Francophone World and Postcolonial France Series.

According to him, "Agriculture has dominated Africa's economy over the past century, but in 1990s, African farmers faced declining incomes and economic hardships." His study of southeastern Nigerias Igbo region offered an understanding of this decline. In the research, he explored the dangers of colonialism, statism, and globalization. it implores the impact of the war on Nigerian society, economy, and politics, while highlighting the role of propaganda in drawing Nigerians into the conflict and experiences of Nigerians (men and women) enlisted into the military. The book was reviews and welcomed with highly acclaimed contributions. Yakubu Suleiman in a review on Africa Spectrum praised the book writing, "Through its accessible writing and innovative approach, the book contributes significantly to the understanding of Nigeria's role in World War II and challenges Eurocentric narratives of the conflict."

Publications