Amarachi Attamah-Ugwu
PhD - Second Year
MA – Syracuse University, New York, USA
MA - University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
B.Sc. – Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria
amarachiau@brandeis.edu
Primary Advisor
Emily Diouf
Research Interests
African and African Diasporic Studies, Oral Traditions and Performance, Black Atlantic Studies, and Digital Humanities
Dissertation
Transmitting Spirit Through Song: Sonic Memory and the Resonances of Igbo Chant and African American Spirituals
Publications
ÌGBÒ: A Beginner's Guide to Learn How to Read, Understand, Speak, and Write the Ìgbò Language. Independently Published, 2025.
Selected poems. Unbound: An Anthology of New Nigerian Poets Under 40, edited by Nduka Otiono and Darlington Chibueze Anuonye, Griots Lounge Publishing Canada, 2024.
Ọnyịrionwụ- Immortality, African Policy Journal, Harvard University, 2022.
Akụkọ Ifọ Nnem Ochie Kọọrọ M. Somuvent Publishing Nigeria, 2014.
Awards
Mandel Dissertation Innovation Grant, Brandeis University, 2026–2027Ray Siemens DHSI Bursary, Digital Humanities Summer Institute, 2026
Presentations
The Neo-Griot Village Square: Digital Orality and Africa's Knowledge Economy. African Studies Association (ASA), Atlanta, Georgia, November 2025.
Ode Jim Jim: Sonic Memory and the Enduring Voice of Onyeka Onwenu.” Performance presentation in “The Soul of Nigeria: A Tribute to Onyeka Onwenu,” African Studies Association Annual Meeting, (ASA) Chicago, Illinois, December 2024.
Genesis Epistemologies: Chant, Memory, and the African Origins of Knowledge." Performance lecture, Yale University. November, 2024
Sounding Womanhood: Voice, Memory, and Musical Expression in African Performance. Symposium performance and discussion in “Gendering Africa: Musical Perspectives,” Columbia University, March 2022.
Favorite Literary Work
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
Words to prospective students
One of the greatest gifts of the program is the space to dream intellectually while being supported by faculty and colleagues who genuinely care about your growth.