Joseph Oduro-Frimpong (Ph.D)
Full-time Faculty – Law, Humanities & Social Sciences
Joseph Oduro-Frimpong is an African popular culture/media scholar and dedicated humanities teacher. He received his PhD from the Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is an American Council of Learned Societies’ Postdoctoral Fellow (Rhodes University) and All Africa House Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cape Town. He founded and now directs the Centre for African Popular Culture, Ashesi University. His research appears in Semiotica, Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of African Cultural Studies, International Journal of Communication, and African Studies Review.
- Ghanaian Popular Culture
- African Literature
- Text & Meaning
- Written & Oral Communication
- “Dis No Be Art”1 Reflections on Popular Media Art Exhibitions, Value, and Class in Contemporary Urban Accra, Ghana — https://muse.jhu.edu/article/879893
- “The Fake is News”: On Popular Visual Media, Fakery and Legitimacy Contestations in Charismatic Christianity in Contemporary Ghana — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13696815.2021.1950524
- #ObinimStickerChallenge: Visual Mediations of Suspicion in Religious Prosumer Parody Media in Contemporary Ghana — https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003080855-24/obinimstickerchallenge-joseph-oduro-frimpong
- This Cartoon is a Satire: Cartoons as Critical Entertainment and Resistance in Ghana’s Fourth republic — https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=SeLInjsAAAAJ&citation_for_view=SeLInjsAAAAJ:roLk4NBRz8UC
- “We Dey Beg”: Visual Satirical Media Discourses on Contemporary Ghana-Sino Relations. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13696815.2020.1824777
PhD, Cultural Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (2012).
MPhil, Human Communication (Interpersonal), Central Michigan University (2005).
MA, Information Studies (Archives Administration), University of Ghana, Legon (2002).
BA, English & Linguistics, University of Ghana, Legon (2000).
2018 Conferences & Presentations
2018 Chaired a Roundtable Session “Convergences & Divergences in West & East African Popular Cultural Research Traditions”at the African Studies Association Conference in the United Kingdom [ASAUK] (11th– 13thSeptember).
2018: Presented a Paper Titled “Obinim Stickers”: Satire and Miraculous Religious Media in Contemporary Ghana at a 2-day Pre-Conference Event titled ‘The Karin Barber Pop-Up Lab: “Generation and Regeneration’ at (9th-10thSeptember).
2018: Presenting the paper ‘“What a Shock”: On Mediated Narratives of Achievement in Ghanaian Obituary Posters’ atthe Workshop Narratives of Achievement in European and African Contexts, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
2018: Attendeding the workshop African Cities and the Materiality of Suspicion, Lusaka, Zambia. The workshop is organized by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University.
2018 Co-Chairing (with Nate Plangeman) the Roundtable ‘Ghanaian Popular Culture Studies: A Key Subfield in African Studies’ at theAfrican Studies Association Conference, Atlanta United States.
2016 Conference
Ghana Studies Association’s ‘Global Ghana’ Conference, University of Cape Coast, 6-9th July 2016.
Paper Presented: None.
2015 Conferences & Presentations
58th African Studies Conference, San Diego: 19th -22nd November 2015.
Theme: ‘The State and the Study of Africa.’
Paper Presented: On ‘Political’ Photoshopped Images in Ghana’s Democratic Discourse
6th European Conference on African Studies, Paris: 8th -10th July 2015.
Theme: ‘Material Culture of Politics’. Session abstract: Click to read
Paper Presented: ‘Photoshop Politics in Ghana’s Fourth Republic’.
2014 Conferences & Presentations
113th American Anthropological Association Conference, Washington D.C., 3rd – 7th December 2014
Theme: ‘Producing Anthropology’
Paper Presented: “Political Cartoons as Glocal Media” to the panel “Media, Ideology and Power.”
57th African Studies Conference, Indianapolis: 20th – 23rd November 2014.
Theme: Rethinking Violence, Reconstruction and Reconciliation
Panel Chair: African Popular Arts and Social Transformation
Paper Presented: “Ahomka Leave: On Akosua Cartoons and Localized Democratic Discursive Practice in Ghana” to the panel African “Popular Arts and Social Transformation”.
2013 Conferences & Presentations
6th Annual Linguistics Association of Ghana Conference, University of Cape Coast, 2013. Paper “Better Ghana Agenda?”: On Akosua Cartoons and Critical Public Debates in Contemporary Ghana’.
56th African Studies Conference, Baltimore: 21st-24th November 2013.
Theme: Mobility, Migration & Flows
Paper Presented: None.
Invited Institutional Presentations – African and United States Institutions
2015 “Mediations of Cultural Beliefs & Practices in Ghanaian Obituary Posters”. Department
of Anthropology, Rhodes University, South Africa.
2015 “On Ghanaian Cartoons and Popular Politics in Ghana”. Department of English, Rhodes University, South Africa
2015 “This Photoshop Nonsense Must Stop”: On Aspects of Ghanaian Material Politics. Presented at Postgraduate Seminar Series, Center for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town. See report.
2015 ‘Ghanaian Perspective on Media and Citizenship in Africa’ – Media and Citizen Workshop, University of Cape Town. See report.
2015 “This Photoshop Nonsense Must Stop”: Mediation of Partisan Political Sensibilities in Ghana’s Fourth Republic. Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University. Click to read
2015 “What a Shock!”: On Civic Activism and Resistance in The Black Narrator’s Cartoons. Department of African Languages and Literatures. University of Wisconsin, Madison
2015 “What a shock!”: On Popular Media and Resistance in Contemporary Ghana’s Democratic Culture. College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University. Click to read
2015 “On Informal Modes of Civic Agency in Africa” – Institute of African Studies, Columbia University. Click to read.
Curated Exhibitions
2018(a) – Pop-up exhibition of hand painted book covers of significant works in African popular culture at the African Studies Association Conference in the United Kingdom (ASAUK 2018), University of Birmingham.
2018(b)- “Almost True”. This exhibition on African satire spotlighted the works of Michael Soi (b.1972, Kenya) and Bright Ackwerh (b. 1989, Ghana) within a public setting. The exhibition title ironically implies the narratives presented are non-truths, when in fact they are exaggerated recordings of the artists’ personal experiences. The value of satire is often seen to only entertain, however, it is a route to highlight sensitive social, political, religious and economic concerns. Acting as an alternate narrative, satirical work can broadcast the otherwise unmentionable. Almost True highlights the appreciation for satire on a deeper level, presenting it as an authentic genre within contemporary art as well as a source of intellectual value which understands society – http://gallery1957.com/exhibitions/almost-true/
(17th October – 8th November 2015): ‘Buy Africa’: A Celebration of Felabration Posters. Alliance Francais, Accra. Read media coverage.
(3rd August- 2nd September 2015): “Married but Available” – An exhibition on Ghanaian hand-painted barbershop and beauty salon signs. Alliance Francais, Accra. See varying media coverage
(24th April – 8th May, 2015): “Album Covers Recollection” – An exhibition that showcases cover art on Ghanaian highlife music albums. See flyer cover
(March 15 – 5th April 2015): “This Cartoon Is a Satire” – An exhibition on Ghanaian political cartoons featuring Anadan, The Black Narrator,Daavi and Makaveli. Rhodes University Library, Grahamstown, South Africa. Click to read
(January 15- 8th February 2015): “This Cartoon Is a Satire” – An exhibition on Ghanaian political cartoons featuring Anadan, The Black Narrator, Daavi and Makaveli. Click to read. See more
(20th March -23rd April 2014): Ghanaian Hand-Painted Movie Posters. An exhibition on some of the actual posters (as well as commissioned ones) used to advertise movies from Hollywood, Bollywood and Hong Kong. Alliance Francais, Accra; Alliance Francais, Kumasi.
(February-June 2014): Exhibition titled “Leadership” at the Ashesi University Library, which consisted of three paintings of former president Mandela and one piece of the late BBC journalist Komla Dumor.
joduro-frimpong@ashesi.edu.gh