TOMORROW, August 14, Olakunbi Olasope clocks the golden year, having been born in 1971.
A professor of Classics at the University of Ibadan, Kunbi is revered for her sheer commitment to the study and promotion of Classics education not only in Nigeria but also in sub-Saharan Africa.
To mark the milestone of her birthday, the Ibadan Literary Society, has set up a virtual conference to be held today via zoom, where her colleagues and former students discuss the state of the discipline in the context of the contribution of Prof. Olasope.
Currently head of the Department of Classics at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Prof Olasope is described by the ILS as “a thorough-bred scholar and researcher, whose research interests focus on Greek and Roman Theatre and Drama, Classical Reception Studies, Greek and Roman Family History, the social and cultural history of ancient Greece, especially classical Athens, with many publications on Women and Gender in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.”
Taking off at 4pm, the conference themed: Pushing the Frontier of Classical Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tribute to PROF OLAKUNBI OLASOPE@50, can be accessed for participation via:
https://zoom.us/j/8198867438?pwd=cVNJRC9zQXhUT0ZrbnhtaW5XM2VXUT09
Meeting ID: 819 886 7438
Passcode: IBADAN
The panellists are
- Rolu Adebola – Unibadan Classics Graduate, Entrepreneur, Lagos
- Gifty Etornam Katahena – Lecturer Classics, University of Ghana, Legon
- Peter T Kojo Grant – Professor of Classics, University of Cape Coast
- Monica Omoye Aneni – Senior Lecturer, Classics Department, University of Ibadan
- Babafemi Falayi – Classics Graduate, Lawyer, Lagos
PROFILES
Olakunbi Olasope: Celebrant
PROFESSOR and the head of the Department of Classics at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, her research interests focus on Greek and Roman Theatre and Drama, Classical Reception Studies, Greek and Roman Family History, the social and cultural history of ancient Greece, especially classical Athens. She has also published essays on Women and Gender in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.
A thorough-bred scholar and researcher, Prof Olasope has received several academic grants including A.G. Leventis Visiting Scholar Grant, 2002; University of Ibadan Senate Research Grant, 2005; British Academy Visiting Fellowship, 2007; Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2007; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, 2008; A.G. Leventis Research Fellowship, 2015, among others.
Over the years Professor Olasope has joined other Classicists from different parts of the globe to explore ancient archaeological sites in Greece and Italy. Her fascination has been on the jewels and ornaments of women in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. In 2002, Olasope wasa Visiting Scholar, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, spring term, USA; Senior Research Fellow, Oriel College, University of Oxford, trinity term, 2007; Academic Visitor, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, Spring 2010; Academic Visitor, University of Reading, UK, academic year 2015-2016; Visiting Professor, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana 2017-2019; among other places. She had also attended and organised conferences and workshops and presented academic papers both at home and abroad, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, Ethiopia and South Africa. In October 2018, she co-convened the first International Conference on Classics and Global Identities, an idea that she birthed at the University of Ghana, Legon.
She is a member of notable academic and learned societies such as the Classical Association of Nigeria; Classical Association of Ghana; Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, U.K.; Hellenic Society, U.K., International Federation of Classical Studies, African Literature Association, U.S.A; African Theatre Association, U.K.; Friends of the British Museum, UK; Women’s History Network, U.K.; Jocasta Network, Greece; Association of Women in Development, Canada, and the Institutional Representative Classical Reception Studies Network, U.K. Classical Reception Studies is concerned with the relationship between ancient and modern texts and contexts, investigating the routes by which texts have moved and the cultural focus which shaped or filtered the ways in which a particular text was regarded. In this sub-field, Prof Olasope’s interest has been concentrated on how Femi Osofisan’s adapted Greek plays have been transposed into the Nigerian context and successively owned.
Black Dionysos: Conversations with Femi Osofisan is an edited volume by Olasope – a collection of 15 interviews about Osofisan and his dramaturgy. The book provides information about Osofisan’s re-working of classical myths and history to question contemporary tides of corruption and tyranny. Professor Olasope has been able to establish that Osofisan’s works create some balance or accuracy between the original Greek texts (Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Trojan Women) and their adaptations (Osofisan’s Tegonni and Women of Owu), and lately, Euripides’ Medea (Medaye). Hence her abiding interest in the oeuvre of Osofisan.
Professor Olasope has carved a niche for herself globally in the field of Classics as her works are cited and referenced in many international academic discourses. She was a Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy & Classics, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana where she taught postgraduate students Approaches in Classical Studies, Selected Roman Texts/Authors, Mythology in Graeco-Roman Antiquity and Women & Gender in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.
Olakunbi Olasope is married to Oladipo Olasope, SAN, and they are blessed with two children, Engineer Opeyemi Olasope and Mosopefoluwa Olasope.
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PANELISTS
Rolu Adebola is the Regional Business Development Manager for Branch360 Limited. Prior to that, he was the Head of Business Development for CFS West Africa Limited, a leading Customer Experience Advisory and Technology firm in Nigeria. Before joining CFS, he worked as a consultant with Alliance Consulting (the consulting arm of Agusto & Co) and Deloitte Nigeria. Mr Adebola has over 15 years’ experience assisting companies with defined and bespoke approaches to improve the quality of their customer experience and service delivery. He is a seasoned conference speaker and CX transformation specialist. Mr. Adebola graduated with a first-class degree from the department of Classics, University of Ibadan, where he also obtained his Master’s degree. He holds the CCXP Certification from the Customer Experience Professional Association.
Gifty Etornam Katahena is an academic in the Department of Philosophy and Classics, University of Ghana, Legon. Her PhD. thesis is on the reception of ancient Greek tragedy: Sophocles’ Antigone and the Politics of Adaptation in Postcolonial Rewritings. Her areas of specialization include but are not limited to the reception of the Classics, ancient Greek drama, gender-related issues in ancient Greece and Rome, and mythology. She is a co-organiser for the 2nd International Classics Conference in Ghana themed, Global Classics and Africa: Past, Present and Future, which has been rescheduled to be held in October/November 2021.
Peter T Kojo Grant is an Associate Professor in Classics and Philosophy at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His main area of research is on Graeco-Roman History, encompassing Classical Greece and Republican Rome. Most of his papers focus on the Role of the Navy in national development, with reference to Republican Rome.
Monica Omoye Aneni is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics, University of Ibadan. She specializes in ancient history and Latin epigraphy, particularly in the practice of ancient medicine on health and mortality in antiquity and modern Nigeria. She also researches into comparative political, cultural and strategic studies between Classical/Hellenistic (Greek) eras and the contemporary Nigeria.
Babafemi Falayi is a Classicist and a Lawyer, he holds a BA (Hons) in Classics from the University of Ibadan and also a LLB (Hons) and BL. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. Falayi is currently a Senior Associate at Olugbenga Falade LP, Lagos.
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