Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam

Dr. Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam teaches media studies and is the incoming MA Programme Coordinator in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, where he is also a part of the Exco committee board. Previously, he taught at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria, the University of Cape Town, and Cornerstone Institute in South Africa. He holds a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Cape Town and was a Carnegie-Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Humanities in Africa. He has published widely in the areas of digital media, youth and media, popular culture, political and health communication, and misinformation. He has several op-eds and essays published in mainstream media and critical blogs. Dr. Uzuegbunam is currently doing research on emerging AI technologies. He is a member of the editorial board of African Journalism Studies, Annals of the International Communication Association, and the Journal of Media Literacy Education. He has contributed to Nigeria’s first-ever National Artificial Intelligence Policy as part of the NITDA Volunteer Expert Group. He is also affiliated with the International Panel for the Information Environment in Switzerland. In 2023, he was selected as a Carnegie/ASA fellow. He is also a co-PI for a Mellon Foundation-funded project on "Digitality, Sociality, and Youth in Makana Municipality", at Rhodes University. Dr. Uzuegbunam has been a visiting scholar at universities such as Oxford University, the University of Cape Town, Strathmore University, the University of Groningen, and Xiamen University.