Drs Albert Edwin Sharra and Lookman Sanusi join CAMRI as Visiting Scholars

Two new scholars join have joined CAMRI as visiting researchers.

Dr Albert Edwin Sharra is a Visiting Researcher at CAMRI at the University of Westminster. He researches decoloniality, digital media, digital politics, networked social movements, state surveillance, digital culture and artificial intelligence. He is a Mentor of digital media innovators at the International Press Institute (IPI).

He is a beneficiary of the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and University of Edinburgh partnership. He spent three years of his PhD at Wits and the fourth year at Edinburgh’s Centre of African Studies under the Commonwealth Scholarship. Currently, he is on a Wits-Edinburgh postdoctoral research fellowship, converting his PhD into a book with Oxford University Press.

At CAMRI, he will be building up on his forth-coming Special Issue with JSAS, Digital State Surveillance Against Political Activists in Southern African, co-edited with Dr George Karekwaivanane and Professor Joel Quirk. He will be working with Dr Anastasia Kavada to examine how activists in Southern Africa respond to state repression against political activism.

Before moving to academics, Albert spent 10 years in the newsroom. His last position was Investigative Journalist (Solutions Journalism). He is a multi-award-winning journalist with over 20 media awards. He is a three-time winner of the MISA-Malawi’s Overall Best Journalist of the Year Award. He has published widely on journalism and his forth-coming book, Technologies and Media Production Cultures: A Global South Perspective, with Palgrave Macmillan co-edited with Professor Ufuoma Akpojivi, is among the first collections to explore how technologies are transforming media production cultures in the Global South.

Dr Lookman Sanusi is a seasoned creative professional with over 4 decades of experience, specialising in project design and delivery. Since 2010, he has worked with Heavy Wind Media and founded Bubbles FM in 2011, an online radio station dedicated to arts, literature, and entertainment. As an artistic director and producer, he has collaborated with international partners, cultural organisations, and educators across theatres, museums, and libraries.

Dr Sanusi is also an established journalist who has written for prominent Nigerian newspapers, including The Guardian, This Day, and Vanguard. In addition to his work as a freelancer, he has been a visiting tutor at Reagent University of London and Goldsmith University of London. Currently, Dr Sanusi is a CAMRI (Communication and Media Research Institute) Visiting Scholar Researcher at the University of Westminster, partnering with CAMRI Africa Media Series to promote an African-focused media initiative and conversations.

Please join us in welcoming Drs Sanusi and Sharra to Westminster!