Fellow 2026-2027 Olusegun Titus
Olusegun Stephen TITUS is a Professor and Head, Department of Music at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. His academic and creative pursuits are deeply rooted in lived experience. He was one of the survivors of the devastating 2011 flood that struck Ibadan, Nigeria—an environmental disaster that destroyed homes, swept through parts of the University of Ibadan, collapsed bridges, displaced over 5,000 people, and claimed more than 20 lives.
This traumatic experience profoundly shaped his academic trajectory, inspiring him to engage with environmental issues through artistic and cultural narratives. He obtained a music teaching certificate from the Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State, a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Musicology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, and a PhD in African Musicology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Titus is one of the leading scholars of ecomusicology, environmental musicology, and climatic musicology in Africa. His research focuses on music and environmental health, examining human and planetary trajectories, solid waste, plastic waste, bush burning, climate change, flood disasters, food production, music and soil communities, blue economies, and poisoning studies. His other research interests include music and peacebuilding, medical musicology, music and sustainable development goals, the history of the built environment and infrastructure in urban spaces, landscape and soundscape, and music and culturepreneurship.
This area of study examines the use of music, drama, and other social media agency in addressing environmental and climatic issues, especially in extractive countries in Africa. He has researched and continues to research the music of the Niger Delta people in relation to oil, gas, and environmental degradation, as well as songs on flood disasters in selected African countries. He has also examined the extractive industries of Zambia, South Africa, Sudan, and Ghana through their musicking and acoustic nuances.
Dr Olusegun is a trumpeter, keyboardist, singer, conductor, composer, dramatist, and choreographer. He has published widely in his areas of scholarship which include creative pieces, book chapters, and journal articles in both national and international outlets, such as Muziki: Journal of Music Research in Africa, the Journal of the International Library of African Music, and the Environmental Communication book series, among others. He is the composer of the creative work titled "Oil and Blood in Niger Delta". Titus is also building an international profile. He holds a visiting scholar position at the Rachel Carson Center, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), Munich, Germany. In 2020, he was awarded a prestigious American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) among others and currently a visiting researcher and Fellow, CAPAS.