Matthew Carotenuto

My teaching and research interests are broadly defined in both African history and the experience of people of African descent around the world. At SLU I teach survey courses in African history and African studies, upper division classes on constructions of identity and conflict, and seminars on colonial and urban history and work closely with St. Lawrence's long standing study abroad program in Kenya.

As a specialist in East Africa, I have published articles on Kenyan sport history and on topics related to ethnicity in colonial and postcolonial Kenya. I am also the co-author, with Katherine Luongo, of Obama and Kenya: Contested Histories and the Politics of Belonging (Ohio University Press, 2016) which examines the ways African and non-African audiences have used controversial readings of Kenya's past to interpret the political ascendency of a U.S. president. Related to my teaching and research I have also written popular critiques of representations of African history, study abroad and politics for outlets such as Politico Magazine, Salon, JSTOR Daily, Jacobin, Africa's A Country, and The Washington Post.