Dr Godwin Ogli

Musicking Faith and Gender by the Mawakan Zumuntu Mata (Women’s Fellowship Choirs) in Northern Nigeria

The BA Visiting Fellowship will enable me to develop my research on the songs of the Hausa-language women’s choirs in the city of Jos. Located in the overwhelmingly Muslim north of Nigeria, Jos is a hub of Christian activity. In popular public performances, women’s choirs contrast religious conflict, government corruption and immorality with an ethical Christian femininity associated with mutual love, wellbeing, motherhood, and personal success. These virtues are presented as constitutive of the lives of Christian women and the church more broadly. Appealing especially to younger women whose religious identity may still change in marriage, the choirs also aim to attract converts to, and prevent conversion from, Christianity. Based at the University of Birmingham, the fellowship will enable me to convert my research material into a career changing article and supporting video recording through mentoring, access to relevant literature, and the opportunity to develop my own academic networks.