Mumbua Musilla

I am a PhD student in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. My dissertation explains success in education in a slum school. I did research in a public school in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The school has consistently excelled in the national examinations. The research situates the use of language in the school within broader socio-cultural and political discourses that negotiate ideological messages about inequality. Can educational institutions be seen as sites of power struggle and are languages in this particular school seen as sites as well as stakes of such power struggle? How does Olympic school resist the ideologies of domination and how can we explain the success in the school and the language power struggle, forty years after independence and what does that tell us about citizenship?

My research and career interests are broad, reflecting my desire not to narrow myself down too much, both as a practical strategy but also as a reflection of my dislike for narrow specializations. Thus, my general research interests fall within the study of the dynamic role of institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons, military) in promoting and /or challenging socio-cultural and structural ideologies, locally and globally. I also have interest in studying the intersections of culture (lived experience), biology (science) and social ideologies in explaining and responding to health and illnesses.

I plan to pursue a career in development in the fields of education and culture or health, or do research and/or teach. I obtained my BA and M.A (in Anthropology) in Nairobi University, Kenya and I have taught in Secondary school and worked with NGOs and multilateral organizations. My studies at AU have been facilitated by the generosity of Wenner-Gren Organization for Anthropological Research, American University and some supplementary funding by Sarah and Harvey Moore Scholarship fund.