Professor Uchenna Okeja, far right, and Deborah Hall, council member of the American Antiquarian Society.
Acknowledged for his outstanding and impactful scholarship, Prof Okeja from the Faculty of Humanities, joins a distinguished roster of nearly 1200 AAS members worldwide, who are elected by their colleagues based on distinctive achievements in academic or public life.
The list includes 14 United States presidents, more than 75 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many other recipients of international recognition.
Prof Okeja’s work centres around political philosophy, specifically using aspects of political history to construct philosophical ideas or theories that could guide humanity in the present and future.
The American Antiquarian Society is a learned society not only in its history and the calibre of its members but also in its role.
Prof Okeja, who is currently a visiting professor at Yale University, considers his election to the membership of the society an opportunity to continue promoting the ideals of the humanities.
Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the American Antiquarian Society holds the world’s largest and most accessible collection of original printed, handwritten, and visual sources from before 1900 in what is now the United States.
The library of over four million items includes books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, children’s literature, music, and graphic arts materials. AAS connects people across the globe with these collections through its digital catalogue and resources online exhibitions, and virtual learning experiences.
In addition, it supports dozens of researchers, artists, and writers each year with a variety of fellowship programmes. In 2013, President Obama presented the Society with the National Humanities Medal in a White House ceremony.
“I feel honoured to be recognised by a learned society that has so many prominent scholars and individuals that have attained distinction in public life; if anything, it serves as encouragement that my work has not been in vain and motivates me to focus my efforts on advancing quality scholarship in my field,” says Prof Okeja.
“Nelson Mandela University has been my intellectual home since 2023, and if there is one thing that the University stands for, it is the idea that the humanities is indispensable for the reconceptualisation of a better future", said Prof Okeja.