Vice Chancellor

Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi

Professor Ntarangwi is a scholar, teacher, researcher and administrator of international repute whose experience and expertise span three decades and cut across diverse geographical locations and institutions. Trained in language education (Kenyatta University) and cultural anthropology (University of Illinois), Prof. Ntarangwi has been keen to apply his research interests and focus to teaching and administration. He has taught in universities in Kenya, the United States, and Liberia; carried out research in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, the United States, and Zimbabwe.

Prof. Ntarangwi’s teaching and administrative experiences include serving as faculty at St. Lawrence University, Augustana College, and Calvin College (USA), Kenyatta University and Egerton University (Kenya) and as CEO at the Commission for University Education (CUE), Kenya, which he successfully transformed from a policing body into

an institution focusing on progressive partnership with universities, with clearly understood quality assurance standards and as the Deputy Principal in charge of Academics, Research and Student Affairs at NIRUC (a constituent college of the National Defence University, Kenya), where he was instrumental in laying the foundations for faculty teaching, research and publishing and the mentoring of students for applied research and interdisciplinary academic work.

USIU-Africa’s mission to prepare the next generation of effective, engaged, and ethical leaders for the fast-changing African and global contexts was a major draw for Prof. Ntarangwi and he plans to not only support it but take it to the next level.

Featured Engagement

Professor Ntarangwi

Research Interests

  1. Youth
  2. Popular culture
  3. Gender
  4. Study Abroad
  5. International Development
  6. Practice of anthropology
  7. Cross-cultural education
  8. African Christianity
  9. Faculty Development and Leadership Training

Administrative Experience

Over 25 years of Knowledge and Learning Management experience, including high-level positions. I offer comprehensive experience leading organizations affiliated with higher education. I am a collaborative mentor and coach who is highly skilled at identifying leadership potential and building teams that drive sustainability for organizations.

TitlePublisherAuthor (s)Cited ByYear
East African hip hop: Youth culture and globalizationUniversity of Illinois PressMwenda Ntarangwi2522009
Reversed gaze: An African ethnography of American anthropologyUniversity of Illinois PressMwenda Ntarangwi1222010
The challenges of education and development in post-colonial KenyaAfrica DevelopmentMwenda Ntarangwi1182003
African Anthropologies: history, critique and practiceZed BooksMwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills, Mustafa HM Babiker822006
Gender, identity, and Performance: Understanding Swahili cultural realities through songNot specifiedM Ntarangwi642003
Reflections on gender issues in AfricaNot specifiedPatricia McFadden, Martine R Galloy, Mwenda G Ntarangwi, Keshia N Abraham541999
But we know it all! African perspectives on anthropological knowledgeZed BooksChristine Obbo272006
A socio-historical and contextual analysis of popular musical performance among the Swahili of Mombasa, KenyaCultural AnalysisMwenda Ntarangwi252001
African hip hop and politics of change in an era of rapid globalizationHistory CompassMwenda Ntarangwi242010
Gender, performance, & identity: understanding Swahili cultural realities through songsN/AMwenda Ntarangwi802003
The street is my pulpit: Hip hop and Christianity in KenyaUniversity of Illinois PressMwenda Ntarangwi282016
Introduction: Parents’ involvement in children’s lives in AfricaAfrica DevelopmentMwenda Ntarangwi252012
Jesus and Ubuntu: exploring the social impact of Christianity in AfricaAfrica World PressMwenda Ntarangwi242011
Education, tourism, or just a visit to the wild?Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi212000
Malumbano or Matukano: Competition, Confrontation, and (De) Construction of Masculinity in the Taarab of Maulidi and BhaloMashindano! Competitive Music Performance in East AfricaMwenda Ntarangwi182000
Introduction: Histories of training, ethnographies of practiceZed BooksMwenda Ntarangwi, Mustafa Babiker, David Mills212006
Hip-Hop, westernization and gender in East AfricaAfrican Books CollectiveMwenda Ntarangwi182007
Taarab texts, gender, and Islam in an urban East African context: social transformations among the Waswahili of Mombasa, KenyaUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignMwenda Ntarangwi101998
Musical practice as a gender experience: Examples from Kenya and ZimbabweN/AMwenda Ntarangwi91999
I have changed my mind now: US Students' Responses to Female Genital Cutting in AfricaIndiana University PressMwenda Ntarangwi92007
Mustafa Babiker, eds. 2006Zed BooksMwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills52006
Youth, music, and peace buildingElsevierMwenda Ntarangwi82015
Refacing Mt. Kenya or excavating the Rift Valley? Anthropology in Kenya and the question of traditionBerghahn BooksMwenda Ntarangwi82008
Music, identity and Swahili networks of knowledgeMkuki na Nyota PublishersMwenda Ntarangwi72007
African Anthropologies: History, Critique and PracticeN/AMwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills, Mustafa Babiker72006
Feminism, Anthropology and Androcentrism: any link for a male ethnographer?Southern African Feminist ReviewMwenda Ntarangwi52000
African participation in, and perspectives on, the politics of knowledge production in Africanist anthropologyJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Mwenda Ntarangwi42019
African anthropology struggling alongBlackwell Publishing LtdMwenda Ntarangwi52005
Feminism and masculinity in an African capitalist context: the case of KenyaSAPES TrustMwenda Ntarangwi41998
Engaging children and youth in Africa: Methodological and phenomenological issuesAfrican Books CollectiveMwenda Ntarangwi, Guy Massart62015
Generation X meets the Uhuru generation in East AfricaRoutledgeMwenda Ntarangwi32012
Rethinking entrepreneurship and university educationN/AMwenda Ntarangwi52021
Social media and youth popular culture in Kenya can counter political exploitationLondon School of Economics and Political ScienceMwenda Ntarangwi22020
Christian higher education: Global challenges, local practicesRoutledgeJoel A Carpenter, Mwenda Ntarangwi22015
Review of Honwana, Alcinda. The Time of YouthEncompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky UniversityMwenda Ntarangwi12014
Parents' involvement in children's lives in AfricaAfrica Development (CODESRIA)Mwenda Ntarangwi22012
Sexuality and the culture of silence in relation to HIV/AIDS in East AfricaUNISA PressMwenda Ntarangwi22009
Reflections on the challenges of teaching anthropology to American students in post-colonial KenyaCODESRIA & Zed BooksMwenda Ntarangwi22006
Revitalizing Anthropology in East Africa: The Birth of EAAAAfrican AnthropologistMwenda Ntarangwi22002
University of Illinois PressN/AG Von Bonin, P Bailey21947
Listening to disrupt ethnographic representationsThe University of Chicago PressMwenda Ntarangwi12021
Straddling Two Worlds: Christian Leaders’ Responses to Witchcraft Accusations in DRCOKH JournalMwenda Ntarangwi12020
Children’s lives and children’s voicesAfrican Books CollectiveMwenda Ntarangwi12015
Street Dreams and Hip Hop BarbershopsAfrican ArtsMwenda Ntarangwi12011
East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization (Review)International Library of African MusicImani Sanga12010
“Useless degrees”, quality assurance, and employable graduatesEtnográficaMwenda Ntarangwi12024
A decolonial anthropology: You can dismantle the master’s house with the master’s toolsSAGE PublicationsSoumhya Venkatesan, Mwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills, Kelly Gillespie, Naisargi Davé, Vincent Backhaus82024
Music, Identity, and Performance in East AfricaRoutledgeMwenda Ntarangwi2023
Paul Ugor, ed. Youth Popular Culture in Africa: Media, Music, and Politics. Rochester: University of Rochester Press., 2021. xi+ 405 pp. $135.00. Cloth. ISBN 978-1-64825-024-8.Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi12023
Academic Border Crossing and an Anthropologist’s Excursions into Research on Theology and African ChristianityBloomsbury PublishingMwenda Ntarangwi12023
“Why Do You Behave Like That?”: Anthropological Inroads into Leadership in KenyaN/AMwenda Ntarangwi12021
AbdouMaliq Simone, Improvised Lives: rhythms of endurance in an urban SouthCambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi12021
AbdouMaliq Simone, Improvised Lives: rhythms of endurance in an urban South (Book Review)Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi2021
International African Institute Institut Africain InternationalRevue de l’Institut Africain InternationalWale Adebanwi, Julie Archambault, Maxim Bolt, Benjamin Soares, Karin Barber, Elizabeth Hull12020
Interactions Between Science and Religion in Kenya: Opening Remarks by the Chief GuestOKH JournalMwenda Ntarangwi2019

20 African Participation
John Wiley & Sons2018

A frica, S ub‐S aharan, Emergence of Anthropology in
John Wiley & Sons, LtdMwenda Ntarangwi2018
Living the Hiplife: Celebrity and Entrepreneurship in Ghanaian Popular MusicRoutledgeMwenda Ntarangwi2016

Anthropology in South Africa: Which Way Forward?
N/AMwenda Ntarangwi2015
International African Institute Institut Africain International Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi2015
Public Worship and the Many Layers of Gospel-Shaped ReconciliationEerdmansDavid M Bailey, Mwenda Ntarangwi, Kathy Smith, Nicholas Wolterstorff, David Rylaarsdam2015
Until Justice and Peace Embrace: Worship that Announces and Shapes ReconciliationEerdmansDavid M Bailey, Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, Mwenda Ntarangwi, Kathy Smith, Sandra Maria Van Opstal, Nicholas Wolterstorff, David Rylaarsdam2015
Children and Youth in Africa: Annotated Bibliography 2001–2011CODESRIAMwenda Ntarangwi2014
The Street is My Pulpit: Hip Hop, Youth Culture, and the Gospel in KenyaUniversity of Illinois PressMwenda Ntarangwi2014
Live in Dar es Salaam: Popular Music and Tanzania's Music Economy (Book Review)Blackwell Publishing IncMwenda Ntarangwi2013
Chapter Ten Amending Eurocentric Narratives of African History in the US Classroom: A Popular Culture ApproachRowman & LittlefieldFred N Waweru, Mwenda Ntarangwi2013
Film Review: War Don DonTeaching SociologyMwenda Ntarangwi2012
Africa Development / Afrique et Développement Vol. XXXVII, No. 3CODESRIAMwenda Ntarangwi2012
African Anthropologies in a Context of Evolving NeedsCurrent AnthropologyMwenda Ntarangwi2009
Alamin Mazrui. Swahili Beyond the Boundaries: Literature, Language, and Identity (Book Review)Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi2009
Rumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music in Mobutu's Zaire (Book Review)George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic ResearchMwenda Ntarangwi2009
Swahili Beyond the Boundaries: Literature, Language, and Identity; and Utenzi, War Poems, and the German Conquest of East Africa (Book Review)Cambridge University PressMwenda Ntarangwi2009
Our MissionIBAVI Workspace2009
Pillars of the Nation: Child Citizens and Ugandan National Development (Book Review)Blackwell Publishing IncMwenda Ntarangwi2008
African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice (Book Review)Development in PracticeMwenda Ntarangwi2008
Globalization and Social Policy in Africa (Book Review)Africa Development (CODESRIA)Mwenda Ntarangwi2006
Let me die with dignity: creating meaningful homecare: programmes for people living with AIDS in Bungoma, KenyaAfrican AnthropologistMwenda Ntarangwi2006
Book Reviews / Notes de lectureAfrica Development (CODESRIA)Mwenda Ntarangwi2006
I Have Changed my Mind Now: Students' Responses to Female Circumcision in AfricaMwenda Ntarangwi2005
Society Members: The Challenges of Education and Development in KenyaMwenda Ntarangwi2004
African Studies and the Development of Social Anthropology in South Africa (1921–2001)Confronting Twenty-first Century ChallengesMwenda Ntarangwi2004
Taarab as a Swahili Musical TraditionAfrican AnthropologistMwenda Ntarangwi2002
Study Abroad in AfricaInternational African InstitutePenina Mlama, Florence Abena Dolphyne, David Wiley, William Cressey, Jennifer Coffman, Mwenda Ntarangwi, Mohamed Saliou Camara, James Delehanty, Joan A Raducha, Patricia Kuntz, Heidi Glaesel, Laura DeLuca, Simeon S Kanani, John McGladdery, Christine Hudson, Polly Sandenburgh, Acacia Schut, Philip Peek, Olusoji Akomolafe, Quinton P Redcliffe, Lesley Y Shackleton, Derise E Tolliver, Denise C Pendleton, Maria Grosz-Ngate, Nancy J Dawson, Jim Buschman, Molly McCoy, Alma Riggs, John J Watkins2001
Kenyan Women and the Electoral ProcessNot specifiedMwenda Ntarangwi1999
Feminism and masculinity in an African capitalist context: The case of KenyaSouthern African Feminist ReviewMwenda Ntarangwi1999
Performance in East AfricaSouthern Africa Political & Economic MonthlyMwenda Ntarangwi
International African Institute Institut Africain InternationalKarin Barber, David Pratten, Insa Nolte, Wale Adebanwi, Kojo Amanor, Kelly Askew, Leslie Bank, Alan Barnard, Thomas J Bassett, Joost Beuving, Filip De Boeck, James Brennan, Paulo F de Moraes Farias, Harri Englund, Peter Geschiere, Jane I Guyer, Kai Kresse, Michael Lambek, Murray Last, Carola Lentz, Tom McCaskie, Birgit Meyer, Célestin Monga, Abdul Raufu Mustapha, Mwenda Ntarangwi, Christine Obbo, Derek Peterson, John Parker, Debby Potts, Keith Shear, VY Mudimbe, JF Ade Ajayi, Fred Ahwireng-Obeng, Richard Banégas, George Clement Bond, Mamadou Diawara, Andreas Eckert, Odile Goerg, Holger Bernt Hansen, Isabel Hofmeyr, Mark Horton, Adam T Jones, JDY Peel, Philip Burnham, Mashood Baderin, Mary Jay, Robert Molteno, William Burgess, Brian Johnson2014

Books, Journals Publications

Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi is a cultural anthropologist with an interest in symbolic and interpretive anthropology. He earned his BEd in language education and MA in Swahili Studies from Kenyatta University, Kenya and MA and PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Mwenda’s research is on popular cultural expressions, the practice and history of anthropology, and inter-cultural engagement. He is the author of, among other works, The Street is My Pulpit: Hip Hop and Christianity in Kenya (Illinois, 2016), Reversed Gaze: an African Ethnography of American Anthropology (Illinois, 2010), East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization (Illinois, 2009), Gender Identity and Performance: Understanding Swahili Cultural Realities Through Song (Africa World Press, 2003), editor of Jesus and Ubuntu: Exploring the Social Impact of Christianity in Africa (Africa World Press, 2011), and co-editor of African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice (Zed, 2006).

By Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi

In this book, Mwenda Ntarangwi analyzes how young hip hop artists in the East African nations of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania showcase the opportunities and challenges brought by the globalization of music. Combining local popular music traditions with American and Jamaican styles of rap, East African hip hop culture reflects the difficulty of creating commercially accessible music while honoring tradition and East African culture. Ntarangwi pays special attention to growing cross-border exchanges…

By Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi

Deftly illustrating how life circumstances can influence ethnographic fieldwork, Mwenda Ntarangwi focuses on his experiences as a Kenyan anthropology student and professional anthropologist practicing in the United States and Africa. Whereas Western anthropologists often study non-Western cultures, Mwenda Ntarangwi reverses these common roles and studies the Western culture of anthropology from an outsider’s viewpoint while considering larger debates about race, class, power, and the representation…

By Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi

This overview of the history, application and teaching of anthropology in post-colonial Africa shows how the continent’s anthropologists are redefining the historical legacy of European and American disciplinary hegemony, and developing distinctively African contributions to anthropological theory and practice. The contributors illustrate the diverse national traditions of anthropological practice that have developed in sub-Saharan Africa since decolonization and exemplify the diversity of professional…

Keynote Address by the Guest of Honor, Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi (Chief Executive Officer, Commission for…

Keynote presentation at PEDAL workshop, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya On November 11, 2019 By Mwenda…

Keynote speech presented at a one-day conference on The Decolonizing Potential of Ethnography at the…

Keynote Speech given by Mwenda Ntarangwi, PhD. During the SPHEIR1 Forum Held at Emara Hotel Ole Sereni,…

Some Reflections On Christianity In Kenya And Beyond …

Media & Gallery

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