Professor Sonjah Stanley Niaah

Sonjah Stanley Niaah is a Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus), popularly known as the 'Culture Doctor'. 

She is a renowned Jamaican scholar, cultural activist, writer, international speaker and Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at The University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus where she was Director of the Institute of Caribbean Studies (2015-2021). She is a leading author, teacher and researcher on Black Atlantic performance geographies, popular culture, and the sacred, and Caribbean Cultural Studies more broadly. 

She holds international appointments as member of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route Project (UNESCO), Senior Research Associate (honorary), Rhodes University, and Advisor, International Cultural Diversity Organisation. She is the author of numerous publications among them the acclaimed Dancehall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto (2010) and editor of Dancehall: A Reader on Jamaican Music and Culture (2020) among others. 

Her research and opinions have appeared in various media, among them Netflix, The Guardian, BBC, The Washington Post, NPR, The Fader and Pop Matters. In 2019 she introduced the Sound Culture book series at the UWI Press which is dedicated to publishing original work on Caribbean music. 

She is also the inaugural Rhodes Trust Rex Nettleford Fellow in Cultural Studies and currently serves as Director, Centre for Reparation Research, at the UWI Mona regional headquarters.

Research Interests: 

cultural studies, performance studies, performance geography, Black Atlantic, popular music, dancehall culture, reparatory justice, entertainment policy