BIO

I am a researcher completing doctoral studies in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Broadly, my research engages questions of identity, inequality, and everyday life. I am particularly interested in shifting attention to underexamined and disparaged media/cultural forms as well as attending to the meaning-making practices of historically marginalised groups. I am most thrilled when these two themes merge in a study, as in the case of my doctoral research. In this work, I draw on in-depth interviews with black women authors, publishing professionals, and readers to examine the meanings they attach to and and draw from a distinct genre of anti-racist non-fiction: books marketed as self-help literature by and for black women in Britain. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, this research demonstrates the value of merging approaches in audience research and production studies to understand the social uses and felt consequences of minority media. Previously, I studied at King's College London (BA Politics) and St Antony's College, Oxford (MSc African Studies). 

Since 2025, I have worked with Marie Casafina-Orwin in directing the Black Feminist Thought Group in the Centre for the Study of Women and Gender at the University of Warwick. This involves, among other things, organising termly reading sessions and facilitating open discussion of ongoing projects informed by black feminist theory and practice.

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Black Feminist Theory

Cultural Sociology

Feminist Media & Cultural Studies

Race and Cultural Production 

TEACHING 

Alongside my doctoral research I have worked as a teaching assistant, planning and teaching classes in: 

SO201 - Advanced Social Theory (Undergraduate), London School of Economics and Political Science, 2025/26

MC438 - Mediated Feminisms (Postgraduate), London School of Economics and Political Science, 2024/25

TALKS

Discussant  CSWG Seminar with Alanah Mortlock, "Ambiguities in Black: Black Feminism and the Transracialism Discourse", Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick, UK, December 12, 2025

Panel Member  Disruption as Catalyst: Perspectives on Change in Feminist Media Studies, 75th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, Denver, Colorado, USA, June 13, 2025

Other Panellists: Radha Sarma Hegde; Sarah Banet-Weiser; Shani Orgad; Cara Wallis; Jinsook Kim

Paper Presentation  "Black Feminist Complaint: A Rioting Genre of Self-Help Literature" | Race and Resistance 2025 Conference | Resistance, Renewal and Reimagination: 100 Years of Race and Resistance in Britain, Kellogg College, University of Oxford, UK, March 7, 2025

CONTACT

d.d.olaleye@lse.ac.uk