Ayodeji Richard Olugbuyiro teaches courses on African and Afro-diasporic experiences. His research interests are centered around the formation of Black identities in the cultural productions of the Luso-Afro-Brazilian Atlantic, which encompasses countries such as Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cabo Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. In addition to his focus on the Luso-Afro-Brazilian Atlantic, he also has a keen interest in understanding the experiences of Blackness in the Anglophone world, with a particular emphasis on Nigeria and the United States.
One of his recent academic contributions is an article entitled "An Enduring Paradigm of Resistance: The Resurgence of Negritude in Contemporary Black Portuguese Poetry," published in the Journal of Lusophone Studies. This article explores how contemporary Black poets in Portugal are drawing from the Negritude movement to express and assert their Black identities and resistance within a postcolonial context.
At UChicago, he is the Coordinator for the African Studies Workshop.