Dr. Scopas S. Poggo is an Associate Professor of African-American and African Studies at The Ohio State University. His areas of specialization include Precolonial, Imperial and Modern African History; African-American Studies; and 20th and 21st Century Civil Wars and Conflicts in the Sudan.

Dr. Poggo was born in South Sudan during a time of civil war. At age five, his family fled the country to escape the dangerous political situation, and settled in northern Uganda where he grew up as a refugee. As he matured, he learned from his parents and other elders in the village the reasons why they fled their homeland including the various groups that were involved in the civil war, the extent of foreign involvement, and the magnitude of the conflict. He continued to absorb and understand the political dynamics of the Sudan throughout his life as he received his formal training in education, noticing gaps in historical literature and desiring to make a significant contribution to the historiography of South Sudan given his personal connection to the conflict.

Dr. Poggo immigrated to the United States to attend the University of Memphis where he wrote his Master’s thesis entitled, “The Pattern of Azande Resistance to British Rule in the Southern Sudan, 1898-1914.” He received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the Department of History at the University of California Santa Barbara, entitled “War and Conflict in the Southern Sudan, 1955-1972.” He later revised his dissertation and wrote new chapters which were ultimately published with the title The First Sudanese Civil War: Africans, Arabs and Israelis in the Southern Sudan, 1955-1972, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, February 2009 (260 pages hardback). Dr. Poggo returned to South Sudan in 2002 and 2013 to conduct further research and interviews, documenting the ancestral history and culture of the Kuku people of South Sudan. This allowed him to subsequently publish additional journal articles and book chapters.

In addition to his contributions as a scholar, Dr. Poggo is a committed educator. Since 1999 he has developed six courses at The Ohio State University: three focused on African History (from ancient times to the present) and three focused on African-American history (from slavery to the present day). He actively lectures and presents to audiences across Ohio and remains committed to promoting diversity both on campus and within the larger research community. He has been honored to receive The Ohio State University’s College of Arts & Sciences Diversity Enhancement Award (2002), the Excellence in Diversity Award (2009), and the Excellence in Teaching Award (2017-18).

Representative Publications:

Scopas S. Poggo, The First Sudanese Civil War: Africans, Arabs, and Israelis in the Southern Sudan, 1955-1972, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, February 2009: 260 pages.

Scopas S. Poggo, (December 2006) “The Origins and Culture of Blacksmiths in Kuku Society of the Sudan, 1797-1955,” Journal of African Cultural Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2, (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London): 169-186

Scopas S. Poggo (April 2007), “General Ibrahim Abboud’s Military Administration in the Sudan, 1958-1964: Implementation of the Programs of Islamization and Arabization in the Southern Sudan,” Northeast African Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Michigan State University Press): 67-101

Scopas S. Poggo, (Guest Author), 27 Entries of “Biographies of Southern Sudanese Leaders” in Robert Kramer, Richard A. Lobban, and Carolyn Fluer-Lobban (eds.), 4th ed., Historical Dictionary of Sudan (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press Inc., 2013): pp. 43, 57-58, 60-61, 77, 127, 131, 171-173, 227-228, 232, 236-237, 257-259, 268-269, 270, 274-275, 288-290 (2 entries), 332-334, 372, 413-414 (2 entries), 417-418, 423 (2 entries), 424-425, 454-456 (3 entries)