Dr Olive Nabukeera

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds in September 2023, where I teach English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and contribute to scholarship at the Language Center. I also teach academic literacies to postgraduate taught students in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. Originally from Kampala, Uganda, I have more than a decade of experience teaching academic English at higher education in the United States, Rwanda and England. Working across these contexts has shaped my teaching, research and commitment to international education.

Research interests

My research examines the intersections of race, language, and identity in English language teaching at higher education with particular attention to Black identities. I began publishing in this area with an article on Native Speakerism and African teachers of English (2012), and The Positioning of Black ESL teachers in the United States (2022). Recent work includes: The Visible Invisibility of Black Educators in ELT (Bloomsbury, 2025), Teaching while Black: Navigating Performativity and Authenticity (2025), Teaching Implicit Bias in Foundation EAP (2026), Reimagining EAP through (Dis)comfort: Race, Identity and Emotion in Academic English (Routledge, 2026).

In 2024-26, I co-led a funded global study on Uncovering Decoloniality in English for Academic Purposes, which explored how decolonial perspectives can reshape teaching and learning in higher education. In July 2026, I delivered the plenary address: “The Mythology of Innocence: How EAP constructs its neutrality” at the UoL Language Center Summer Conference.

My first monograph, Blackness, Identity and English for Academic Purposes will be published in April 2027 by Palgrave Macmillan.

I welcome inquiries and supervision of postgraduate research students working on EAP and race, Black studies, critical literacies or decoloniality.

Qualifications

• Bachelors- English & Literature (Makerere, Uganda)
• Masters-TESOL (Bath, England)
• Masters- International Educational Management (Leeds, England)
• Doctorate - TESOL (San Diego, USA)

Professional memberships

• TESOL International Association
• British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP)
• American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
• British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)

Student education

Academic Literacies for postgraduates in Sociology (SLSPTPGYr1), Masters pre-sessional Academic English (online), Foundation Year ELU0039; MA Linguistics Dissertation Supervision (LING5029M).

I co-lead the summer presessional ELU3023 Language for Business.

Research groups and institutes

• Language Centre