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. Originally from Kampala, Uganda, I have more than a decade of experience teaching academic English at universities 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, with a particular attention to positioning and representation of 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 (CATESOL, 2022). Recent work includes: The Visible Invisibility of Black Educators in ELT (Bloomsbury, 2025), Teaching while Black: Navigating Performativity and Authenticity (Patterns of Practice, 2025), Teaching Implicit Bias in Foundation EAP (InForm, 2026), Reimagining EAP through (Dis)comfort: Race, Identity and Emotion in Academic English (Routledge, 2026).

I am currently completing my first monograph, Blackness, Identity and Decolonial Possibilities in EAP (Palgrave Macmillan), and co-leading a PRiA-funded research study on Uncovering Decoloniality in English for Academic Purposes, which explores 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 University of Leeds Language Center Summer Conference (Video link: The Mythology of Innocence)

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 University, Uganda)
• Masters-TESOL (University of Bath, England)
• Masters- International Educational Management (University of Leeds, England)
• Doctorate - TESOL (Alliant University, 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 and writing for postgraduate students in Sociology, Masters pre-sessional Academic English, Foundation Year; MA Linguistics Dissertation Supervision.

Research groups and institutes

• Language Centre