Transnational crime terrorism studies policing and use of force social movements resource conflicts
Temitope Oriola is professor of criminology and sociology at the University of Alberta and president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA). He is joint Editor-in-Chief of African Security journal and member, Board of Directors, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. A recipient of the Governor General of Canada Academic Gold Medal (first presented in 1873 by the Earl of Dufferin), Oriola’s book Criminal Resistance? The Politics of Kidnapping Oil Workers is one of a small number of book-length sociological investigations of political kidnapping in the English language. Professor Oriola’s research focuses on policing & use of force by police, terrorism studies, and resource-related conflict (involving tactics like political kidnappings). Publications from his research appear in leading scholarly journals, such as Sociology (the flagship journal of the British Sociological Association), the British Journal of Criminology, African Affairs, Critical Studies on Terrorism, African Security, Third World Quarterly, Review of African Political Economy, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, among others. Oriola regularly contributes to public scholarship through keynotes, op-eds, media interviews and expert opinions. A decorated researcher and teacher, Professor Oriola is a two-time Carnegie fellow, the 2020 recipient of the Kathleen W. Klawe Prize for teaching excellence and 2022 research excellence award recipient, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta. He previously served as special adviser on Police Act Review (Government of Alberta). Oriola is also former president of the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS).
Professor Oriola is currently working on a number of research projects, including a SSHRC funded study, "Failure to detonate: Gender and inchoate suicide missions" (with Andy W. Knight), school resource officer program in Canada. His graduate students work on issues such as experiences of former gang members in Alberta, Canada, the evolution of the Biafran secessionist movement, Identity Christian (or right-wing) terrorism in North America and depiction of terrorism in the media.
Oriola teaches courses such as "Power, Inequality and Crime"; "Sociology of Terrorism", "Criminology"; and "Youth, Crime and Society", among others.