Dr Itunu Bodunrin

Lecturer and First Year Coordinator, Design Studies.
Name: Itunu Bodunrin
Location: G037B, FADA Building Bunting Road Campus
FADA Design Studies Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 1765

Email: itunub@uj.ac.za

About Dr Itunu Bodunrin

Itunu Bodunrin holds a PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Johannesburg, as well as an MA (with distinction) and a BA Honours in Cultural and Media Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

He currently serves as the Head of the Design Studies Division at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture (FADA). In this role, he oversees the teaching of media, communication and social theories across multiple design disciplines, including communication design, multimedia design, graphic design, fashion design, and industrial design.

Dr. Bodunrin researches and supervises postgraduate work in media, communication, and cultural studies, with a focus on digital media, popular culture, indigeneity, and identity politics in contemporary Africa.

Recent Publications 

Matsilele, T and Bodunrin, I. (2024). ‘I am Tyler Perry, I endorse the #EndSARS protest’: An examination of the use of parody accounts in the fight for social justice in Nigeria. In Reading Justice Claims on Social Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/i-am-tyler-perry-i-endorse-the-endsars-protest-an-examination-of/27353448. 261–288. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-53850-6_11.

Bodunrin, I and Matsilele, T. (2024). Social Media and Protest Politics in Nigeria’s #EndSars campaign. In Handbook of Social Media in Education, Consumer Behavior and Politics Vol.1. Editors: Vladlena Benson and Richard Hartshorne. GB: Elsevier Science & Technology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90237-3.00006-0.

Bodunrin IA (2022). The Popular Practice of Hip Hop among the Indigenous !Xun and Khwe Youth of Platfontein, South Africa. In Indigenous African Popular Music: The Art and Its Applications. Oxford Press. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-98705-3_20.

Bodunrin IA (2021) Negotiating Contemporary Indigeneity: cultural aesthetic and communicative practices among Contemporary !Xun and Khwe San Youth of Platfontein,  South Africa . Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 32:1, 98-98, DOI: 10.1080/1013929X.2020.1752521. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1013929X.2021.1970312.

Bodunrin, I. (2021) Hip-Hop and Decolonized Practices of Language Digitization among the Contemporary !Xun and Khwe Indigenous Youth of South Africa. Critical Arts. South-North Cultural and Media Studies. Special edition on Language and Culture in the Transformation of School and Tertiary Education in South Africa. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02560046.2019.1702070?journalCode=rcrc20

Bodunrin IA (2021) Examining the potential of Design Thinking in the age of Fourth Industrial Revolution in South Africa. DEFSA 2021 Conference. The 16th DEFSA Conference was hosted by the University of Johannesburg and Inscape Education Group from 5 to 7 October 2021. https://www.defsa.org.za/sites/default/files/downloads/2021conference/31_exploring_the_potential.pdf

Barnabas SB. and Bodunrin I (2021) Digital Media Practices Among Youth of the South African San People. In: Dunn H.S., Moyo D., Lesitaokana W.O., Barnabas S.B. (eds) Re-imagining Communication in Africa and the Caribbean. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-54169-9_9.