History Professor Appointed as Book Editor for Ohio University Press

University Relations

Todd Cleveland

Todd Cleveland, an assistant professor in the Department of History, was recently appointed as a book editor for Ohio University Press' "Africa in World History" series. Cleveland joins Joe Miller (University of Virginia) and David Robinson (Michigan State) on the editorial team.

Launched in 2009, the series generates books written by African specialists for both experts and non-specialists, including scholars who seek to include Africa in their teaching of other regions of world history. The books in the series draw attention to the parallels in human experience in Africa and in other parts of the world and seek to present local documentation — oral, cultural, and written. Ohio University Press, one of the leaders in African history and, more broadly, African studies, features an array of African-related series, eight in total.

Calvin White Jr., chair of the Department of History, applauded Cleveland on achieving this honor at such an early state in his career.

"Cleveland continues to build an extensive research portfolio that brings national and international exposure to the History Department, Fulbright College, and the university as a whole," White said.

Cleveland said, "I'm honored to join the team and excited to work closely with Joe, Dave, and Gill (the director and editor-in-chief of the press). I am confident that this endeavor will be as rewarding as it will be challenging. In particular, I look forward to working with authors who are engaged in cutting-edge projects and helping to shape these efforts in an attempt to maximize the impacts that the resultant books have, both within and beyond the classroom."  

Cleveland has published extensively with the press, as his book, Stones of Contention: A History of Africa's Diamonds, appeared in the "Africa in World History" series in 2014, and he has another book currently under contract in the series titled Exoticization, Exploitation, and Enrichment: A History of Tourism in sub-Saharan Africa. Ohio University Press also published Cleveland's Diamonds in the Rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917-1975, in 2015, and will release Following the Ball: The Migration of African Soccer Players across the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1949-75, this coming fall.