Dr. Ola Mohammed is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Black Canadian Studies Certificate in the Department of Humanities at York University, where she teaches Black Studies, Popular Culture, and Sound Studies courses. She was recently awarded the York Research Chair Tier II in Black Sonic Cultures that generates a series of projects that advance innovative interdisciplinary analysis of Black Cultural practices, the impacts of urban change, and what produces a livable city to highlight both the constraints of anti-Black racism and the ways Black people disrupt dominant spatial forms. Her research interests include Black Studies, Popular Music and Sound Studies, Performance Theory and Diaspora Studies. Her forthcoming publications include “Cringy Sounds, Pleasurable Acts: The Difficulty of Articulating Antiblackness in Canada” in the Power of Listening collection celebrating the 15th anniversary of Sounding Out! Sound Studies blog by NYU Press as well as an entry on “Sound” in the Thinking from Black: A Lexicon by Alchemy by Knopf Canada. Her manuscript, The Black Nowhere: Sonic Architectures of Dispossession, examines the often- overlooked auditory dimension of anti-Blackness in Canada. The work examines how sound is shaped by political ontologies of race and the epistemological stakes of critical listening practices in the face of quotidian and spectacular anti-Black violence.

Research Interests

• YRC Tier II Black Sonic Cultures - 2025
• • Department of Humanities Full Time Faculty Teaching Award - 2025

Current Courses

Dr. Ola Mohammed is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Black Canadian Studies Certificate in the Department of Humanities at York University, where she teaches Black Studies, Popular Culture, and Sound Studies courses. She was recently awarded the York Research Chair Tier II in Black Sonic Cultures that generates a series of projects that advance innovative interdisciplinary analysis of Black Cultural practices, the impacts of urban change, and what produces a livable city to highlight both the constraints of anti-Black racism and the ways Black people disrupt dominant spatial forms. Her research interests include Black Studies, Popular Music and Sound Studies, Performance Theory and Diaspora Studies. Her forthcoming publications include “Cringy Sounds, Pleasurable Acts: The Difficulty of Articulating Antiblackness in Canada” in the Power of Listening collection celebrating the 15th anniversary of Sounding Out! Sound Studies blog by NYU Press as well as an entry on “Sound” in the Thinking from Black: A Lexicon by Alchemy by Knopf Canada. Her manuscript, The Black Nowhere: Sonic Architectures of Dispossession, examines the often- overlooked auditory dimension of anti-Blackness in Canada. The work examines how sound is shaped by political ontologies of race and the epistemological stakes of critical listening practices in the face of quotidian and spectacular anti-Black violence.

Degrees

Appointments

Research Interests

Awards

• YRC Tier II Black Sonic Cultures - 2025
• • Department of Humanities Full Time Faculty Teaching Award - 2025

Current Courses