About Me

Dr. Banjo

Dr. Omotayo Banjo is a critical creative empowering students, stakeholders and storytellers to counter dominant narratives, challenge the status quo and advance change for good. Omotayo obtained her B.A. in Social Psychology and earned her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Pennsylvania State University where she was also a McNair Scholar. Her work examines Black narratives and centers Black audiences across the diaspora.

Currently, she is a Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati, serves as an affiliate faculty of Africana Studies, and Women, Gender, & and Sexuality Studies as well as an Associate Dean for Research , Innovatio, and Student Success in the Graduate College.

Born as a second- generation Nigerian-American, her research has explored how audiences interact with racial messages. She is a mixed-methods media effects scholar whose work centers on identity construction in ethnic and transnational creative content. Prof. Banjo has published on a diverse range of topics — using different methodologies from textual analysis of post-racial entertainment media to transnational audience reception research. .

Prof Banjo is a widely prolific scholar, having curated and edited 5 book projects, and authored/co-authored over two dozen articles and book chapters. Her work can be found in journals including the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Communication Theory, Journal of Media and Religion, and Race and Social Problems. Her teaching centers on developing media literacy skills and awareness.

Omotayo was awarded the College of Arts and Sciences Rising Star Award (University of Cincinnati) in 2017, a Fulbright scholarship (Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria) in 2019, and was endowed with a Niehoff Professorship (University of Cincinnati) in 2020. Dr. Banjo is co-founder of the entertainment consulting firm, Uncommon Eye. She is also the host of two podcasts, Unapologetically U.S and Neither Jew, Nor Greek.

Whether as a researcher, teacher, administrator, or creative, Prof. Banjo aims to enlighten and empower others to pursue the fullness of life on their journies.

Dr. Banjo’s mission is to educate people about the impact of the psychological and socio-cultural processes of identity on our perceptions, sense of value, and belonging.

She also has a mission to facilitate and produce content that deepens our understanding, compassion, and connection to ourselves and one another.

She also has a mission to facilitate and produce content that deepens our understanding, compassion, and connection to ourselves and one another.

Her vision is to use her academic and creative work to affirm overlooked stories and inspire us to love ourselves and one another better.

In addition to her academic roles and creative endeavors, she is honored to have one of the most critical roles of all–mother to the most fascinating little person.