Sinfree Makoni
Professional Bio
Sinfree Makoni was born in Zimbabwe. He holds a BA in English (Hons) with a specialty in Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, which recently awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Letters. He taught at several universities in southern Africa, notably the University of the Western Cape, Bellville, and University of Cape Town. He was a postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan as well as the Interim Director of the Africana Research Center and Director of African Studies at Pennsylvania State University. As well, he was a Carnegie Diaspora Fellow at Laikipia University, Kenya.
He is the inaugural head of the Department of Africana Studies and, currently, is a Liberal Arts Professor of Applied Linguistics and Africana Studies, Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape and North-West University, Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University, and Visiting Researcher at the University of Zululand, South Africa.
In addition, he is a recipient of numerous awards, including Best Advisor of the Year (2026), nominated by the Vice President for Student Affairs (Penn State); a meritorious service citation of outstanding dedication, unwavering commitment, and exemplary service to the Pan-African Professional Alliance (2026); and Presidential Award for Excellence in Integrating Research, Teaching, and Service (2026). In addition, he is a recipient of the prestigious Advanced CODESRIA Humanities Fellowship.
He has published extensively in the areas of Language and Aging, Language and Security, Language Policy and Planning, Southern Epistemologies, and Decoloniality, with over 10,000 citations and about 100 articles and 30 co-edited and co-authored books. His most recent publications include Innovations and Challenges to Applied Linguistics from the Global South (co-authored with A. Pennycook; Routledge, 2020); Integrational Linguistics and Philosophy of Language in the Global South (S. Makoni, D. Verity, & A. Kaiper-Marquez, eds.; Routledge, 2021); The Languaging of Higher Education in the Global South: De-Colonizing the Language of Scholarship and Pedagogy (S. Makoni, C. Severo, A. Abdelhay, & A. Kapier-Marquez, eds.; Routledge, 2022); Language in the Global Souths (S. Makoni, A., Kaiper-Marquez, & L. Mokwena, eds.; Routledge, 2022); Decolonial Voices, Language and Race (S. Makoni, M. Madany-Saa, B. Antia, & R. Gomez, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2022); From Decolonial Linguistics to Southern Sociolinguistics (A. Deumert & S. Makoni, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2023); Critical Perspectives on Decoloniality: Southern Epistemologies and Epistemologies of the Souths (D. Takyiakwaa, S. Makoni, I. V. Khasandi-Telewa, & A. J. Hartig, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2025); Decolonial Options in Higher Education: Cracks and Fissures (S. Makoni & C. van der Merwe, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2025); Entanglements: Between Decolonial and Southernizing Linguistics (S. Makoni, U. Idem, E. Dartey, & B. Antia, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2025); The Routledge Handbook of Language and Race (S. Makoni, B. Antia, & S. Rudwick, eds.; Routledge, 2025); Language Policy across Continents: Decolonization, Language Rights and Multilingualism in Education (M. Kretzer, S. Makoni, & R. H. Kaschula, eds.; De Gruyter Mouton, 2026). Sociolinguistics of Protests: Embodied Histories, Imagined Worlds, Emplaced Resistance, Volume 1 (A. Abdelhay, C. Severo, & S. Makoni, eds.; De Gruyter Brill, 2026); Sociolinguistics of Protests: Colonial Ideologies, Indigeneity, Antiracist Discourses, Volume 2 (A. Abdelhay, C. Severo, & S. Makoni, eds.; De Gruyter Brill, 2026); Insecurities in Language Policy and Planning (S. Makoni, C. Severo, A. Abdelhay, & A. Hartig, A. eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2026); This Isn’t a Book: Reimagining Ideas about Language and Knowledge through a Southern Epistemic Lens (S. Makoni, C. Severo, A. Abdelhay, & E. Dartey, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2026); Decolonising Sociolinguistics in Africa and its Diasporas (S. Mahachi, S. Makoni, & P. Quaynor, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2026); Reimagining Decoloniality Through Fluid Ways of Knowing: Watery Epistemologies (S. Makoni, C. Severo, & A. Abdelhay, eds.; Multilingual Matters, 2026); and Makoni, S., Severo, C.G; Abdelhay & Mafofo, L (2026) Language, Security and Terrorism Wiley Blackwell, 2026).
In addition, he is co-editor of the new Multilingual Matters book series Global Forum on Southern Epistemologies and serves as co-editor of the Journal of Applied Linguistics.
Finally, he is the architect of the African Studies Global Virtual Forum, which seeks to engage scholars in the Global North and Global South. The Global Virtual Forum, which hosted its inaugural school at Nelson Mandela University in July 2023, is organized by Pennsylvania State University and the University of Connecticut.
