Dr Jackson is a historian and currently Research Fellow in African Film and Visual History at the University of Brighton, and a Research Associate at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford. He holds degrees from SOAS University of London (History and Swahili), the University of Oxford (MSc African Studies), and a doctorate in history from the University of Cologne, Germany. He has published in both English and Swahili and also serves as an Assistant Examiner in Swahili IGCSE for Cambridge International Examinations. He has ridden the highs and lows of academia, and has mentored both graduate and postgraduate students at various stages of their degrees.