Nokes continues stay, research abroad in Uganda

A Troy professor will continue his research in Africa for three more months despite a grant that was supposed to expire at the end of June.

Thanks to a Fulbright scholarship, Dr. Richard Nokes has spent most of 2026 in Uganda with hopes of turning the country’s spoken history into a written one.

“The printing press didn’t come to Uganda until the late 19th century, and widespread literacy is even more recent,” Nokes said. “Most of these stories have been passed down through oral tradition, so I’m traveling all over Uganda to do video and audio recording of these stories so they won’t be lost.”

His time in the Ugandan Kingdoms will come to an end this semester, though the original plan was for him to have already returned.

His scholarship was initially set to expire at the end of June, but a lengthy research permit process cost him three months of his time in Uganda. To make up for that lost time, Fulbright granted him three more months, extending his stay to October.

“Unfortunately, many researchers simply choose to research illegally – I’ve been surprised by how common that is, especially among European and other African universities,” Nokes said. “Of course, Troy University and the Fulbright program operate within proper ethical guidelines, so I went through the permitting process, which took nearly nine months in total, three of which were when I was already in Uganda.

“Although I used that time to do teaching and seminars at my host school, Kyambogo University, my research really didn’t begin until my time was halfway through.”

That wasn’t the only thing in Nokes’ way, either. An Ebola outbreak originated in the very Ugandan Kingdom he planned on beginning his research in.

After ensuring he was safe to undergo the personal interactions necessary to conduct his research, he was finally able to begin.

“The very first place I was supposed to research was in a town called Bundibugyo – and the particular Ebola strain that had an outbreak is called the Bundibugyo virus,” Nokes said.

Thankfully for Nokes, these obstacles didn’t decrease the amount of Ugandan history there is to learn, and in the past few months, he’s been learning a great deal of it. He attributes his speed and abundance of stories, experiences and connections to his research methods and the way he interacts with the Ugandan people.

“Once my research got started, it started moving quickly, and in fact has only picked up speed as I have gotten a reputation in the country as an ethical researcher,” Nokes said. “My initial goal was to interview at least 20 storytellers with the hope of reaching 50, and about a week ago I passed the 50 storytellers mark and have gathered over 100 stories in many different languages.

“Now, I’m in the position of having cultural leaders who have heard of my research contact me asking me to come, and others asking me to return to areas where I’ve already been. If I spent 20 more years here, I would still have plenty of storytellers lined up, eager to share their stories.”

Research hasn’t been the only thing on Nokes’s agenda. He’s made sure to carve out time to explore and experience the culture of the country he is visiting.

One particular day of exploring led him to a hike through a mountainous region that he described as being similar to the Scottish Highlands.

“Our guide took us to the highest peak for the best view, and as we went we saw another group coming from the peak [who] looked fresh like the hike had not been bad,” Nokes said. “It took us a very long time to get to the top, and I was drenched in sweat and dirty from trying to get footholds and handholds on some of the steeper parts of the incline.”

As it turned out, the group of calm-looking climbers weren’t climbers at all, just casual hikers that hadn’t even attempted to reach the peak.

“There was an official name for the peak – the local name was Fear Hill because almost everyone gets to the foot of the hill and turns back out of fear because it is so steep,” Nokes said. “We had made an incredibly difficult climb at very high altitude out of total ignorance.”

It’s experiences and connections, like those, with the Ugandan people that Nokes says have really surprised him. He didn’t expect them to be so willing to share not only their stories, but their lives with him and the rest of the world.

“As part of my informed consent form, they have the option for the stories to be shared publicly or only be used for this research project, and every single storyteller has chosen their stories to be shared publicly,” Nokes said. “In fact, in one community, they said they would refuse to participate unless I promised these stories would be shared with the world.”

Despite already blowing his expectations out of the water for how much he’d be able to learn from his time abroad, Nokes will remain in Uganda for another three months to add to his surplus of discoveries.