About this episode

Elöise King discusses the challenges faced in creating her documentary, The Shadow Scholars, which explores Kenya's essay mill industry through the lens of Patricia Kingori's experiences.

From travel bans to the risk of criminalization for her film's subjects, Elöise King had to persevere through many hurdles to get her documentary, The Shadow Scholars, to screen. In The Shadow Scholars, cameras follow Patricia Kingori, the youngest Black woman professor in Oxford’s 925-year history, on her compelling global investigation into Kenya’s hidden essay mills — an industry where an estimated 40,000 highly educated yet underemployed Kenyans make ends meet by writing academic papers ...

People in this episode

Guest: Elöise King

Topics covered

• documentary filmmaking
• education
• Kenya
• academic integrity
• interviews

Keywords

• documentary
• The Shadow Scholars
• Elöise King
• Patricia Kingori
• essay mills
• Kenya
• academic papers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Oxford

Books & works: The Shadow Scholars

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