With Ohio State since 2006, Kobo’s research and teaching interests include 20th century West African social and religious history; contemporary Islamic history; Sufism; Islam under French and British colonialism in Africa; and the social history of West African migrants in the United States. Kobo has received prestigious awards and grants to support his scholarly work including the MacArthur Fellowship for International Peace and the Boren Fellowship. He also was recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences with the 2021-22 Susan M. Hartmann Mentoring and Leadership Award. During 2012-2013 academic year, he was appointed a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford (UK). He is currently working on his second book manuscript tentatively titled, "The Gun and the Rosary: Subtle Relations of Co-existence between Charismatic Muslim Leaders and French Colonial Administration in Burkina Faso, 1920-1946." He earned his PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s in international relations and a bachelor’s degree with honors from City College of New York.