His research interest is African History since the 19th Century in the tradition of the Ibadan School; his geographic areas of interest include Africa, Latin America and the United States; and his thematic fields, Atlantic history, diaspora and migration, empire and globalization, intellectual history, international relations, religion and culture. Recent courses he has taught include Introduction to Traditional Africa, an interdisciplinary course on the peoples and cultures of Africa, designed for students with varied backgrounds in African Studies, and Epistemologies of African/Black Studies, a course on the rise and evolution of African/Black Studies, with a focus on pedagogy, methodology, and the historical development of scholarship in the field.

Before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in 1991, Falola taught history at the University of Ife in the 1980s, and also held short-term teaching appointments at the University of Cambridge in England, York University in Canada, Smith College of Massachusetts in the United States, The Australian National University in Canberra, and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Nigeria. In addition, he has given numerous lectures on all continents.