Obioma Nnaemeka
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Obioma Nnaemeka
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A mother blessed with two wonderful sons, a widely traveled scholar with a distinguished academic career and a woman who loves to laugh and make others laugh serves as a quick introduction to Obioma Nnaemeka, associate professor of French, women's studies and African American studies at IUPUI.
She is also the first recipient of the IUPUI Women's Studies Faculty Achievement Award, created this year to mark exceptional achievements in the women's studies program that is marking its 20th year on campus.
"It would take a bulldozer to force me to leave here," she said, adding:"So many wonderful things are happening here, it is an exhilarating intellectual arena where there is space to grow."
Nnaemeka credits IUPUI Chancellor Gerald Bepko, Vice Chancellors William Plater and Herman Blake, and Amanda Porterfield, chair of the department of women's studies at IUPUI, in making her experience at IUPUI rewarding. Nnaemeka joined IUPUI in 1991 after teaching in Benin City, Nigeria; the University of Minnesota; the University of Nigeria; Concordia University in Moorhead, Minn.; and at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
"I had aspirations of being a pharmacist, but I received a scholarship in French, and so that is what I chose, and I have never regretted that decision," said Nnaemeka. She is a former Rockefeller Humanist-in Residence and is president of the Association of African Women Scholars. She has received grants from organizations in the United States, Sweden and Canada, among others.
Her work has focused on societal transformation and making intellectual and cultural connections to provide solutions to global issues that touch all of us.
"Nothing appealed to me more than teaching as an avenue toward societal transformation and the relationship between research, social utility, knowledge and the relationships to society." She views her students as part of a global constituency, one that permits her to be a teacher and a learner, allowing her to continue to learn while teaching.
| Multiculturalism is an inevitability, not a choice, Nnaemeka believes, and teaching, especially in "an exhilarating intellectual arena," is an avenue toward societal transformation. |
She believes strongly that her work is not truly successful unless it helps to spark a change or transformation.
"We must work to find solutions, as it is easy to identify where the problems are, but much harder to work toward solutions." As the world moves to a global community, she believes understanding and the knowledge of cultures will be vital.
Teaching will continue to be heavily influenced by the wave of multiculturism now connecting the world's neighborhoods into a community.."Multiculturalism is inevitable; it is not a choice. We are compelled to come to terms with it. The days of isolated academic work are quickly disappearing, and if we ignore it, we are closing our eyes to reality," she said.
She is also concerned with the development of the next generation of teachers and the survival of the profession. "Economics plays such a big role, there is still an element of the missionary in what we do, and there is much sacrifice that must be made. It isn't an easy journey." She is quick to underscore the rewards and benefits of the teaching experience that she feels make up for the lack of equitable pay and extended-learning expectations teachers face.
Inspiring others to teach and to take part in learning is another area Nnaemeka is concerned about. "We need to make sure those on the margins of our society know the door is open for them, too. There must be a conducive environment that looks beyond recruitment to include retention. The institution has proven it can change, and it must, so others can experience the satisfaction I have found and permit others to let the splendor of learning touch them."
Inspiration for Nnaemeka came from her parents and uncle. "My father taught me the gift of writing; my uncle, who was a headmaster, took me to school; and my mother provided me with the strength to sustain it all."
Family continues to be an inspiration. Sons Ike, 19, a junior pre-medical student at IU Bloomington, and 11-year-old Uche, are her best friends and the source of her greatest work and highest rewards. Ike is a talented artist, and it appears Uche is following in his brother's footsteps, as he, too, is interested in becoming a doctor and is artistic. Uche serves as a cheerleader for his busy mom. "He was watching the Miss America pageant recently and he told me, 'Mom, you could whip all of them.' I can't tell you how good that made me feel."
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