Dr. Kodjo Adabra to visit Centenary College for lecture November 9
SHREVEPORT, LA — Dr. Kodjo Adabra, associate professor of Francophone studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo, will visit Centenary next month to give a lecture and interact with students and faculty members. Adabra will discuss his journey from Togo to America, including his experience as a graduate student and his work as a professor in America’s largest integrated system of public higher education, the SUNY system.
His lecture, “From Africa to the American Dream,” will also offer an analysis of contemporary issues in our society. The lecture is Thursday, November 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium at Centenary’s Hurley School of Music. It is free and open to the public.
Adabra completed his undergraduate education at Université de Lomé in his native Togo and then earned a master of arts in French Studies at North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Francophone Literatures from the University of Tennessee. He has been a member of the SUNY Geneseo faculty since 2010. His primary research deals with sub-Saharan Francophone African literature from Post-colonial Africa, with a focus on diasporic literature, literary transnationalism, migration, identity, and exile.
Adabra has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships at SUNY Geneseo, recognizing his excellence in teaching and mentorship as well as his scholarship and research. In addition to his awards and recognitions at SUNY Geneseo, he received the SUNY System-wide Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2020, and the Chancellor's Award for Internationalization (CAFI) in 2011. He has published several articles and books in both English and French, including a memoir, The Power of An Untamed Mindset: A Story of Resilience, published in 2023.
Resilience was a necessity for Adabra as he navigated a frustrating and often deeply lonely path from his initial education in Togo to his eventual career in the United States. After completing two management degrees in Togo, he ran into what he describes as “the harsh reality of a brutally inept system” as he and many other talented young people with college degrees searched for meaningful employment in the country, frequently to no avail. After much thought, Adabra decided that he would have to leave his native country, including all of his family and friends, in order to pursue his personal and professional path. He moved to the United States, worked hard to learn English, and completed a master’s program while working full-time overnight at a Target store. Adabra notes that this schedule was challenging, but the most difficult part of this period of his life was his pervasive loneliness, especially during milestone moments such as his graduation ceremony. Watching his classmates celebrate the accomplishment with their families and other well-wishers brought him “an indescribable stab of pain.” Adabra has channeled all of these struggles and experiences into a unique and very personal approach to teaching undergraduate students.
“My primary research deals with sub-Saharan Francophone African literature from Post-colonial Africa, with a focus on diasporic literature, literary transnationalism, migration, identity, and exile - all of which connect with my own personal experiences and my existence,” explained Adabra. “I believe this makes the materials that I teach more relevant to my students through my passion, personal connection, and promotion of critical thinking to escape falling into the danger of stereotypes and single stories. My hope in promoting critical thinking in my teaching is that each and every student leaves my classroom with new questions, with skills to productively and efficiently tackle those questions, and with an ability to think in complex ways about some of the most interesting and important issues of yesterday, of today and consequently of tomorrow. I thus enjoy mentoring undergraduate research of my students on the topics of Francophone African cultures, migration and identity, and diasporic literature, for presentations at national conferences.”
Dr. Andia Augustin-Billy, associate professor of French and Francophone Studies at Centenary, has assigned Adabra’s memoir as a text in her course “Race and Gender in Pop Culture.” Students in the course, as well as students from other courses, will have the opportunity to meet with Adabra and discuss the memoir during his visit to campus.
“Crossing geographic boundaries, negotiating citizenship, and redefining belonging have always been hallmarks of the American experience,” said Augustin-Billy. “The timeliness of these issues here and abroad, and keeping up with Centenary’s mission to have a campus enriched by individuals from many faiths and cultures, have led me to invite Dr. Adabra. It is vital that we hear voices that add to our understanding of what it means to be an American today. It is equally important that we examine transnationalism, for instance, as we engage with issues that often bind all of us in our commonalities.”
Adabra’s visit is presented by the Centenary Department of Foreign Languages and generously underwritten by the Attaway Professorships in Civic Culture program. The event is co-sponsored by the Centenary Black Student Union and the Centenary Student Government Association.