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Rose A. Sackeyfio

Position: Associate Professor Department: English

Contact Info

Office: 224 Hall Patterson Phone: 336-750-2026 Fax: 336-750-2180

Biography

Rose Sackeyfio has taught in the Department of English at Winston-Salem State University since 1993 after completing a Ph. D. at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria where she taught for 10 years. Her area of specialization, and scholarly activities is inter-disciplinary and includes the literature of African and African-American women, Women’s Studies, Cultural and Diaspora Studies and recently, South Asian Women’s Writing. Her research interests evolved from over 40 years of travel and research in West Africa. Her publications and scholarly pursuits explore various aspects of the lives of African women in the global arena. Her many publications include book chapters and peer reviewed articles in the Journal of the African Literature Association and African Literature Today. She was a Co-Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities Initiative: Integrating India into the Liberal Arts Curriculum at WSSU. In 2011 she was awarded the WSSU Research Initiation Proposal Grant and produced a documentary in Accra, Ghana called Building Bridges: the Untold African Story. The film examines issues of memory, identity and belonging in the 21st century.

Her scholarly engagement includes numerous presentations in USA and international conferences in Europe, Africa and Asia including guest lectures at several universities in India. Dr. Sackeyfio is committed to international education as a way to build bridges across cultures in an era of globalization and change. She is the Co-Editor of a collection of critical essays, Emerging Perspectives on Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo who is a leading Nigerian woman writer.  Her current project is an edited volume of critical essays: Women Writing Diaspora:Transnational Perspectives in the 21st Century.

Educational Background

  • PhD, 1992, Ahmadu Bello University
  • MS, 1982, Hunter College C.U.N.Y.
  • BA, 1971, Brooklyn College C.U.N.Y.

Research and Projects 

The National Endowment for the Humanities India Area Studies Award at WSSU is a rewarding opportunity for professional development and research into the literature of Indian and other south Asian women writers. An important outcome of this new research interest is the articulation of strong similarities between African and Indian women's lives. These are evident in culturally defined roles for women, values, customs and practices and Hindu religion. . Further, I have made inroads in researching Indian, Nepali and Tibetan women's writing. These new works will form a unit on South Asian women's writing in ENG 2306 Women's Writing in a Global Context that will be taught in spring 2014. In addition, a joint publication on Hindu and African Goddesses is underway between myself and Dr. Sasi Kiran. In sum, first hand exposure to a new culture has afforded multiple rewards and enhanced my knowledge and research into women's lives as expressed in their literature.