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A scholar, translator and committed humanist, Dr. Pamela
Olúbùnmi Smith is Professor of English and Humanities at the University
of Nebraska at Omaha where she teaches courses on multicultural
humanities, the writings of women of color, and American ethnic
literatures in both the Goodrich Scholarship Program, a one-of-a-kind
multicultural and interdisciplinary two-year undergraduate program, and
in the English Department. Dr. Smith is the recipient of numerous
campus-wide faculty and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
pedagogy and research grants and fellowships. A well-traveled
multilingual with a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University
of Washington, Dr. Smith's professional training and experience are
interdisciplinary, spanning the broad areas of national literatures as
well as culture and translation studies. Her research interests are in
Yorùbá studies, translation and the criticism of African literatures,
Anglophone and Francophone African literatures. Professor Smith’s
extensive publication includes numerous articles and presentations on
translation, pedagogy and literary criticism at national and
international conferences; review essays and book reviews in many
refereed journals; and public readings from her translations.
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| Following the lead of Wolé Sóyinká,
1986 Nobel laureate in literature, who translated Ògbójú Ode, the
classical novel of pioneer Nigerian writer, D. O. Fágúnwà from Yorùbá
into English in 1968, Dr. Smith translated in 1984 Igbó Olódùmarè
(Forest of the Almighty), the second of Fágúnwà's five Yorùbá
classics. Since then she has translated Efúnsetán Aníwúrà, Ìyálóde
Ìbàdàn & Olú Omo Tinúubú, Ìyálóde Ègbá (Africa World Press, 2005),
two much acclaimed historical plays by leading Yorùbá contemporary
writer, Akínwùmí Ìsòlá, and is presently completing her English
translation of Omo Olúkùn Esin (forthcoming), the first and only
Yorùbá revolutionary novel by Adébáyò Fálétí. Her essays on Fágúnwà and
Ìsòlá, published in META, The Literary Griot, and
METAMORPHOSES; Journal of Literary Translation, are considered
critical to the relatively sparse criticism available on indigenous
African literatures. In 2002, Dr. Smith produced English-Yorùbá
Dictionary: Vol 219, an 8,000-word serial dictionary for Prime Ad!
Services GmbH, Berlin, Germany. In 2004, Dr. Smith partnered with
colleague, Dr. Adébùsólá Onàyemí, in producing a much-needed English-Yorùbá/Yorùbá-English
Dictionary On-line, a work in progress,
www.Yorùbádictionary.com
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| Dr. Smith has won numerous summer faculty
fellowships and awards for research and teaching, including the 1994
Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She
actively served for six years on the board of the Nebraska Humanities
Council. Currently, she is Secretary of the Association of African
Women Scholars (AAWS). Dr. Smith was a former member of the African
Studies Association (ASA). She has served on the Executive Council of
the African Literature Association (ALA) to which she has been a
longtime member. Along with colleague, Dr. Wangui wa Goro, Dr. Smith
initiated the newly-formed Translation Caucus of the ALA in 2005.
Presently, she is serving on the ALA’s Awards Committee and is a member
of the editorial board of The Journal of the African Literature
Association (JALA). She is actively involved in community
service on the Program Committee of the YWCA board. |