Dr. Marsha R. Robinson
Title: Assistant Professor of History, Interim Director of the Black Studies Minor Program.
Education: Ph.D - The Ohio State University (including a year in the Graduate Program in African American and African Studies); MA - Central Connecticut State University; BSFS - The School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Diploma - Columbus School for Girls.
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Current city of residence: Westerville
What particular topic do you most enjoy teaching? I love introducing students to the African Diaspora as a space of history, neighbors, action, agency and opportunity. African Diaspora history is far greater than the Atlantic Slave Trade. There are Africans among the ancestors of the royal families of Europe such as the Florentine Medici family, the Portuguese Sousa family and even in the ancestry of Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of King George III. African Diaspora people like Juan Garrido and Isabel de Olvera were conquistadors and colonizers of the New World before Africans were enslaved in Virginia Colony. African Americans were patriots like Crispus Attucks and Loyalists like "Colonel" Tye of the Black Brigade in the Queen's Rangers.
Some were as wealthy as millionaires in their day, such as James Forten of Philadelphia, Mary Ellen Pleasant of San Francisco, and George W. Bush (d. 1863) who fought with Andrew Jackson at New Orleans and who later settled and financed the pioneer community north of the Columbia River, a settlement that became the State of Washington.
African Diaspora history frees me to teach normalcy rather than perpetuate the ills of plantation-focused pathologies. There is much social healing that can take place with African Diaspora history.
Why should every person you meet want to know more about your area of expertise? There are at least two reasons for learning about Africa and African Diaspora history. First, the American economy is becoming more entwined with the many national economies in Africa and we grow more dependent upon African resources. I suggest that people visit the website for the United States Africa Command at www.africom.mil or visit www.pbs.org for information about the increasing activity of the U.S., the European Union and China in developing African economies. Even the Ohio Department of Development maintains an international trade office in South Africa to promote Ohio exports to the continent. An understanding of African history and cultures, then, is a matter of American economic security.
Second and equally important, there is so much to learn from the many African peoples and empires and societies. Some of the value systems there have been around for over 3,000 years and many of these systems have contributed to the formation of Western civilization. These include protecting women's property rights as seen in the Siete Partidas legal code of Spain and the importance of local access to the head of the Christian churches as seen in the Coptic and other orthodox churches. I find in my research a wealth of alternatives to organizing governments, communities and families from which I learn how to improve the world in which I live and how to become a better and happier person. I want others to consider African and African Diaspora history as an infinite encyclopedia of wisdom to explore.
What is your favorite aspect of teaching? If the classroom is compared to an intellectual garden, then professors plant information in the minds of students. My favorite moments occur each time a student's face glows as a new idea takes root and blooms. At Otterbein College, I see those new ideas bloom. The precious aspect about teaching here is the opportunity to nurture students to the point that they can cultivate their curiosity into lifelong learning.
Why do you teach at Otterbein? Otterbein College has a scintillating synergy that encourages excellence in teaching and student mentoring, excellence in research, and active engagement in our campus and broader communities. Many institutions require a faculty member to focus on teaching or research. There is little encouragement to engage the community. In the discipline of Black Studies, we promote a lifelong connection between the "town" and the "gown" communities but few universities value that connection. In our history major, we want our students to understand world history in addition to American or European history. Otterbein College is a gem.
What are the best qualities you see in Otterbein students? Curiosity and commitment. Most of our students seem eager to learn new ideas. I'm impressed with what they do with the ideas. They have conversations with friends at other campuses and share knowledge with family members. That much may seem ordinary. Otterbein College students get involved with service projects to put those ideas into action before they graduate. That is really impressive.
What question are you most often asked by students? Why didn't they teach this to us in high school?
What is the ONE THING you want your students to take away from your class or from knowing you? Each of my students has the power to change the world and how some of us view each other. It is up to them to determine if they will change their neighborhood, their city, their nation or the global community.
What research are you currently conducting/projects are you currently working on? I've recently presented "Gender Wars and Passionate Economic Crises - Remembering Africa's Intercontinental Empires" at the Wars and Conflicts in Africa Conference at the University of Texas-Austin and I am extending that into a book-length work currently entitled Matriarchy, Patriarchy and Imperialism in Africa: a Historical Survey. For at least 2,000 years, invaders from other parts of the African continent, or from Asia or from Europe have imposed patriarchy to liberate women's matriarchal wealth and transfer it to the invader's economy. In other words, I see patriarchy as an inexpensive and highly efficient imperial weapon used to implode otherwise unconquerable matriarchal states (meaning that men and women share power rather than seek dominance) by teaching men to hate their female compatriots.
If you were not an educator, what would be your dream job? If I were not a professor, I would still be an educator. I think I would become an activist for socially responsible economic development in the United States and overseas.
What are your hobbies outside the classroom? I spend time looking for the beauty in world: animal and plant life, sunrises and sunsets, joyful people, well-cooked food, well-designed homes and furniture, and well-crafted stories. Historians and social scientists know some of the ugliest things that people can do to one another. The pursuit of beauty gives me balance and hope.