{"id":4446,"date":"2024-07-11T16:37:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T20:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/?p=4446"},"modified":"2024-07-11T16:37:43","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T20:37:43","slug":"an-inspiring-french-scholar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/2024\/an-inspiring-french-scholar\/","title":{"rendered":"An Inspiring French Scholar with Enormous Heart and Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Gilbert Doho<\/p><\/div>\n

Gilbert Doho<\/b>, PhD, was a playwright and scholar who opened cultural worlds for students and showed an unforgettable concern for others.<\/span><\/p>\n

For <\/span>Hannah Clarke<\/b> (CWR \u201921; GRS \u201921, public health), Doho was a joyful advisor, her study-abroad champion and the professor who helped weave old and new strands of her life together: her proficiency in French, family roots in the British West Indies and academic interest in neocolonial West Africa that was born in his classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

He provided \u201can opportunity for me to develop my sense of self and my own identity,\u201d Clarke said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doho, who died in December, spent 20 years at Case Western Reserve. He was an associate professor of French, a scholar of African Francophone literature and culture, and section head in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also was founding director of the interdisciplinary Ethnic Studies Program, created to enhance the university\u2019s offerings on ethnicity and race. \u201cHe brought ingenuity and sheer passion to get it off and running,\u201d said<\/span> Jacqueline Nanfito<\/b>, PhD, an associate professor of Spanish, who helped launch the program.<\/span><\/p>\n

In classes, he shared his love of African culture with theatrical flair and often dressed in traditional African clothing. \u201cAs an educator,\u201d Nanfito said, \u201che was legendary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Cameroon, Doho focused his scholarship on West African literature and socio-political issues, writing frequently about injustices and grassroots empowerment.<\/span><\/p>\n

But after government retaliation over activist plays he\u2019d written, he came to the United States for academic freedom, said <\/span>Cheryl Toman<\/b>, PhD, who worked closely with him for years, first as a CWRU colleague and then after she moved to the University of Alabama, where she is a professor of French and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Classics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was tireless, he was brave, he was a good listener,\u201d Toman said. \u201cHe knew we live in an imperfect world. He always played an active role in trying to make things better for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot having his intellectual light, optimism and research,\u201d she added, \u201cis an enormous void for everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Clarke believes Doho\u2019s personal experience profoundly affected the lessons he imparted in teaching post-colonial studies. \u201cWhen you are colonized,\u201d she said, \u201cyou\u2019re told not to question anything. I think he was flipping that on its head [and telling students] instead of questioning nothing, to question everything … to have an infinite curiosity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a student at CWRU\u2019s School of Medicine, Clarke acutely feels both the loss and Doho\u2019s inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n

And one lesson from her undergraduate days is indelible. Clarke was having a bad day and missed a class of his, afraid she would cry during the session. When Doho later learned what happened, he told her: \u201c\u2019Come crying, and we\u2019ll figure it out from there,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThere was such tenderness in that. I think about that often.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to Doho, she brings that compassion to her work with patients. When she sees them crying, \u201cI don\u2019t get scared,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cI don\u2019t shy away. I\u2019m there so they aren\u2019t alone in that moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gilbert Doho<\/b>, PhD, was a playwright and scholar who opened cultural worlds for students and showed an unforgettable concern for others.
\nFor Hannah Clarke<\/b> (CWR \u201921; GRS \u201921, public health), Doho was a joyful advisor, her study-abroad champion and the professor who helped weave old and new strands of her life together: her proficiency in French, family roots in the British West Indies and academic interest in neocolonial West Africa that was born in his classes. …Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":481,"featured_media":4448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/147\/2024\/07\/02212132\/P35_gilbert-doho-cropped-350x.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/481"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4446"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4509,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4446\/revisions\/4509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}