Faces of Michigan

Frieda Ekotto: Broadens student horizons

Frieda Ekotto, associate professor of French and of comparative literature, was one of six faculty members to receive the University of Michigan’s Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award in spring 2007.

The award, which was established in 1996 in honor of Johnson, dean emeritus of the School of Social Work, recognizes faculty members who have contributed to the development of a culturally and ethnically diverse campus community. Honorees receive $5,000 to further their personal research, teaching and scholarship activities.

Ekotto's research focuses on modern French and African literature and cinema. She has worked to organize trips for undergraduates and graduate students to the Pan African Film Festival in Burkina Faso, and has organized visits, seminars, lectures and conferences by African writers, artists and scholars at U-M.

"Professor Ekotto is a superb mentor to her numerous graduate students and also to junior faculty," writes Michele Hannoosh, professor of French and chair of the department. "She regularly participates in events sponsored by the admissions office for underrepresented students. Her intellectual and personal commitment to diversity has had an immensely enriching effect on the department and the University."

In 2000, Ekotto received the University’s Faculty Recognition Award for her distinguished scholarship and teaching, outstanding curricular contributions that broaden student’s understanding of diversity, and her generous service to her department and other campus units. Ekotto has successfully recruited a number of African students to the University.

The University Record reported in 2000: “Frieda Ekotto is an intellectual leader with broad scholarly interests in the fields of 20th-century French literature and theory and Francophone culture and literature. Known and respected for her commitment to cultural diversity, Professor Ekotto compels students and colleagues to think about how difference is constructed in the Western world and how these constructs affect the lives and survival of people of color.”

She has developed and teaches a wide range of innovative courses on literature and law in France; literature and film in Africa, the Caribbean and Maghreb; post-colonial narratives by Francophone women and minorities; and representations of family and friendship in Francophone film and literature. Her curricular contributions have been critical to the teaching of race and ethnicity in the context of French-speaking cultures.

A member of the faculty since 1994, Ekotto is highly regarded by students and colleagues who praise her intellectual generosity and her success in motivating students to think critically.

Excerpted from The University Record.