UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Vivian Yenika-Agbaw has spent her life studying and analyzing hierarchical systems of oppression and race relations. Through her writing and teaching, she encourages compassion, empathy, inclusivity and social change.
As a professor of literature and literacy in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, a mentor to many Penn State students, and an advocate for marginalized peoples, her research focuses on representing historically marginalized groups, including those marginalized by race, ethnicity, gender, class and disability.
“It aims to identify those who are marginalized and work to include their voices through literature,” she said.
Motivated to act by experience
The course of her research was shaped by her own youth and education. Originally from Cameroon, as a young student she witnessed a disparity of resources among students from various social classes, even within her own classrooms. Though only some had access to basic materials such as textbooks and pencils, all of her classmates were expected to compete and succeed.
“This disparity and inequality were something that people all saw, but didn’t want to say anything about,” she said.
This experience motivated her to act. She went on to earn a bachelor of arts in English language and literature from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon; a master of arts from the University of Connecticut in English education; and a doctorate from Penn State in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in language and literacy education, and expertise in children’s and adolescent literature.
Carrying inclusivity and empathy forward
When she became a Penn State professor in 2008, she began to teach her students about hierarchal systems of oppression and race relations, how these manifest through the stories we privilege in the classroom and other curricular materials. She also deliberately cultivates an environment and atmosphere of inclusivity and empathy regularly through her instructional practices, with the hope that her students carry these practices forward into their futures.