Academic X’cellence: Sharing stories from our inspiring StFX community
It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with StFX that our campus is filled with highly engaged students, educators, researchers, and leaders. Academic X’cellence shines a spotlight on members of our educational community to find out more about their unique experiences—both inside and outside of the classroom. (To see the full series, please click HERE.)
Here we meet Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana, a StFX human kinetics associate professor who teaches sport history and sport and identity. By teaching history, Dr. Nzindukiyimana hopes to open students’ eyes to the possibilities for the future, to envision better conditions, and to understand that we all have power and influence to be changemakers in any domain. Dr. Nzindukiyimana is part of a SSHRC Insight Grant on A People's History of Sport in Canada, where she is looking at Black women’s histories of sport in the Maritimes. She is also part of the selection committee for Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame and serves as Co-President of the Black Canadian Studies Association.
Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana: Looking at history as a way to look forward
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’ve been at StFX and in the Department of Human Kinetics since July 2016. When I arrived, I taught Historical Foundations of Sport and Physical Activity in Canada (in short, Sport History), Sport Sociology, Sport and Identity, and Mixed Research Methods. Currently, I focus on Sport History a third-year survey course, and Sport and Identity, a seminar senior course.
What drives you in teaching?
My teaching philosophy is anchored in my educational experience over time: as a science educator before graduate school, as a university teaching assistant, as a university lecturer and professor, and in my own decades-long (and ongoing) experience as a student. It is also greatly informed by my scholarship. A good educator, teacher, or professor, I believe, not only shapes students’ outlook on a subject, but also their overall outlook beyond, on the world, through the lens of the course’s topic. My goal, therefore, is to provide my students with all the necessary tools to at least begin to do this. This transpires in choice of content, class activities, discussions, and assignments design. As a professor, my philosophy is predicated upon (i) striving to facilitate an environment conducive to teaching/learning, and (ii) enhancing the reach of the students’ education, and (iii) ensuring professional growth.
What impact do you hope your teaching will have?
By teaching history, I hope to open students’ eyes to the possibilities for the future. How we interpret the past is directly tied to our actions in the present and beyond! For instance, sport history is not so much about sport, i.e., a series of facts, dates, and records. Anyone can pick those up anywhere. Rather, the aim is to put them in context and use them to demystify the world around us, understand the socio-cultural forces at work in many of the norms and institutions we take for granted in sport and therefore in society (this ranges from nationalism, colonialism, racism, classism, to sexism, capitalism, and more). I hope students are inspired to develop a keen critical mind, question what doesn’t work, appreciate what has been silenced, and envision better. In our current world, it is more important than ever to understand who and what makes information and knowledge. Sport studies make it clear that we are in control of our reality, and our future. Understanding that we all have power—influence—is key, because we cannot be changemakers in any domain if we accept that the way things are is immovable.
Could you talk about innovations in your classrooms or research?
My research is focused on interpretation and on stories. That is, it is not about collecting information just for the sake of it, but about being purposeful about the narratives we use to build identities and futures on. This is why my courses do not require memorization of facts and dates. I encourage critical engagement with material to understand what it tells us about today’s society and how we can use it to build a better world. Equally, the thrust of my research in the past is the future. I don’t know if it is an innovation per se, but I am purposeful in my approach to history as a way to look forward, rather than back.
Are there awards, accomplishments or involvements to mention?
I am part of a SSHRC grant on A People's History of Sport in Canada, where I am exploring looking at Black women’s histories in sport in the Maritimes. I am working with scholars who are passionate about illustrating the various ways sport has played a role in enhancing lives and defining marginalized identities.
I am also currently part of the selection committee for Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame. This is an opportunity I do not take lightly, because it goes directly into shaping the histories, and therefore the possibilities, of Canada as a whole. I serve as Co-President of the Black Canadian Studies Association, which is an organization that unites scholars passionate about the fight for social justice across the nation and who do important work highlighting the triumphs of Black people, as well as their ongoing struggles due to a violent historical legacy. This work is about undeterred hope and resilience. I am very proud to be in position to help empower fellow scholars, community workers, students, and artists. I occupy various other positions (including the new Sport History Review Journal Editor) and am part of a national and international network of scholars of sport and Black Studies. All are key in shaping the kind of scholar I am, the kind of teacher I am, and the kind of citizen of the world I am.
I have also been invited to present my research at and on national and international academic meetings and panels. I have spoken about racial discrimination to sport organizations such as Canadian Coaching Association/Association canadienne des entraîneurs and Black Coaches Canada and I have appeared on various podcasts and media platforms. My work has also been published in Canadian and international peer-reviewed forums, including Sport History Review, Journal of Canadian Studies, Society & Leisure, and The International Journal of the History of Sport.
What drew you to teaching, and at the post-secondary level?
I really love sharing knowledge with people and learning with them but also from them. Since high school, I have had it in mind to teach for a living. To me, teaching is as much about learning constantly. I also think a good professor can have a crucial impact on an individual. I had some very compelling teachers and professors as a student, and I try to emulate their best qualities to inspire student’s own sense of wonder about the world. I have taught in various capacities to all ages, from kindergarten to high school, but I have to say the post-secondary level is ideal. It is challenging, but when things go well, it is very satisfying.
What excites you about teaching at StFX?
The relatively smaller classes, especially in upper years, are a plus. It does provide the opportunity to work more closely with students and to engage with the individual students who are more engaged and interested in being more involved. There is also the opportunity to work with brilliant young scholars. For motivated students, StFX is an ideal environment in which to grow and being part of their journey is nice.
What’s something surprising about yourself?
I cannot accurately judge whether this is surprising or not, as that is a complicated question that needs an outside perspective… What I would say is that, surprisingly enough for a Black historian of Black history, I have a complicated relationship with Black History Month. This might not be very surprising to those who know the history of the month. In the early 1900s, it launched as Negro History Week in the United States. Its goal was to help school curricula catch up, after which it would no longer be necessary. It was originally intended to be temporally. This, of course, did not happen and in fact the week grew to a month, and more nations adopted it. Therefore, the continued, and necessary, existence of Black History Month is a testament to the failure to fully include Black history in curricula internationally. It is a glaring mirror to the ongoing systemic anti-Black racism and, worse, it is consistently misunderstood and remains tied to the fact that Black people have to persistently justify their existence, their future, to the world.
