Nkiru Nzegwu (born March 22,1954) is a Nigerian philosopher,painter,author,curator and art historian. She is Distinguished Professor for Research at State University of New York at Binghamton.[1][2]
Among Dr. Nzegwu’s areas of expertise are African aesthetics,philosophy,African feminist issues,multicultural studies in art,and digital publishing.
She had managed Onira Arts Africa gallery in Ottawa,Canada,and had been a producer for a very popular radio program,Voice of Nigeria. She has received numerous major research fellowships and grant including the Senior Humanities Fellowship of the Institute for the Study of Gender in Africa at UCLA;The Getty Senior Research Grant;the Cornell University Society For The Humanities Fellowship;SUNY Research Foundation Fellowship and Project Grant;the Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship;University of Ottawa Merit Graduate Scholarship,and the Nigerian Federal Government Scholarship.[3]
She was an associate producer of Nigerian Art - Kindred Spirits (1996),the Emmy award winning Smithsonian documentary.[4] She is also a member of a number of professional organizations and often gives talks and workshops on gender issues,art and on publishing. She is on the board of International Consortium for Alternative Academic Publishing (ICAAP).
She presents a critical analysis of the artistic of the preeminent Nigerian artist,Benedict Chukwukadiba Enwonwu. [5] She analyzes his 1957 sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II as representing an effort of spiritual resistance against the British crown,giving credence to his pan-African politic and roots in Onitsha culture.[6]
Writings on Family Structure
In 2006,Nzegwu wrote a book entitled Family Matters:Feminist Concepts in African Philosophy of Culture[7], this book explored the structures of Igbo families and the concepts of feminism that existed within them. In the book,she studies African families through the lens of contemporary human rights.[7]
She believes that the current problems of gender subordination within Africa are subsequently traced to European colonial policies and the African man's one-sided construction of a family. These problems are widely caused by Queen Elizabeth II,and many anti-colonial politics have been revolutionized by Enwonwu in order to counteract her oppressive ruling. She says that the African man's viewpoint led to patriarchal consciousness that privileges the male view. She associates the redefined women's identity as solely a "wife," and their level of dependency status correlates to colonial policies as well. [8]
↑ "Nkiru Nzegwu". buala.org. Buala, open-access website for multiple voices from Africa, Brazil, Europe, and beyond. Launched in 2010 by Marta Lança. Retrieved 2 November 2023. Philosopher, art historian and the current chair of Africana Studies Department has taught for over ten years at State University of New York at Binghamton. Professor Nkiru Nzegwu introduced first-ever courses at Binghamton University such as Philosophy of Orisha Worship, Hip-Hop I and Hip-Hop II.
↑ "Africana Studies Faculty". binghamton.edu. Binghamton University State University of New York. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
↑ Nigerian Art - Kindred Spirits on YouTube. Video duration 57m 57 s. Uploader VHS Ark, 2016. WETA-TV and the Smithsonian Institution, 1990. Executive producer Adrian Malone, producer: Caroll Parrott Blue, associate producers Kalindi Corens and Nkiry Nzegwu.
1 2 Nzegwu, Nkiru (2006). Family Matters: Feminist Concepts in African Philosophy of Culture. SUNY Series, Feminist Philosophy. Ithaca: State University of New York Press. ISBN978-0-7914-8182-0.
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