Humanities Express

From the Dean: In Memoriam

We dedicate this issue of Humanities Express to the memory of John Conteh–Morgan who died on March 3, 2008 at the age of 59. A faculty member in the Department of French and Italian with a joint appointment in the Department of African American and African Studies, John was a beloved colleague, mentor, and teacher. In all of these roles, he excelled by inspiring excellence, enlightening minds, and lifting spirits. He was a man of extraordinary character, grace, and intelligence who leaves an impressive legacy of achievement and enduring memories to those of us who had the privilege of sharing in his life and his career.

John´s scholarship focused on African literature with a particular and unique passion for the study of African and African diasporic dramatic and performance traditions. He was a highly productive scholar who wrote many articles, book chapters, edited volumes, and translations as well as two outstanding book–length studies: Theatre and Drama in Francophone Africa: A Critical Introduction and Theatres of Delegitimation: Performance, Politics, and Transgression in Francophone Postcolonial Theatre. He also served his field through his dedicated work as editor–in–chief of Research in African Literatures, the premier journal of its kind in the world. Although he assumed full editorial responsibility for Research in African Literatures rather late in his career, many believe the work that he did for the journal on behalf of his colleagues and his profession most accurately reveals the generosity of spirit that set him apart from other scholars of his generation.

Those who knew John in the context of other communities that he inhabited would have many other points to stress, for he was a man who loved life and people. He was a grand, generous man, and a dedicated scholar of African culture and its diasporic legacies. We all share a sense of loss and extend sympathy to his wife, Miriam, who herself is our colleague and friend, and to their children. We in the College of Humanities–and, indeed, the community in the largest sense–have been diminished by the loss of our colleague, John Conteh-Morgan.

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