Poet, Professor, Presenter: Vanessa Wynder Quainoo Does it All

For 30 years, Quainoo has impacted the world with her work

It’s rare for an academic to write poetry. Communications studies and Africana studies Associate Professor Vanessa Wynder Quainoo, however, is the exception. 

Quainoo has written several poetry books, despite receiving pushback in her career because of it. 

“I’ve not always felt an open door from the scholarly community,” Quainoo said. “You have to be a little bit thick-skinned. You have to know the value of it and believe in the value of it as scholarly work and push and push and push. I’m now beginning to see open doors, but sometimes it’s been very challenging, lonely and difficult.”

Quainoo is more than just a poet. She has been at URI for over 30 years. Within that time span, she has served as a professor and also spent eight years as the department chair of Africana studies. 

As Department Chair, Quainoo worked to make Black History Month celebrations University-wide events. Before her implementation, February was celebrated in the Africana studies program and among African American students, but did not get much more attention than that. 

“[Making Black History Month a University-wide event] might be one of the things I’m most happy about of my work here at URI,” Quainoo said. “African American history is our history. The history of African American history helps contribute to making America, America. You have to build a coalition. You have to do things together.” 

In her effort to make Black History Month a more celebrated holiday on campus, she spoke to many departments, administrators and faculty members in order to get her message across. As a result, the University was able to get notable speakers that drew large crowds. The most prominent speaker was Charles Ogletree, a Harvard law professor who worked with former President Barack Obama and his family during his presidency. 

Since stepping down as chair, Quainoo has not helped organize Black History Month, but was called back this year to help plan the celebrations for 2020. She is working with her committee and many departments to develop the month-long events for early next year. 

“It’s a real affirmation when your colleagues ask you to come back and do something like this,” Quainoo said. 

While Quainoo dedicates much of her year to teaching classes about race in the media and developing programs at URI, she also participates in a conference in Ghana each year. 

Her husband is the Founder of the Building Relationships in the Diaspora/Global Experience (BRIDGE) Conference which takes place in Ghana annually. Quainoo has presented her research at the BRIDGE Conference for two years. Quainoo also collects qualitative data while in Ghana, collecting research for her long-term study on conflict resolution in the African context.
Quainoo’s time in Ghana has accumulated over the years and showed her the difference between Ghana and the United States. 

“[Ghana] is different,” Quainoo said. “It’s far more relational. It’s family and community invested in far different ways. We’re indoors in this culture, and sometimes our relational interactions are somewhat superficial. In Ghana, if someone says, ‘How are you?’ you have to stop, and talk and share.” 

Many years ago, Quainoo helped develop a Ghanan study abroad program for students. She worked on that program for approximately 14 years before stepping down. According to Quainoo, the program became very popular amongst students. It included aspects of academics, cultural immersion and humanitarian work. Quainoo’s experiences in Ghana helped drive the creation of the trip.

“I was taking my children [to Ghana], and I saw another part of the world, and seeing humans suffering in that context, but also I saw a balance of human wealth redefined, and I saw how it was impacting my children positively, and I said ‘Wow, we are a University, Rhode Island students should have at least the opportunity,’” Quainoo said. 

Communications Studies Chair Norbert Mundorf considers Quainoo an integral member of the URI community. 

“Professor Quainoo has been a valued member of our department, the Harrington School of Communication and Media for many years, as well as Africana Studies from its inception,” Mundorf said. “From the beginning she has brought a fresh perspective to our department and helped us as well as her students take unique points of view.”

Graduate Student Oluwadamilola Animashaun believes in the power of Quainoo’s teachings as a professor.

“In and out of class, Dr. Vanessa Quainoo would simultaneously describe the inexpressible mistreatment of black people at the hands of those who considered themselves to be white, without deterring off the path of reconciliation, redemption and justice for those in the yet-to-be United States,” Oluwadamilola said. “Dr. Quainoo [reminds] those in her class not to just be scholars but to locate and maintain their humanity.”