Rogers Orock’s career has sent him all over the world, on a long and winding road that led him recently to Lafayette College.
Though the new faculty member of the Africana studies department currently lives in the United States, he has lived and studied in Cameroon, Nigeria, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, France and South Africa.
Orock says that his background helps him think “less in terms of absolutes and more in terms of the relative presence or absence” and has led him to believe “the idea that there are many ways to which people respond to a thing.”
While enjoying his time at Lafayette, Orock has not forgotten the different places that he has inhabited, each of them leaving a distinct mark on him.
The new professor earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Buea in Cameroon, a place that “remains very close to my heart” that he still visits regularly.
Orock draws a great deal of inspiration from Cameroonian historian and philosopher Joseph-Achille Mbembe for his teaching philosophy.
“By the time I was in graduate school in 2010, I had developed a strong affinity for Mbembe’s work,” he said.
Orock’s students express appreciation for the multicultural experience he brings to discussions.
“He’s able to create dialogues and see things from multiple perspectives because he grew up in a lot of different places,” said Ma’a Feaster ‘28, a student in Orock’s Introduction to Africana Studies class.
“For me, the big thing is getting my students to learn and appreciate the value of how to make connections between things that may seem unrelated,” Orock said.
When looking for a candidate, Wendy Wilson-Fall, the head of the Africana studies department, was looking for someone who had experienced much of the world on a first-hand basis.
“We hoped to find someone of international origin who could contribute to the Africana studies program,” Wilson-Fall said.
“He’s personable, amicable, well informed, excited about his work and he has fantastic professional experience,” she continued.
This is Orock’s first semester at Lafayette. He previously taught anthropology at Louisiana State University and believes there is an intersection between the two fields of study.
“Africana studies is a discipline that is open and adopts disciplinary theories and methodologies from other disciplines,” he said. “Anthropology is well suited to that because anthropology is also multidisciplinary in many ways.”
Orock aims for class discussions that challenge viewpoints and cultivate a learning environment for all, something he was not able to easily achieve at Louisiana State University due to its larger class sizes.
“The classes here are smaller and, of course, that has meant I have more time, more room, for engaging and exploring with students in terms of conversations in class,” Orock said.
At Lafayette, Orock can have in-depth discussions during his class periods.
“The conversations with my students in class not only able to capture the essence of the materials that we discuss or were assigned for the week, but we are able to then make connections with what is happening around us every day,” Orock said.
