By Gabrielle Bonifacio
From a B.A. in Psychology and German Studies, a long career in social work, and a Ph.D. in Childhood Studies, to being the founding president of the Black German Heritage and Research Association (BGHRA), Adjunct Professor Dr. Rosemarie Peña brings a distinctly unique portfolio of experiences to the German Studies Program at the University of British Columbia.
Initially, Dr. Peña worked extensively with traumatized youth as a social worker. Years of hard work and transitioning into a supervisor role, however, led to a case of burnout that eventually brought her to computers and digital work. Interestingly enough, her experience in web design is what paved the path for the founding of the BGHRA, as she utilized her skills to create a network to connect with other Black Germans. It wasn’t until she received a push from her mentor, Dr. Sara Lennox (Professor Emerita in German and Scandinavian Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst), that she decided to pursue further studies.
“[Sara] discovered me when I was a Black German trying to find my family, just learning in a personal way,” Dr. Peña says, stating that her initial intention was to continue German Studies at the graduate level. However, due to intersecting factors of age, disability, and unavailability of a German Master’s Program at her university in New Jersey, Dr. Peña found herself turning to a new yet somewhat familiar direction: Childhood Studies.
“I have no regrets now,” Dr. Peña says, as she begins to recall the unexpected events that would go on to shape her academic career. “German Studies is always going to be available to me, but Childhood Studies gave me the insight that I needed.”
One of the benefits of Childhood Studies, Dr. Peña points out, is that its interdisciplinary nature creates a rich crossover into various fields: Adoption Studies, Feminist Studies, Critical Race Theory, and of course, German Studies. Dr. Peña credits her wide breadth of knowledge for allowing her to bring “something different to German.”
Her love for children extends to her music taste as well. When asked about her favourite song, Dr. Peña sent a link to Kinderlied, by Joy Denalane, which is exactly what it sounds like.
“It’s a lullaby that she’s singing to her son,” Dr. Peña says, chuckling. “You can tell I like kids.”
Although Childhood Studies wasn’t her first choice, Dr. Peña ultimately affirms that it was the right choice: “I think that things are divinely designed.”
In fact, Dr. Peña’s life has been rather full of surprises, one of them being her status as an adjunct professor for UBC’s Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies (CENES).
“I never expected that I was going to be a professor at UBC and that changed a lot,” Dr. Peña says candidly. “I’m disabled. I’m speaking to you right now from my bed. And I’m 65 years old. But to know that Ervin Malakaj and David Gramling thought enough about my scholarship and my work to allow me to be a professor has opened so many doors, and I’m really excited to see where I go.”
Dr. Peña’s position at UBC initially emerged as a result of her scholarship and association with the BGHRA, an organization which has been a source of joy and “unexpected camaraderie” throughout the last decade. Although she had already led the Black German Culture society for ten years prior, Dr. Peña continues to be modestly surprised “that people would be interested enough, and that students would be wanting to talk and work with me”.
As the founder and current president of the BGHRA and a faculty member at UBC, the wellbeing and success of students are a particular priority for Dr. Peña, who describes her role first and foremost as a mentor.
“Our students [at the BGHRA] are also interns, [because] we don’t want to exploit [them]. Students get paid or otherwise benefit in some way from the BGHRA in terms of volunteer or curricular credit. I want students to win, and that way, we are [all] growing, flourishing.”
At the BGHRA, students are guided based on their interests. “We try to meet students where they are,” Dr. Peña explains. “It’s not just a topic, there’s a lot to do. It’s exciting because the students that come to us end up invested in growing the organization. Students who come to us want to stay.”
When it comes to her aspirations for students, Dr. Peña has two simple yet meaningful words: scholarly activism. In contrast with older and sometimes harmful research methodologies, Dr. Peña hopes that all those who contribute to the BGHRA “[engage] with scholarship…with the intention of it being beneficial and not extractive.”
In terms of peers who inspire her work on transracial and transcultural adoption, Dr. Peña cites her chair, Dr. Carol J. Singley (Professor of English, Rutgers University Camden), for exemplifying scholarship which shows “concern for the people” being written about. She also credits Charles Waters, Amanda Baden, and Silvia Posocco for not studying adoption in a clinical manner, but rather by caring about how such experiences of trauma and displacement feel for the children affected.
Dr. Peña highlights Pasaco in particular for helping her to explain the ways in which the Black German community continued to “exist in traces, in archives, [and] in the minds of [their] families,” even after they were physically removed from their homes.
Dr. Peña’s thoughtful approach to academia is in many ways influenced by her experiences as a child sent away from Germany after World War II, and adopted into the U.S. When speaking about these shared moments of displacement, Dr. Peña raises important questions about what the Black community in contemporary German society looks like, and how a part of their work as an organization is to bridge the gaps not only in scholarship, but in the lived realities of adoptees today.
“Just because they sent us here, doesn’t mean we don’t have family there,” Dr. Peña points out, citing her own siblings in Berlin, Senegal, Paris, and Sweden. “I think that my work is helping people find their families and their community… and symbolically resisting the decimation of our community that was done in the post-war era. It’s trying to heal that break.”
Beyond actively helping adoptees find their families, which is sometimes no longer possible, Dr. Peña states that the BGHRA conference also allows them to fulfill a larger purpose: “All the voices that we reunite at the conference; figuratively, we are all together.”
As for her individual methodologies, Dr. Peña seeks experiences and voices rather than simply statistics and analysis. Considering the fact that Black German Studies began with non-Black scholars, there is always a danger, she thinks, to creating “an external narrative that becomes foreign to the people.” It is through valuing these personal histories that Dr. Peña finds meaning, and forges a community-driven type of scholarship. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that her favourite German words are ‘zusammen’, ‘gerade aus’, and ‘genau’ respectively.
Although Dr. Peña has not yet visited UBC’s campus, she already has a special place in mind, citing the forthcoming BGHRA library in CENES.
“I love being a part of that department,” says Dr. Peña, speaking fondly of the curated books which will soon be housed in Buchanan Tower. She views this first collection as “a seed to the institute it will become one day,” citing future hopes for a building dedicated to BGHRA.
Her advice to students is succinct and sensible: “Love your topic.” From her perspective, directly pursuing one’s interests is not merely an aspirational ideal, but an attainable action.
“I would say this to my children… don’t let anyone else tell you what you’re going to do for the rest of your life,” Dr. Peña states, matter-of-a-fact as she urges students to hone their skills based on their passions. She further highlights the importance of students picking projects that they genuinely care about, in order to come to work with the right kind of attitude.
Dr. Peña aptly references the BGHRA conference as an example of good work: “I mean right now, I’m exhausted, but I’m so full of joy because it was work with a purpose, and something that I believe in, and I love the people I’m with. Imagine doing that for forty years for something that you hate! Find out what makes you feel happy and passionate; that’s the way you’ll contribute to the world, because you’ll give your all to that.”
In terms of students freshly entering the field of German Studies, Dr. Peña is also optimistic, stating that she hopes to see “more people expressing interest in Black German Studies,” as well as other under-researched areas of European Studies. This comes with the caveat, of course, that the research remains ethical and beneficial to the communities being studied — particularly when it concerns children and vulnerable groups.
“Everything that just grows big isn’t [always] good; it has to be the right quality.”
That being said, Dr. Peña is pleased to state that the BGHRA is looking into starting a publication/journal. While the BGHRA continues to grow with care, Dr. Peña is preparing to spend the summer writing a book. Still glowing from the recent conference, she states that she isn’t quite yet sure whether it will be a novel or a more biographical piece, only that she finally feels the time has come to write something different from the dissertation and scholarly articles that she has published in the past.
Finally, when Dr. Peña is asked for a question that she would like to receive, her response is indicative of the kind of professor and mentor she is; thoughtful, wise, and always prepared to offer guidance to students seeking support.
Dr. Peña smiles, and it shines across the screen as she simply says: “How can I help?”
Gabrielle Bonifacio is a recent graduate, having completed a major in Media Studies and a minor in German. As the assistant for UBC’s German program, she manages and creates social media content, and supports German Undergraduate Program Director Dr. Ervin Malakaj in deepening student and faculty engagement.
