Makerere’s literature dept finds a jewel
Aug 07, 2007
HER veil is spotlessly clean and her gait unmistakably graceful. When she begins to speak, her soft voice, bordering on a whisper, immediately captures your attention. Sr Dr Dominic Dipio, is the new head of the Literature Department, Makerere University.
By Tony Barigye
and Don Wanyama
HER veil is spotlessly clean and her gait unmistakably graceful. When she begins to speak, her soft voice, bordering on a whisper, immediately captures your attention. Sr Dr Dominic Dipio, is the new head of the Literature Department, Makerere University.
Only weeks old in her new position, Dipio’s mission is clearly set: “I was unanimously elected to provide leadership in the department because colleagues think I am competent and qualified. This is all I will do: provide leadership that calls the best out of my colleagues. The department will run not because of me, but because of us all working together to achieve a common objective.â€
And being the first African female head of a department with a great literary track record and products like Ngugi wa Thiongo, Ben Mkapa, Timothy Wangusa and others, does not scare her. Actually gender is the last thing that occurs to her as she goes about her work. “I consider my competence rather than my gender when it comes to doing my professional duties.
I do not feel under any pressure to deliver; I will just go on doing my best as usual; I do not have to do anything to prove my gender. Being a woman is natural; I do not let it stand in my way as an apology in the performance of my duties,†she asserts in a rather shy tone.
If a department needs creativity and steadfastness to survive, then in Dipio, the Literature Department has got a jewel.
Having returned in 2004 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, with a PhD in Film Studies, she introduced a course unit on film studies at Makerere University. The course has, in three years, grown to become one of the most popular among students. Her products are already visible. One of her students, Cindy Magara, last year produced Fate, one of the maiden movies shot in Uganda.
Dipio herself has been instrumental in developing the infant film industry in Uganda. She was a force behind the introduction of Amakula International Film Festival in Uganda. The event is now the biggest on the local film calendar. Besides being on the jury of selecting the best film scripts and screen writers for the Maisha Film Lab, Dipio has also been on the jury of the internationally acclaimed ZIFF (Zanzibar International Film Festival).
A believer in leading by example, Dipio has also produced several short documentaries, the latest being Dearly Beloved, packaged for Christians in form of five letters.
The film that took three months to shoot has scenes from Kenya and Uganda.
“Each letter contains a wake-up message for Christians, reminding them to focus on what they set out to do. It is a message to Christians to revisit our calling. Our mission as Christians is to cultivate the Christian values,†Dipio explains.
So, who exactly is this nun, who instead of attending to religious duties, has made the lecture room her business? “I was born to humble Madi parents in West Nile. I went to St Mary’s Girls’ Aboke in Lira before joining Trinity College Nabbingo for my Advanced Level. I studied a Bachelor of Arts with Education in Makerere and did a Master’s degree in Literature in the same university.
In 2004, I completed my PhD in Film Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. My PhD thesis was on the representation of women in African cinema.
Her parents are long gone, but Dipio remembers her as her role model. It is her mother’s firm belief in Christianity that drove Dipio into a religious vocation.
“I will be ashamed if my mother is in heaven and I’m not,†she says, betraying a coy smile.
But before she gets to heaven, Dipio has an earthly challenge of running the Literature department for the next four years awaits.
and Don Wanyama
HER veil is spotlessly clean and her gait unmistakably graceful. When she begins to speak, her soft voice, bordering on a whisper, immediately captures your attention. Sr Dr Dominic Dipio, is the new head of the Literature Department, Makerere University.
Only weeks old in her new position, Dipio’s mission is clearly set: “I was unanimously elected to provide leadership in the department because colleagues think I am competent and qualified. This is all I will do: provide leadership that calls the best out of my colleagues. The department will run not because of me, but because of us all working together to achieve a common objective.â€
And being the first African female head of a department with a great literary track record and products like Ngugi wa Thiongo, Ben Mkapa, Timothy Wangusa and others, does not scare her. Actually gender is the last thing that occurs to her as she goes about her work. “I consider my competence rather than my gender when it comes to doing my professional duties.
I do not feel under any pressure to deliver; I will just go on doing my best as usual; I do not have to do anything to prove my gender. Being a woman is natural; I do not let it stand in my way as an apology in the performance of my duties,†she asserts in a rather shy tone.
If a department needs creativity and steadfastness to survive, then in Dipio, the Literature Department has got a jewel.
Having returned in 2004 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, with a PhD in Film Studies, she introduced a course unit on film studies at Makerere University. The course has, in three years, grown to become one of the most popular among students. Her products are already visible. One of her students, Cindy Magara, last year produced Fate, one of the maiden movies shot in Uganda.
Dipio herself has been instrumental in developing the infant film industry in Uganda. She was a force behind the introduction of Amakula International Film Festival in Uganda. The event is now the biggest on the local film calendar. Besides being on the jury of selecting the best film scripts and screen writers for the Maisha Film Lab, Dipio has also been on the jury of the internationally acclaimed ZIFF (Zanzibar International Film Festival).
A believer in leading by example, Dipio has also produced several short documentaries, the latest being Dearly Beloved, packaged for Christians in form of five letters.
The film that took three months to shoot has scenes from Kenya and Uganda.
“Each letter contains a wake-up message for Christians, reminding them to focus on what they set out to do. It is a message to Christians to revisit our calling. Our mission as Christians is to cultivate the Christian values,†Dipio explains.
So, who exactly is this nun, who instead of attending to religious duties, has made the lecture room her business? “I was born to humble Madi parents in West Nile. I went to St Mary’s Girls’ Aboke in Lira before joining Trinity College Nabbingo for my Advanced Level. I studied a Bachelor of Arts with Education in Makerere and did a Master’s degree in Literature in the same university.
In 2004, I completed my PhD in Film Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. My PhD thesis was on the representation of women in African cinema.
Her parents are long gone, but Dipio remembers her as her role model. It is her mother’s firm belief in Christianity that drove Dipio into a religious vocation.
“I will be ashamed if my mother is in heaven and I’m not,†she says, betraying a coy smile.
But before she gets to heaven, Dipio has an earthly challenge of running the Literature department for the next four years awaits.