For the last century, Xavier University of Louisiana has graduated the next generation of social justice-driven leaders and advocates for positive change, continuously pushing local, national, and global boundaries. The outstanding work of its dedicated faculty and staff to uphold its mission to promote a more just and humane society through educating its students cannot be overstated. Dr. Biljana Obradovic, professor of English at Xavier for the last 27 years, is one such example of the talented faculty on Xavier’s campus, and she recently had the opportunity to showcase the storied legacy of Xavier’s nearly 100 years of service when she was invited to four different universities in Japan to share her impressive creative works and lecture about American poetry.

Originally from Yugoslavia, Dr. Obradovic learned English in an immersive American international school, first at an American school in Thessaloniki, Greece, then at a British Indian school in Bombay, India, where she became fluent in reading and writing English. She moved to America for graduate school, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her creative writing focuses on poetry and English-Serbian or Serbian-English translations. She has published four collections of poetry, seven collections of translations of poetry, and two anthologies of poetry, along with an edited collection of essays by the late poet Philip Dacey and many works in literary magazines.

Dr. Obradovic visited Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University, Sophia University, and Kansai University to lecture students studying English. During her presentations, she spoke beyond poetry and her translations, sharing her journey and what brought her to the present moment:  her time in college learning and developing a passion for creative writing, the destruction of her home country due to war, her inability to attend her own parents’ funerals from the conflict, her growing relationship with her brother, and her detachment from Serbian as a language from disuse.

“I talked about being away for so long from my native language. My Serbian has become really rusty. The language has evolved. The language didn't wait for me to go back to it. It has changed, and the language that I have learned hasn’t changed,” said Dr. Obradovic. 

The 11-day trip allowed Dr. Obradovic to experience cultural differences between America and Japan. While the universities she visited were similar to those in the United States regarding layouts and classes, things such as food, student interactions, and visitor expectations were slightly different.  Dr. Obradovic and her husband, the UNO Professor and poet, John Gery, who joined her on the trip and was also invited as a speaker, visited museums and experienced other culturally significant places and customs in Japan, including visiting the gardens at the Emperor’s Palace in Kyoto, sitting in on a musical lesson and performance in a Noh theater, experiencing a tea ceremony, and seeing Mount Fuji. For Dr. Obradovic, these experiences were some of the highlights of her trip, and she is excited to see how it will influence some of her work and poetry moving forward.

 

“I am forever changed. Who wouldn’t be?” said Dr. Obradovic. “There will be an exchange. There will be a continuous exchange between me and these Japanese professors and scholars that I’ve met. I think it will enhance my teaching, enhance my writing, and culturally, I’m enriched. Culturally, I know so much more now than I did before. We should all have these kinds of experiences. I will be forever grateful for this experience [sic].”

Dr. Obradovic expressed her avid support for the International Office at Xavier.  She highlights the importance of cultural exchange to her students at every opportunity and encourages them to study abroad for a semester. She hopes that sharing her recent journey will inspire more students to take trips abroad and learn from different cultures worldwide. She also encouraged the students she encountered in Japan to visit Xavier, and New Orleans, where all are welcome to experience the unique culture found at the nation’s only historically Black and Catholic institution. For her, experiencing and sharing different cultures is profound and necessary for well-rounded students with an appreciation of differences and diversity.

 

Pictures from top to bottom, left to right:

1. Obradovic in front of Meiji Gaikun University
2. Dinner with Sophia University faculty
3. In Tokyo Dr. Obradovic and John Gery with their host, Dr. Hidetoshi Tomyama, Department of English, Dean of Letters, Meiji Gakuin University
4. In Tokyo near Sophia University
5. Mount Fuji
6. In Kyoto in front of the palace Dr. Obradovic with her husband, John Gery
7. Obradovic and Professor Yoshiko Kita in Kyoto in front of a temple.

  

Additional photos from Dr. Obradovic’s trip can be viewed below.

 

 

Dr. Obradovic with Prof. Yoshiko Kita in Kyoto at the palace garden and in front of the Noh Theater

 

 

 

Noh Theater drum lesson of Dr. Yoshiko Kita and inside the Noh Theater

 

 

Dr. Obradovic lecturing in at Kansai University, Osaka

 

 

Dr. Obradovic took a photo of Mt. Fuji at sunset from the office of Dr. Andrew Houwen of Tokyo Christian Women’s University

 

 

Class Visit and talk on Harlem Renaissance poets at Tokyo Christian Women’s University