Dr. Adeyemi Doss Expands students' horizons

Dr. Adeyemi Doss expands students’ horizons

Dr. Adeyemi “Ade” O. Doss, an Assistant Professor of Multidisciplinary Studies and Faculty of the Year in the Honors College, teaches courses that focus on the Black American experience.

Dr. Adeyemi Doss

But his classrooms are diverse for courses such as Black Masculinity and Hip Hop and Social Justice.

“That’s what education’s all about,” Doss said. “It’s about expanding your experience. It’s about expanding your mind about different issues that you may not be affected by, but someone else may be. It’s about critical thinking.”

Doss said that as an undergraduate at Earlham College he took a mix of courses including sociology, Arabic, and international relations.

“I broadened my horizons and my way of thinking,” he said. “A lot of employers are looking for students who can think critically, who can think outside the box. We’re such a technological society that we forget about the art of thinking, the art of dialogue, the art of writing and communicating.”

Said ISU Provost Dr. Christopher Olsen: “Dr. Doss is just a fantastic teacher and scholar. His approach to teaching is what a university education is all about— pushing your comfort zone as a person and engaging with new, sometimes uncomfortable ideas. We all benefit when we challenge ourselves to think differently about subjects that are part of our core personality or everyday lives: gender, class, and race, for instance. Dr. Doss teaches about topics that can be difficult for some students but he does it in a way that is thoughtful and respectful to different opinions. We’re lucky to have him at ISU.”

Doss, from Gary, Indiana, earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University. His wife, Dr. Darleesa Doss, is an Associate Professor in Applied Health Sciences.

In class, Ade Doss eschews Powerpoints and concentrates on dialogue to “tease out already embedded knowledge that sits inside of (students), even though they may not see it.”

Doss makes art as a hobby and in his Holmstedt Hall office he has paintings he created. During the pandemic, Doss taught himself how to paint portraits using oil. He said his mother instilled in him a love of art. She and his father made sure the future professor took education seriously.

“As a child, my father would surround me with books and take me to his community lectures and speeches, which he would frequently give on topics such as the richness of African culture,” Doss said. “He used to, and still does, remind me of the importance of educating oneself in order to empower oneself.”