Black History Month Faculty Feature: Dr. Patricia Idoko

This February, Trexler Library has chosen Patricia Idoko, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology, as our Faculty Feature for Black History Month.

Idoko was born and raised Catholic in Northern Nigeria in a primarily Muslim community. She witnessed firsthand the hatred, violence, and tragedy in her own village due to strong divisions between the two religious communities. Her family experienced persecution for their faith, her father’s house was burned, and family members were killed. In an effort to process her deeply rooted grief and anger over these tragedies, she leaned on her faith in God to move her towards forgiveness and love, which ultimately led her to pursue psychology at Ohio Dominican University and theology at University of Notre Dame. 

Much of Idoko’s studies focus on the relationship between Islam and Christianity. Her line of research helped heal her anger by immersing herself in Muslim culture and faith to build a better understanding between the two religions. Her Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Notre Dame explores how religious education textbooks could be used as a tool to promote integration in high schools in Nigeria and help lead students to respect diverse religious beliefs and practices, promote and build conversations, and decrease tendencies of fear and stereotyping. At the heart of her mission is to increase understanding for the innate human connection everyone shares. 

Idoko currently teaches Christianity and Islam as well as Catholic theology courses at DeSales University. Since her teaching career began at the University of Notre Dame, she has touched the lives of hundreds of students, sharing her message of love, forgiveness, and respect for others regardless of race and religion. Her classroom is her home and where she feels most at peace, and the departments of theology and philosophy have become her family since her arrival at DeSales University.

Idoko visits Nigeria from time to time, gathering children from both Muslim and Christian villages to bring them together to play soccer. On the field, they share their common humanity and work together as a team rather than against each other. Here on campus, she plans to create an interfaith group to help educate students on other religions and traditions, as well as establish a community to celebrate and support the beliefs of all students. 

When we begin to understand the history, culture, and traditions of another’s religion, we can foster greater appreciation not only for our own faith but theirs as well. According to Idoko, it is in fact our differences that unite us in the human condition.