Africa
Botswana : Culture and Society in Africa (ACM)
Early January to mid-May
Campus Program Advisor: Joseph Mbele (Rolvaag 504, X3439)
Enrollment: 20 students
Eligibility: Juniors, seniors and second semester sophomores
This new program is a successor to ACM's spring-term "Nation Building and Development" Program in Tanzania and, like that earlier program, offers students an opportunity to study and observe a relatively new African nation standing on the shoulders of a much older culture. Various academic exercises--classroom work, language study (Setswana), field trips, and independent study--are combined with on-the-ground observations and interactions to create an intense and valuable learning environment. Program headquarters is the University of Botswana , a modern and well-equipped institution. Students have the opportunity of living with a local family or in a graduate residence hall at the University.
Ghana Program (CIEE)
Semester I, semester II, full year
Campus Program Adviser: Joan Hepburn (Rolvaag Library 418, x3449) (SemI)
Joseph Mbele (Rolvaag Library 504, x3439)(Sem II)
Prerequisite: 3.0 GPA
Sponsored by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), the Council Study Center in Ghana is designed for students excited by the opportunity to be at the cultural and intellectual center of a nation in the process of realizing its potential. The program can be taken in the fall or spring semester or for a full academic year. Following a two-week orientation period at the University of Ghana , students will begin an academic program that includes a course in Twi, a Ghanaian language widely spoken in southern Ghana . Program participants choose electives from among the wide range of courses offered by the university. Opportunities are provided for participation in volunteer and community service projects in Accra and elsewhere in Ghana .
This specially designed program is supplemented by activities and field trips to sites of historical and cultural importance.
Students live in on-campus dormitories with a Ghanaian roommate.
Namibia Semester
Late August to mid-December Late January to May
Campus Program Adviser: Joan Hepburn (Rølvaag Library 418, x3449) (Sem I), Joseph Mbele (Rølvaag Library 504, x3439) (Sem II)
“Nation Building, Globalization and Decolonizing the Mind: Southern African Perspectives,” a program of the Center for Global Education at Augsburg College , examines these critical issues from the perspectives of the new democracies of Southern Africa . Namibia won its independence in 1990 after decades of apartheid and South African colonization. South Africa had its first democratic election in 1994. As these nations struggle to build nationhood and deal with the legacies of apartheid and colonialism, they are faced with the challenges posed by the rapid process of globalization in today's world, the challenges posed by under and unequal development and the long-term project of de-colonizing the mind.
Students will meet and interact with leaders of government and civil society, as well as explore and experience the concrete results of these realities at the grassroots level. A crucial part of the program will be investigating the parallels between these societies and the United States .
Students will be based in Windhoek , the capital of Namibia , and live dormitory style in a large house near the University of Namibia . The program includes a one-week home stay in Windhoek , a two-week home stay with a rural Namibian family and a two-week group educational seminar in South Africa .
Sénégal Program
Semester I, semester II, full year
Campus Program Adviser: Wendy Allen (Old Main 25C, x3247).
Semester I is suitable only for students who do not require major credit in French.
Prerequisite: minimum of one 250-level course (two recommended)
Dakar , Sénégal's capital, is located on the westernmost point of the Atlantic coast of Africa and has a population of over two million. It is the political and economic capital of Sénégal and one of West Africa 's most important and vibrant cities. Many international governmental and non-governmental organizations have offices in Dakar . Dakar has several major research and cultural centers and is home to Cheikh Anta Diop University , one of the largest and most prestigious institutions of higher education in French-speaking Africa .
Academics
All basic language instruction in French and Wolof takes place at the Baobab Center , a cultural resource and training center operated by Africa Consultants International, a non-profit organization created in 1984. Advanced students of French enrolled in the academic year or spring program are able to take or audit regular university courses taught in French at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), including courses in French taught within the Institut de Francais pour Etrangers (IFE).
Students take five courses each semester: three required courses (Contemporary Senegalese Society and Culture, French language and Wolof language) and two elective courses, chosen from among a selection of English- or French-taught courses depending upon the student's level of French. Electives may include CIEE courses taught in English; courses taught in French at the Baobab Center and open to other U.S. students; a community service project or internship with accompanying seminar or regular university courses at UCAD/IFE for qualified academic year or spring semester students with advanced French language skills. Depending upon the student's initial level of French, the first two weeks in Dakar include 10 to 15 hours per week of French instruction, as well as daily Wolof lessons. All courses are taught by Senegalese professors.
Credit
Semester II participants may bring back one credit and one co-curricular credit in history toward the French major. Full-year students may count up to three credits toward the French major. Credits may also apply to an African Studies concentration. General Education credits may also be awarded.
Accommodations
Home stays with Senegalese families are organized by the Baobab Center . Note: All French majors participating in a semester or year program are reminded not to take any course that overlaps or repeats a course they may have taken at St. Olaf or that they have planned to take on the home campus after their return. Doing so may result in a loss of credit and may make it difficult or impossible to complete the major requirements within the four-year college program.
Tanzania: Studies in Human Evolution and Ecology (ACM)
Late July to mid-December
Campus Program Adviser: Joseph Mbele (Rølvaag Library 504, x3439)
Enrollment: 20 students
Eligibility: Juniors and seniors
The Tanzania program offers under-graduates a unique opportunity to conduct fieldwork in some of the world's greatest paleoanthropological and ecological sites. Students divide their time between the University of Dar es Salaam and the Northern Region of Tanzania. At the university they take courses in intensive Swahili, human evolution and the ecology of the Serengeti while developing a field project. For the following six weeks, students live in field camps and pursue individual field projects in the Serengeti/Ngorongoro area before returning to the university for final work on their projects. The program is both physically and academically demanding.
Tanzania: Lutheran College Consortium for Tanzania
The University of Dar es Salaam
Aug. 10-Dec. 20
Campus Program Adviser: Joseph Mbele (Rølvaag Library 504, x3439)
The Lutheran College Consortium for Tanzania is a cooperative exchange program between four colleges of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the University of Dar es Salaam . The university, with an enrollment of 4,000, is located seven miles from Dar es Salaam , the capital.
Intensive Swahili instruction and orientation start in early August to prepare students before classes begin around Oct. 1, the beginning of the academic year. Orientation is conducted by U.S. faculty. All classes are taught in English; any course in the usual liberal arts curriculum is open to LCCT students upon approval of faculty.
Applicants are expected to have junior class standing in the year they participate in this program. Applications must be completed by Jan. 26 in order to facilitate the selection of candidates from all participating colleges. Departure for Tanzania is early August with return scheduled before Christmas. For more information about this program, consult the program adviser.
