Africa
Botswana : University Immersion in Southern 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
The ACM Botswana program is expressly designed for students with interests in politics, political economy, economic and social development, public health, and environmental studies. Housed at the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, the program is offered each spring semester, and combines formal class study with site visits to places in and around Gaborone and an independent research project (for credit). Classes include Setswana language, a course taught by the ACM faculty director, and an elective course at the University of Botswana. During the semester-long program, students are housed in a residence hall at the University of Botswana. Among the excursions typically planned are a weekend trip to Johannesburg, South Africa; a week-long trip to Maun, near the Okavango Delta in the north; and a visit to the Jwaneng diamond mine. Students are also encouraged to volunteer with community service organizations and other non-governmental organizations.
Ghana Program (CIEE)
Semester I, semester II, full year
Campus Program Adviser: Joan Hepburn (Rolvaag Library 418, x3449)
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
Link to College Center for Global Education
Late August to mid-December
Late January to May
Campus Program Adviser: Joan Hepburn (Rølvaag Library 418 x3449)
“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 (Tomson Hall 329 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) 2.75 GPA
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.
South Africa (CIEE)
Semester I, Semester II or Full YearCampus Program Adviser: Eric Lund , Director of International Studies (Tomson Hall 384 x3069)
In 1992 the Apartheid era ended and South Africa become a multi-racial democracy. Today it is the most prosperous country in Sub-Saharan Africa, though it still struggles with a wide range of social problems. South Africa’s complex colonial history, its progress in overcoming this burdensome legacy, and the tremendous challenges it still faces today make this country a fascinating place to study. Cape Town is famous for its spectacular natural setting and its wonderful climate. The place where whites and blacks first made contact with each other in 1652, this metropolitan region is now one of the most racially diverse areas in South Africa (44% mixed race, 36% black, 18% white and 2% Asian).
CIEE offers three programs around Cape Town that are able to meet a wide range of student interests because of their differences in size, focus and location. All of these programs are for Juniors and Seniors. They require a 3.0 GPA. Previous coursework in African Studies is recommended by not required. For all of the programs, first semester lasts from mid July to mid November; second semester begins in early February and ends in mid June.
Cape Town - Arts and Sciences
This program, located in downtown Cape Town, involves direct enrollment in courses at the University of Cape Town, a world-class research university with a student population of 18,000. CIEE staff members provide orientation for program participants and arranges for a variety of supplemental excursions and cultural activities. Students can pick courses from over 40 departments. All courses are in English. Study of local languages is available but not a requirement of the program.
There are around 100 to 130 participants in this program each semester. Students live apartment-style university residences, off-campus houses maintained by CIEE or in homestays. Students have opportunity to do volunteer work through the UCT Student Service Program
Cape Town - Service Learning
This fully integrated self-contained CIEE program is designed for students from all academic disciplines who have experience with community service and/or volunteerism and who are highly motivated to engage in community service while taking part in a rigorous academic program. Students participate in community service that is closely linked to required core courses: Community Partnership: Theory and Engagement; Poverty and Development: Cape Town Case Study; Social Research Methods and Independent Research that culminates in a capstone project. The latter brings together their academic study and the practical experiences they gained from work in Cape Town schools or social agencies. In addition, students are expected to study a local language: Afrikaans or isiXhosa.
This small, select program usually involves 12 to 18 students who live together in an apartment-style residence near the University of Cape Town campus. As with the other programs, CIEE staff members conduct orientation and arrange for supplemental excursions and cultural activities.
Stellenbosch - Arts and Sciences
Like the program at the University of Cape Town, this program involves direct enrollment in university courses. However, it is a much smaller, usually enrolling only 10 to 15 students. It is based at the University of Stellenbosch , which has a student body of 22,000 and offers courses in both English and Afrikaans. Stellenbosch is a very attractive city of 117,000 founded by Dutch settlers in 1679. It is located 30 miles east of Cape Town in the wineland district of the Western Cape. A variety of modes of local transportation make access to downtown Cape Town quite easy.
Focusing on Transformation in South Africa, this program expects students to pick one course from a set of core courses about South African issues and to supplement this with electives from a wide range of university courses. The CIEE resident director also offers a voluntary Seminar on Living and Learning in Stellenbosch, focusing on intercultural communication. The university’s Community Service Program offers students personalized volunteer opportunities in the historically disadvantaged communities around Stellenbosch, such as Kayamandi.
Students live either in an on-campus dormitory or in an apartment-style university residence. They prepare their own meals or eat in a university dining hall. As with the other programs, CIEE staff members set up an orientation program, supplemental excursions and cultural activities.
Tanzania: Ecology and Human Origins (ACM)
Late July to mid-December
Campus Program Adviser: Joseph Mbele (Rølvaag Library 504 x3439)
Enrollment: 20 students
Eligibility: Juniors and seniors
The ACM Tanzania program is designed specifically to take advantage of the unique combination of ecological, anthropological and cultural resources that is unique to northern Tanzania. It is offered each fall semester, and the focus of the program is paleontology, cultural anthropology, and savannah ecology. It combines rigorous classroom instruction at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) with six weeks of field courses and fieldwork in northern Tanzania. At the heart of the program are the individual research projects in the natural and social sciences, which students develop, carry out, and present over the course of the semester. In the program director’s Research Methods course, taught by a visiting faculty member from an ACM college, students are guided in the development of their projects and learn the techniques that will be needed during their field research in Tarangire National Park. Courses in Kiswahili, Human Evolution, and the Ecology of the Masaai Ecosystem, taught by UDSM faculty, provide students with the background and linguistic preparation necessary for their time in the field. The program is housed on the UDSM campus, and during the first five weeks participants live in university residence halls and have access to library, cafeteria, and other UDSM facilities. UDSM faculty also serve as advisors for their research projects, helping them to develop and refine their proposals and to evaluate their results. During the six-week fieldwork period, spent in established tent camps, students gather the data for the projects. During the last four weeks of the program, students live with host families, while they analyze, write up, and present their research findings and complete the work for their other three courses.
Tanzania: Lutheran College Consortium for Tanzania
The University of Dar es Salaam
August - 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.
