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WILLIAMS IN AFRICA:
SUMMER PROGRAMS AND WSP COURSES |
MARKET THEATRE IN JOHANNESBURG |
WHY SUMMER PROGRAMS?
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Williams in Africa seeks to set up several summer programs and more
WSPs in other countries in Africa beginning with Uganda and Senegal to
complement the semester-long South African program in Cape Town. As in
South Africa, Williams College has a history in these countries. Over
the last four years, Kiaran Honderich has taken students to Uganda and
Senegal during winter study and has developed relations with the main
Universities there and also with various NGOs. We hope to build on this
history to establish long-term, sustainable, and coherent summer
programs. These programs will add regional diversity to Williams in
Africa, making it a comprehensive study of the continent as the three
main regions of South, East, and West Africa will be represented.
Diversifying our base will provide a different kind of experience for
our students and also break down images that Africa is a homogeneous
monolith. And it will leave Williams in Africa less vulnerable to
unpredictable developments in any particular country. |
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Uganda is an extraordinary setting to learn about all aspects of the
HIV pandemic, given its relatively long history and chequered success
story with HIV/AIDS. It is also a natural site to study post-conflict
settings, given its history dating back to Idi Amin, the very recent
resolution of conflict in the North, and its close proximity to places
like Rwanda and southern Sudan. It is also an excellent setting to learn
about North/South donor relations and the complex dynamics of NGOs in
relation to the state and to local people. Moreover, Uganda is a
centrally-located ‘hub’ from which to explore East and Central Africa,
and it is a relatively safe and accessible country for students to
travel in. We already have contacts there at
Makerere University, and
with numerous NGOs and community-based organizations. Kiaran Honderich
has taken one group of students there during January 2007, and connected
others to resources for individual trips for thesis research and
internships. Doug Gollin has experience in Uganda, as does Kenda Mutongi,
and those three as well as Nicholas Wilson and Stephane Robolin have
each expressed interest in creating summer projects or WSPs there.
Culturally, Senegal is perhaps as different as one can get from Uganda
and South Africa and remain on the same continent. It is a Francophone
country, creating opportunities for students to study French in one of
France’s many former colonies, and it is 95% Muslim. It is Africa’s
other success story in fighting HIV, but unlike Uganda it has achieved
that without prevalence rates ever rising over 2%. It is a peaceful
democracy but faces challenges of migration, poverty, public health, and
of transforming gender relations. It has enormous resources for the
study of music and dance, and it is a hub from which students can
explore Mali, the Gambia, and other West African countries. We already
have contacts at the
West African Research Center and
Cheikh Anta Diop
University, and through
Africa Consultants International we have access
to a large network of community-based groups fighting against poverty
and HIV, and for women’s rights. Monique Deveaux and Kiaran Honderich
have taken a travel WSP there, and Honderich has taken another group on
her own. Honderich, Kashia Pierprzak and Stephane Robolin have expressed
interest in creating summer projects or WSPs there.
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF WINTER STUDIES
In addition, the Williams in Africa initiative will partner with the
Winter Study Committee to encourage and support Travel Winter Study
Classes, such as those offered by David Eppel, Kiaran Honderich and
Michael Samson, to introduce students to Africa and create additional
opportunities for engagement. Students will be encouraged to enroll, and
appropriate consideration made for Sophomores to participate, in order
to maximize the subsequent contribution of their experience to College
life, and to facilitate subsequent engagement. Existing Travel WSPs are
consistently overenrolled. Their relative brevity makes them a good
entry point for students who are intimidated by the prospect of travel
in countries very different than their own, but they are long enough to
be a formative experience for many students, changing their choice of
major and their sense of the kinds of work they might want or be able to
do upon graduation. They will also allow students a more diverse
experience of Africa: those who spend a semester in Cape Town can
benefit enormously from a contrasting WSP in Senegal or Uganda, as past
graduates have attested.
SUMMER AND POST GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
In addition to the summer, semester, and WSP, Williams in Africa, in
collaboration with the
Office of Career Counseling and
Office of
Fellowships will also encourage the traditional individual summer
internships and undergraduate and post-graduate fellowships that provide
additional opportunities for Williams students to learn and work in
Africa. These internships and fellowships will be structured to support
and reinforce the broader Williams in Africa program. In particular,
post-graduate fellowships will be focused on reinforcing core Williams
in Africa programs, particularly in terms of supporting the social and
academic integration of undergraduates into their activities in Africa.
In some cases they will participate in the WSPs, summer programs and
semester program. Year-long post-graduate fellows will be invited back
to Williams in order to inform students about the program and perhaps
help in the internship selection/placement process.
We believe that the post-graduate fellowships are also important because
they will give the alumni of the Williams in Africa program the
opportunity to continue lives of service both in Africa and the USA
after they graduate and long after their fellowships. We hope that these
alumni will act as everyday ambassadors in a time when building bridges
between cultures is critical; That they will inform, inspire, and engage
a wide network of friends, family, and interested individuals about
Africa today; That they will serve as advocates, board members, and
founders of grassroots organizations that would provide scholarships and
health services across Africa. More importantly, though, we hope that
they will become leaders in the foreign policy community, working on
issues such as the crisis in Darfur, HIV/AIDS policy, and UN reform.
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