Miami University will be partnering with Earlham College to send students to East Africa in fall 2010.
Allan Winkler, director of Miami University's Humanities Center, and his wife Sara Penhale, associate professor of biology at Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., wish to get the word out to Miami students about the new study abroad program they will lead in East Africa next fall.
Winkler and Penhale will lead courses ranging from politics to biology to animal behavior. Students also have the opportunity to learn Swahili, the national language of Tanzania and Kenya as well as participate in game reserve park tours.
The program is a semester long program, beginning in late August and ending in early December.
"Its goals are to immerse students into the culture of East Africa and to also experience the natural environment of the area," Penhale said.
Winkler said Provost Jeffrey Herbst has largely encouraged the program.
"(He) is the person who has been really big about it, encouraging foreign study, and trying to get people to go places where they otherwise would not go," Winkler said. "It is just a wonderful opportunity, we are doing exactly what he wants."
According to Penhale, the program will be taking 20 students total, 10 from Miami and 10 from Earlham.
Penhale said Earlham College has been travelling to Africa for studying abroad programs for several years and that this is the first time that they will be taking students from two institutions on the same trip.
"Earlham has run a program to East Africa since 1978, so we are very experienced in the area and Miami has taken students to East Africa on a number of different kinds of programs but this will be a new kind of semester length program," Penhale said.
As for the interested prospective students from Earlham, Penhale and Winkler will choose 10 applicants from interviews they are conducting this weekend.
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Winkler said only three students have applied so far at Miami and that he is looking to take seven more students.
"One of the great things for Miami students is that this counts for a whole thematic sequence if people haven't done that already so just by being over there and doing the courses that we are doing, they get full credit for the thematic sequence," Winkler explained.
Winkler said the trip is important for Miami students to attend because of the diversity of Tanzanian and Kenyan cultures. Students will also have the opportunity to live with the Maasi people for several days and explore Maasi Mara, the world's greatest game park.
"We are looking for people who are adventuresome and willing to go to a part of the world where they probably have never been and open themselves up to a totally new experience," Winkler said.
Penhale said, reminiscing on the seven times she has travelled to Africa with Earlham, students will leave the trip with insights of new cultures and ideas, as well as appreciation for the environment and the continent of Africa itself.
"People learn about themselves when they see a different culture," Penhale said. "The goal of the program is to learn about the people there but one side impact is that you gain a new perspective in your own life as well."
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