Ohio Wesleyan Class Spends Semester in Tanzania
The Ohio Wesleyan in Tanzania class with associate professor Randy Quaye in front of Mount Meru, the second highest point in Tanzania. (Photo courtesy of Randy Quaye)
Twelve Ohio Wesleyan students and Associate Professor of Black World Studies Randy Quaye are immersed in the culture of Africa this semester through the Ohio Wesleyan University in Tanzania program.
Academic work for the program includes courses in East African Cultures; African Medical Systems; Women, Development and the Environment; and Swahili. The students are based in Dar es Salaam and plan to travel through Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. They also have internship opportunities with several government and non-governmental organizations in Dar es Salaam.
To date, their “field experience” has included observing an international criminal tribunal trial, visiting a school, camping, and going on a safari. On January 30, the group participated in a traditional dance workshop and in a dance and music performance. “It was refreshing to see such a combination of art forms, in different languages, all on the same stage,” one student says in the group’s online blog.
“From what we have experienced here so far,” the students say, “the Tanzanian way of life seems a whole lot less self conscious and more laid-back than everyday American life. I think we can all agree that we will miss it here when we leave in two months.”
Students studying in Tanzania include: sophomores Nyssa Berman, Alejandra Castelero, Zach Glazer, Artiase Brown, Maggie Argiro, and Liz Sheaffer; and juniors Diane Bizzarro, Alexandra Hutchings, Emily Porter, Yvonne Hendricks, Parone Mulrain, and Kim Eckart.
To follow the activities of the Ohio Wesleyan in Tanzania class, visit owutanzania.blogspot.com.