Summer Program in Kenya

2008 Program: May 28th - June 29th, 2008

Program updates:
Program featured in International Educator (Jan/Feb 2008)
Confirmed program locations: Nairobi, Thika, Mombasa, Malindi.
Planned community services:

Rehabilitation centers for street children (Thika and Mombasa)
Institutions for marginalized children (orphans, disabled, displaced)
Community development programs focusing on sustainable environment and agriculture
Schools and youth groups.

General Description
Washington University's Summer Program in Kenya is a dynamic program in language and culture offering four weeks of full immersion in the Kenya. This program, offered by the African and African American Studies Program, is designed to enhance a student’s understanding of Kenyan society by carefully blending coursework, home stays, community service projects, guest lectures, and memorable excursions.

The program is intended to accommodate individualized interests and may therefore appeal to students who major in African Studies, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Education, Kiswahili, Women’s Studies and Political Science. The program will be under the direction of Dr. Mungai Mutonya, Senior Lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis.

Courses
The program offers two courses for a cumulative six Washington University credits. Students take a three-credit Kiswahili course and an additional interdisciplinary course in culture and history for three more credits. A broad range of academic issues relevant to understanding Kenyan society will be addressed during interactive discussions with invited Kenyan scholars and professionals. The program complements classroom instruction with extensive field study that allows a student to learn and actively participate in the linguistic and cultural expressions of the complex and diverse Kenya society. Kiswahili courses consist of regular classroom instruction, experiential learning through interaction with speakers, quizzes, and a final paper. Students with prior Kiswahili skills will be accorded higher priority in the selection process and will be accommodated with more advanced instruction. For the interdisciplinary course, each student must identify and research a topic of interest and submit a paper at the conclusion of the program.

Eligibility
The program is intended to meet the needs of students from all universities and at different stages in their studies. There are no prerequisites although students with no background in the study of Africa will be provided with a suggested reading list before embarking on the program. This program, while certainly well suited for students headed for or majoring in humanities or social sciences, should also accommodate those students whose major requirements do not allow them to be absent from campus for a full semester or academic year (particularly students from pre-professional and natural science disciplines).

Program Locations (Nairobi and Mombasa)
Although the metropolitan Nairobi city will serve as the arrival and departure point, the program will primarily be based in Central Kenya and Mombasa: three regions that boast of unparalleled scenic beauty and distinctively exhibit the past and present of Kenyan culture and society. The unique combination of colorful history, picturesque sites, rich natural heritage, contemporary lifestyle of its diverse people should provide for a fascinating and truly memorable academic experience.

Nairobi
The cosmopolitan Kenyan capital has a lot to offer students from all disciplines. In the past, university professors, politicians, AIDS and Human Rights activists, as well as journalists were invited to discuss a wide range of topics relevant to the understanding of contemporary Kenya. Visits to downtown Nairobi, University of Nairobi, Kenya National Museum (famous for Leakey’s pre-history discoveries), city public schools, and a rehabilitation center for street children offer an adequate orientation framework to the study of Kenyan society.

The Great Rift Valley (subject to confirmation)
The Great Rift Valley covers 8,700 Kms. (5,400 miles) running from the Middle East through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and finally reaching the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. The Kenyan section of this breathtaking natural feature, consists of numerous escarpments, deep gorges, hot springs, and an extraordinary variety of flora and fauna that offer a unique appreciation of the relation between humankind, nature and the environment. This richly endowed setting is ideal for the study of earth science, wildlife conservation, Kenya’s colonial history, and demographic aspects of contemporary Kenyan society. Field excursions planned for this region include visits to Maasai and Kikuyu villages, community service projects, field lectures at the Kariandusi pre-historic site (discovered by Dr. L. Leakey in 1928), Lake Naivasha, and adjacent horticultural farms that supply most of the world’s carnations.

Students will have a chance to visit Lake Nakuru National Park, dubbed “the greatest bird spectacle on earth where flocks of about 300,000 flamingoes can be seen at one sighting.” The park also serves as a sanctuary for the endangered rhino and is an ideal location to learn about the correlation between tourism, wildlife conservation, and development in Kenya.

Program Cost
The program cost, including six Washington University credits, room and board, excursions and organized group cultural activities, visa fees and travel insurance will be $3,800. This does not include pocket money or airfare which from St. Louis should be around $1,800 (we will buy these tickets as a group to control costs as much as possible). We are holding down these costs to an absolute minimum, hoping to make this African experience available to as many students as possible.

Program Dates
Program dates are June 6 - July 5, 2008. Allowing for travel, students will depart New York together around June 5, 2008. Application deadline is December 14, 2007.The program will run every other year.

To Apply
Pick up an application form from the AFAS office in McMillan 226 or Stix House 20. Alternatively, download an application form from our website: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~mmutonya/kenyasummer.html

For more information contact, please contact Dr. Mungai Mutonya (Coordinator of the Summer in Kenya Program and AFAS Study Abroad Advisor) at (314) 935-5280 at African and African American Studies, Campus Box 1109, Washington University, St. Louis, 63130-4899. We will be happy to put you in touch with students who participated in the program in prior years; contact us for their names and addresses afas@wustl.edu.