“TEACHING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE: LESSONS FROM ETHIOPIA”
Summer 2009
Pending receipt of grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education, The University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center will administer a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad to Ethiopia-Summer 2009
14 educators will be invited to participate in the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad: Short Term Seminar to Ethiopia for five weeks in summer 2009. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and has one of the longest recorded histories in the world. Ethiopia is the 2nd most populous African nation and has over 80 different ethnic and language groups. The Seminar’s three overarching themes:
- Gaining knowledge of the history of the region.
- Learning about past and contemporary religion in the region.
- Learning about the regional issues of migration, displacement, and the Diaspora
Pre-departure workshops will draw on faculty experts on African Studies and from the region’s large Ethiopian business and cultural community to provide in-depth orientation to the participants. In-country activities will involve teams of Ethiopian educators who will partner with the U.S. visitors. Participants will engage in trips to historical and cultural sites and to international organizations headquartered in Addis Ababa. A distance learning program will be set up utilizing videoconferencing and an educational video of the group’s travels will be edited and distributed for use in Ethiopian and American classrooms. Project will include post-travel workshops, videoconferences, blogs, and curriculum advancement.
