Boston University Launches New Study Abroad Program

Boston University's New StudyAbroad Prgm

This summer, Boston University (BU) students will take part in two new study abroad programs in Africa led by CAS faculty. Timothy Longman, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for African Studies, will lead a six-week study to Zanzibar.

The program, based in Stone Town and coordinated with the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), will explore issues of religion, politics, and identity. Odile Cazenave, professor of Romance studies, will lead a program with visits to Dakar and Paris to explore issues relating to youth and migration.

Zanzibar: Religion, Politics and Identity in East Africa.
As the cross roads of African, Persian, Arab, Indian and European cultures for nearly two millenia, the islands of Zanzibar provide a unique setting in which to explore issues of religion, ethnicity, race, gender, class and politics in East Africa.

This 6 week programme explores the history of Zanzibar as a centre of international trade, slavery and colonial expansion, the legacies of social division and political centralization left by colonial rule, and the ways in which Zanzibar's experience differs from and interacts with the histories of Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and other neighbouring states.

Students take one course on the Political and Cultural history of Zanzibar and east Africa as well as one Awahili language course. All courses are taught by either Boston University faculty or faculty from the Institute of Kiswahili and Foreign Languages at the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA). Upon successful completion of the programme, students earn 8 Boston University credits.

Dakar And Paris: Youth And Migration.
During this 6 week program students will study West Africa migration from a multidisciplinary approach: Historical, socio economic, political and cultural. These courses will focus on the themes of youth and migration in an urban environment and will explore questions of immigration and citizenship with respect to a west African migrant population.