Name: Francis Nesbitt

Faculty/Rank: Assistant Professor

Department: Africana Studies

College: Arts and Letters

Office phone: 619-594-5756

Other phone:

E mail address: fnesbitt@mail.sdsu.edu

Proposal title: Swahili Cultural Immersion Project

Country visited: Kenya

Institution visited: United States International University-Kenya

Dates of travel: December 14, 2002 to January 2, 2003

Number of student participants: N/A

Previous IP proposals submitted and grants awarded
(list titles, countries and dates): N/A

Have all required reports been submitted? N/A

Other funding for this activity available/applied for: N/A

Proposal Abstract (75 word maximum): The proposal is for SDSU students to spend a semester abroad participating in a Swahili language and cultural immersion project. Students will enroll in 16 units to be taught by SDSU faculty/program group leaders in Nairobi. The host institution, United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, will provide the institutional structure, accommodations and classroom facilities for the semester-long program.

Travel report:
I traveled to Kenya between December 14, 2002 and January 2, 2003 to explore the possibility of establishing a semester abroad program for SDSU students. The proposal is for SDSU students to spend a semester abroad participating in a Swahili language and cultural immersion project. Students will enroll in 16 units to be taught by SDSU faculty/program group leaders in Nairobi. The host institution, United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, will provide the institutional structure, accommodations and classroom facilities for the semester-long program.

I found faculty and administrators enthusiastic about establishing a relationship with SDSU. I spoke to Vice Chancellor Freida Brown, an African American from San Diego, who was eager to attract Africana Studies students to Kenya. As a member of Alliant International University, USIU-Kenya has been catering to students from San Diego since 1969. Dr. Brown has built the institution into an African university with accreditation in both the United States and Kenya. Students I spoke to in Nairobi were full of praise for the university, the country and their educational experience at USIU-Kenya. (See Alliant web site for student testimonies).

USIU-Kenya offers students an outstanding international educational experience. It is located in the cultural, intellectual and economic hub of eastern Africa. USIU is a truly international university with 45 nationalities represented in its student body and 16% of full time faculty from countries outside Kenya. It would be an invaluable experience for our students to spend a semester in Nairobi as they prepare to live and work in a multi-cultural, multi-national environment.

USIU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in the US (under the Department of Education) and with the awarding the Kenyan Charter in 1999, all curricula have been scrutinized and endorsed by Kenya's Commission for Higher Education, which oversees the quality of higher education in Kenya.

Student activities

The 16 undergraduate credits would be earned by participation in four classes:

1. Swahili coast safari (2 credits)
2. Swahili Studies Seminar (5 credits)
3. Intensive Swahili language study (5 credits)
4. Independent Study Project (4 credits)

USIU-Kenya Fee Structure

Basic tuition, room and board for each student:

Tuition
Tuition (16 units @ Kshs 3404 per unit): $1,058
Library fees $60: Medical fee: $20 Student activities:$6
Total: $1,144

Room and board
Room only $416
7 day meal plan @295 per day $325
Medical for boarding students (Inpatient) $45
Total: $786

Airline ticket $1,500

Total: $3,430

Other Fees
Transport fee $80
Computer Lab fees $50
Application fee (Non-Refundable) $50

The project complements the department's efforts to offer students an international educational experience in Africa. Students and faculty recently traveled to South Africa and Ghana on department sponsored trips. The establishment of a study abroad option in Kenya would create an opportunity for SDSU students to study a unique language and culture that has had a strong cultural resonance in the African American community since the 1960s. Kiswahili continues to be the language of choice among African American undergraduates. Nonscientific surveys have shown that, given the opportunity, most black students at SDSU would choose Kiswahili to fulfil their language requirements.

The SLCI program is designed to maximize the effectiveness of its resources by offering a semester abroad experience that will address the full range of student’s educational and curricular needs. It does not just provide an oversees cultural experience which, while potentially as costly, may or may not assist students in accomplishing their educational goals. The units will be directly transferable to their home campus. Also, since the SLCI program may be linked to a 3-semester sequence for the CAL language requirement, participants will be equipped with a linguistic and cultural foundation adequate to ensure that they will derive maximum benefit from their experience abroad. All too often, students experience severe ‘culture shock’ during study abroad. These disruptions can negatively impact their ability to absorb the maximum benefit from their experiences abroad.

All SDSU students, regardless of their major or minor, will be encouraged to apply to the SLCI program. They may (but are not required to) select Swahili as their official second language for graduation. They may acquire their prerequisite level of language competency through other means than the Swahili Language and Cultural Studies course sequence. Project participants will be selected in accordance with the standards and requirements set by SDSU, which ensure that race, color, national origin, gender, age or national origin may not be considerations of the selection process.