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Year of Sub-Saharan Africa (2016-2017)

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Purpose

Ramapo College of New Jersey launched a Strategic Plan for Comprehensive Internationalization beginning in Fall 2015. In addition to specific targets within the plan, each academic year will also have a specific region of focus. Through these regional foci, our goal is to increase global awareness and the multitude of opportunities and initiatives the College is involved. Below, you will find specific details about some of these initiatives, plus an extensive calendar of events.


Opportunities for Students

Featured Study Abroad Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa:Ìý


led by Ramapo Professors Elaine Patterson & Kathleen Burke / 4 undergraduate credits / Deadline: March 1, 2017


(other scholarships can be found here:Ìý/study-abroad/scholarships/)

Fall 2016 Course options with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa:

AFST 202 – Introduction to African Studies – Description
AFST 220 – Hip Hop and Society – Description
AFST 330 – Africans in Contemporary Latin America – Description
ARHT 305 – Africa and Cinema – Description

You may also view the 2016-2017 course catalog for Africana Studies

Spring 2017 Course options with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa:

AFST 188 – African-Latin American Culture – Description
AFST 202 – Introduction to African Studies – Description
AFST 310 – Africans in Contemporary Latin America – Description
AFST 330 – Voudoun and African Religion and the New World – Description
AFST 331 – Italian Colonial Culture in Africa – Description ENST 209 – World Sustainability – Description
ENST 336 – Global Ethics – Description
ENST 339 – Sustainable Agriculture – Description
ENST 340 – Global Climate Change – Description
LAWS 201 – Global Legal Order – Description
LAWS 206 – Human Rights – Description
MUSI 202 – The Black Experience through Music – Description
MUSI 204 – Music and Dance in the Africa Diaspora: Central and South America – Description
MUSI 2015 – Music and Dance in the African Diaspora: North America – Description MUSI 245 – Music in Africa – Description PSYC 231 – Multicultural Psychology – Description
SWRK 202 – Political Economy of Social Welfare – Description
SOCI 250 – International Migration and Human Rights – Description
SOCI 304 – Globalization and Society – Description

You may also view the 2016-2017 course catalog for Africana Studies

Related LANGUAGE HAPPY HOURS (all take place in ASB123, unless otherwise noted):

French: (Date/Times Coming Soon)

Spanish :(Date/Times Coming Soon)

Portuguese: Tuesdays, 2 to 3 p.m.

The following is a list of student clubs of potential interest:

Black Student Union

Building Tomorrow

Culture Club

Diversity Action Committee Student Club

Ebony Women for Social Change (EWSC)

French Club

International Student Organization (ISO)

Model UN Club

Nursing Student Organization

Social Work Club

Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA)


Opportunities for Faculty

Grants are made available to support Faculty initiatives during AY16-17 to support the Year of Sub-Saharan Africa. 12 grants of up to $2,000 are available to full-time faculty for travel to or related to Sub-Saharan Africa. The following criteria and procedures will be applied in distributing these funds:

  1. Up to 12 grants will be awarded;
  2. Funding will be limited up to $2,500 per grant;
  3. Proposals will be vetted by the dean, recommended by Deans’ Council, and funded by the
    Provost;
  4. Proposals must be submitted to the dean by noon on 10 October 2016. Late submissions will not be reviewed;
  5. Proposals may involve scholarship, teaching and learning, or service/civic engagement in and/or involving Sub-Saharan Africa;
  6. Proposals should be submitted to the dean on the Travel Request form with a meeting/conference agenda or a narrative attached. Please note to the dean that you are requesting Sub-Saharan travel funding ;
  7. An end of the year reception will be held on 12 April 3:00-4:30 for grant awardees at which time awardees will report out on their funded work related to Sub-Saharan Africa. Awardees should plan to attend.

The following faculty have been provided a 2016-2017 Grant for Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Name School Countr(ies) Project Title
 Gladys Torres-Baumgarten Ìý´¡³§µþ  South Africa Ìý°ä´Ç²Ô´Ú±ð°ù±ð²Ô³¦±ð Presentation
 Michael Bitz Ìý³§³§±á³§ Ìý·¡³Ù³ó¾±´Ç±è¾±²¹  Transnational Literacy Symposium
 Rosetta D’Angelo Ìý±á³Ò³§ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹  Research Ghanaian Authors
 Shalom Gorewitz Ìý°ä´¡ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹  Document Visit
 Karl Johnson Ìý±á³Ò³§ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹  Research Ashanti Empire
 Huiping Li Ìý´¡³§µþ  South Africa  Research Economic Influence
 Lisa Lutter Ìý°ä´¡ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹  Music Exchange
 Elaine Patterson Ìý°Õ´¡³§  Sierra Leone  Evaluate Work with MSN Students
 John Peffer Ìý°ä´¡ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹ Ìý°ä´Ç²Ô´Ú±ð°ù±ð²Ô³¦±ð
 Tilahun Sineshaw Ìý³§³§±á³§ Ìý·¡³Ù³ó¾±´Ç±è¾±²¹  Transnational Literacy Symposium
Ira Spar Ìý±á³Ò³§ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹ Ghana
Eric Wiener Ìý°Õ´¡³§ Ìý³Ò³ó²¹²Ô²¹ Ghana

Study Abroad Program Site visits

(organized visits in either groups or as an individual, to partner institutions with subsidized expenses. The following links below provide you with details on available group visits and how to apply.) 


 (South Africa – Spring 2017)

*If Faculty are interested in visiting any of our overseas partners,please contact the Roukema
Center for International Education and the Director can help coordinate this for you.

Faculty Development Seminars

faculty-only seminars on specific topics held overseas

CIEE: (5 – 15 May, 2017)

CIEE: (12 – 21 May, 2017)

SIT Study Abroad: (15 – 23 May, 2017)


Book Club

The George T. Potter Library will be hosting a book club with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Fall Semester Books:   AND Ìý– both books by author Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Books will be provided to the first 10 individuals who sign up. This group is open to faculty, staff and students. First priority of books will go to students. Please contact Katie Maricic Cohen (kcohen1@ramapo.edu) or Sam Wittenberg (switten1@ramapo.edu) with questions or to sign up. This program has been supported by the Center for Student Involvement & the Roukema Center for International Education. Discussion group will meet monthly from 12:50 pm – 1:50 pm in the Potter Library Reading Lounge on the following Mondays: 9/19, 10/17, 11/14, and 12/5.

Dreams in a Time of War will be discussed during our first three meetings. This memoir describes the author’s experience coming of age in rural Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising of the 1950s. As traditions begin to fade away to modernity, Ngũgĩ acts on his dreams to receive an education during a time of war.

Weep Not, Child will be discussed during out last meeting. This powerful novel by the same author tells the story of two brothers, Njoroge, who attends school, and Kamau, who trains to be a carpenter. Also about Kenya and the Mau Mau uprising, the two brothers and their family need to decide where their loyalties lie- with the Mau Mau or the white colonial government.

Spring Semester Book:Ìý by author Tsitsi Dangarembga

Join the Potter Library in reading Nervous Conditions, a novel about a teenage girl and her British-educated cousin coming of age in colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s. The first 30 students to sign up will receive a copy of the novel. This group is open to faculty, staff and students. Contact Sam Wittenberg (switten1@ramapo.edu) and Katie Cohen (kcohen1@ramapo.edu) to join and for additional information. This program has been supported by the Center for Student Involvement & the Roukema Center for International Education. Discussion group will meet once a month on Wednesdays from 2:50 – 3:50 pm in the Library’s Current Periodicals Reading Lounge on the following dates:ÌýFebruary 8,ÌýMarch 22, and April 12.


Calendar of Events


For more information, please contact the Roukema Center for International Education in ASB-123, by calling x7533 or e-mailing international@ramapo.edu.
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