Here's the text of John's article for the WARC newsletter:
Georgia Southern University Meets WARC
In May 2010, thanks to the generous support of a Title VI, U.S. Department of Education grant entitled “Internationalizing the Curriculum for All,” 18 faculty members, representing Georgia Southern University’s
College of
Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, enjoyed a two week faculty development seminar in
Senegal.
To conduct this seminar to the highest possible professional standards, we formed an alliance with the
West African Research Center, (WARC), Dr. Ousmane Sene, Director. He appointed Mr. Waly Faye, as our in-country program coordinator; together, the two of them treated GSU faculty to an extraordinary experience.
Our trip began with a tour of
Gorée Island which put before us the other side of the story of slavery, both its sad history and the magnificence of the Senegalese experience. This tour began a week filled with scholarly lectures in mornings on diverse topics such as politics, education, and Islam in Senegal, followed by afternoon field trips to everything from the National Assembly to the Grand Mosque(s) in Dakar and Touba, to visiting schools that ranged from Koranic to primary and secondary, and to one on one meetings with faculty and administrators at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and Gaston Berger University in Saint Louis.
After spending a week in
Dakar and its environs, the group visited the cities of
Saint Louis, Touba, Kaolack, and Toubacouta. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Waly Faye and his assistant Korka Sall, we were able to experience up-close personal aspects of Senegalese society and its people. Visiting the local markets and villages, having the opportunity to meet with students and faculty at the Islamic University of Touba, eating lunch (that’s lunch for 22) in the home of the local guide all exhibited a slice of life that ordinary tourists would never have the opportunity to witness. Ousmane Sene, WARC’s redoubtable director made arrangements for us to stop by his ancestral home in the town of Sokone and treated the group to a musical, dancing greeting, traditional Senegalese Tea, and a meeting with the mayor of this small but vibrant community.
Throughout this journey every evening featured enriching forms of entertainment that ranged from traditional music and dance performances to village wrestling matches at Nemandingue offering not only the sport, but the pageantry, indeed theater, of these athletic events. And, no visit to
Africa is complete without encounters with nature; we enjoyed two phenomenal sites, one the Bird Sanctuary of Djoudj and the other through the mangrove that surrounds Toubacouta. The tour of the mangrove continued with a visit to a fishing village where we were all greeted with a kiss from its Queen! This incredible day culminated with a picnic lunch on Sippo beach and a stirring lecture from Dr. Sene on his own research on the poetry of Leopold Sedar Senghor.
There was no point in time during this Seminar when we were not engaged, learning something more about a world that few of us had ever experienced. There are not enough words in any language to properly recognize and acknowledge the hard work, time and energy that Dr. Sene, Waly Faye, and their support staff put into making certain that our visit was memorable, successful, and indeed magnificent. The hardest part of this trip was absorbing the never ending days filled with activities that opened new intellectual horizons and personal development with each passing moment. At the end of the journey, everyone needed a vacation to rest and reflect. Over the course of the near future, through further reflection, I am confident that each participant will better understand and develop further as internationalized thinkers and scholars.
John W. Steinberg
Georgia Southern University
