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STUDY ABROAD IN AFRICA: BOTSWANA
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Program: University of Botswana / CIEE
Location: Gaborone, Botswana
Is This Program Right For You? The CIEE Study Center at the University of Botswana offers students from a wide range of academic disciplines the opportunity to live and study in Botswana, learning firsthand about the country and its people, while pursuing an intensive curriculum in classes with local students. Through courses at the university and a variety of community engagement and field-based research opportunities, participants will explore Botswana and learn about its important role in the Southern African region. Botswana is one of Africa’s most stable countries, and a multi-party democracy. It is unusual in that the majority of its population is from a single ethnic group, the Tswana. Gaborone, the capital city, is one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities and lies in southeastern Botswana, close to the border of South Africa. In addition to the main campus of the University of Botswana, Gaborone also hosts the headquarters of the 10 nation Southern African Development Community, which focuses on regional development, economic growth, and poverty alleviation. The University of Botswana (UB) was established in 1982, and has a student population of 15,000 and a staff of over 2,000. The University’s vision is to be a leading academic center of excellence in Africa and the world; its mission is to advance the intellectual and human resource capacity of the nation and the international community. The University is commited to students, academic freedom and integrity, cultural authenticity, and internationalism and is comprised of six faculties, a School of Graduate Studies, and five academic centers.
The Courses/Program: At the CIEE Study Center in Gaborone, students have the opportunity to become fully integrated members of the University of Botswana campus community. In addition to developing their Setswana language skills, participants benefit from unique academic courses in various disciplines that focus on Botswana, specifically, and Southern Africa. Through CIEE-coordinated volunteer opportunities and excursions, students take important steps towards becoming members of the local community. Through specialized courses and integrated extracurricular activities, students gain a greater understanding of contemporary Botswana culture, and its role in Southern Africa.Students may choose from courses in any faculties and departments for which they have the necessary prerequisites. Teaching methods at the University normally involve a mixture of lectures, tutorials, seminars and, in the sciences, laboratory classes. Classes typically meet two to three times per week for lectures, but may have required supplemental tutorials, seminars, and/or labs. Lectures may involve as many as 100 students while tutorials and seminars have smaller class sizes, ranging from 15–25 students. Students enroll in a Setswana language course, the CIEE Language and Culture Practicum, and four regular university courses, one of which must have a focus on Botswana or Southern Africa. University courses are offered in African Languages and Literature, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, English, Environmental Studies, History, Media Studies, Political Science, and Science.
Housing: All students live in double rooms in apartment-style residences on the University campus. Local and other international students live in these facilities, allowing for social interaction and cultural immersion. Restroom and shower facilities are shared. Meals are not included in the program fee and are the responsibility of the student. There are two dining halls on campus. Students can purchase a meal plan or individual meals. Additional food is available from local vendors who sell a variety of food just outside the University gates.
Duration/Deadlines:
• Fall Semester (18 weeks): late July – early December / Application Deadline: April 1st
• Spring Semester (18 weeks): early January – early May / Application Deadline: November 1st
• Academic Year (39 weeks): late- July – early May / Application Deadline: March 15th
Requirements: (Language of instruction is English and Setswana)
• 3.0 GPA
Program Cost Includes: Tuition, housing, orientation, cultural activities, local excursions, field trips, pre-departure advising, and insurance. Visa and meals are not included. For more information: http://www.ciee.org. Catalogues are available in ISAP’s Resource Rooms. Please note: The information on this sheet is for reference purposes only. It is your responsibility to confirm details and deadlines.
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Program: Botswana Studies Program / Pitzer College
Location: Gaborone, Botswana
Is This Program Right For You? Pitzer College’s semester and year-long study abroad programs are informed by a strong commitment to cultural immersion and sustained engagement in local communities. To help you connect deeply in those host communities, the Pitzer program model integrates classroom instruction with active learning experiences in a variety of settings, including homestays, volunteer internships, independent research projects, and study trips. This academically and personally challenging combination encourages you to think in ways that cross over disciplinary, cultural, and social boundaries. It combines cognitive and affective learning to allow you to live successfully and appropriately in new cultural contexts and recognize how you have been shaped by your own culture. It can powerfully transform the way you look at the world and yourself.
One of Africa’s most politically and economically stable countries, Botswana is home to a population approaching 1.7 million people and 226,900 square miles of vast savannas, the Kalahari Desert, and world famous wildlife parks. Botswana’s citizens, most of whom live in the major cities, towns, and villages along the eastern border, enjoy standards of education and economic well-being rivaled on the continent only by neighboring South Africa. The program is affiliated with the University of Botswana, a comprehensive institution of higher learning with an undergraduate enrollment of 15,000, located in the capital city of Gaborone.
The Courses/Program: Courses include Intensive Setswana Language, which, along with English, is the national language of Botswana. You will study Setswana intensively in a course that emphasizes proficiency in speaking and listening through a highly communicative language curriculum. A core course in Contemporary Issues in Botswana offers students the opportunity to study the cultural, historical, social, political, religious, and environmental issues that shape and connect national development. In Ethnographic Field Methods in the Botswana Context, students will become familiar with and apply a range of ethnographic field research methods toward deepening their understanding of the Botswanan cultural context during the village stay, the Big Motse, and the urban stay. Methods and strategies for research include participant observation, writing field notes, conducting a person-centered interview, designing and conducting a survey, completing a case study, understanding human subject research protocols, and field study ethics, and maintaining a work journal.
Students can also participate in a Directed Independent Research Project, allowing them to explore in-depth an aspect of Botswana through a directed independent study. Projects are guided by local scholars, specialists, or program staff and may the form of an independent study, apprenticeship in the arts, or an internship. The program strongly recommends that students select a project that involves field research, oral interviews, ethnography, and other techniques that facilitate cultural immersion over those involving library research.
Study trips are also available to deepen students’ understanding of topics covered in the core course. Such trips allow students to travel to various locations in Botswana. Destinations may change from semester to semester, but past excursions have included: Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Okavango Delta, and local trips to historic, artistic, and environmental locations.
Housing: The heart of the Pitzer in Botswana program is the opportunity to live with three different host families representing various parts of the country and key socioeconomic groups. The chance to become a part of each of these families and develop a personal relationship with individual family members is a distinct privilege and provides one of the most meaningful dimensions of the program. The rural family stay is organized in a village outside of Gaborone. Homes are usually small and without electricity or indoor plumbing. There is little chance of privacy. The Big Motse or small-town family stay is arranged in communities along the eastern border of the country, where most Botswanans live. Families here primarily represent the working class. Homes are small and lack privacy. The city family stay takes place in Gaborone during the last two or three months of the program. Here you are able to take part in urban lifestyles that, while “urbanized,” are finally intelligible only when their Botswanan context is considered.
Duration/Deadlines:
• Fall Semester: August to May/ Application Deadline: March 15th
• Spring Semester: January to May/ Application Deadline: October 15th
Requirements:
• 3.0 GPA
Program Cost Includes: Tuition, room, board, program-related study trips, a portion of the round trip airfare, evacuation insurance provided through the international student identity card (ISIC), and the overall supervision and administration of the program. Students should budget for their own personal expenses, passport fees, visa fees, medical insurance, etc. Please note: The information on this sheet is for reference purposes only. It is your responsibility to confirm details and deadlines.
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