Program Description
Summer 2009 begin dates are June 8, July 6 and August 3 A six-week Advanced Level Kiswahili course will begin June 22, offered only in Tanzania*
The Advanced Level Kiswahili course, offered only in Tanzania, will begin on June 22. It will run for six weeks, finishing July 31. The course will include four hours of formal language instruction every day, Monday through Friday. Applicants to this course need to have completed a minimum of four semesters or six quarters before enrolling in the course.
This program aims at giving learners from American universities, colleges and individuals an opportunity to study Kiswahili language, literature and culture, conduct research or do academic internships through a structured immersion program in the culture and society of the Swahili speaking people of east Africa.
The program provides a choice to study Kiswahili language and culture at the Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced or Superior levels; and also offers customized Kiswahili to learners with special interests in such fields as law, health care, gender studies, politics etc. It also caters for individuals who are interested in placement in a public, community or private organization to do research, internship or volunteer in community work.
All courses in the program are designed and run by experienced professors from American universities in collaboration with the Department of Kiswahili of the University of Dar es Salaam for the Dar es Salaam program, experienced lecturers from Kenyan universities for the Kenyan program, and select public and non-governmental institutions that do research and/or community work in east Africa.
All streams in the program are structured to allow interested learners to combine language study with community internship. Regular language classes run from 9:00 - 12:00 (or 1pm for the advanced course) and community internships start at 2:00 to 5:00 pm. Students interested in studying Kiswahili language only need not enroll in community work, and on the other hand, those who are not interested in language study can register in full-time community internships without the in-class language component. Each participant who chooses to study Kiswahili will take a proficiency examination upon completion of the course.
In the community service components, participants are assigned research guides who meet with them for an agreed number of hours per week to familiarize them with local culture and guide them to important places and venues for their research. Learners interested in academic research are assigned to professors in their areas of interests for consultation for a required number of hours per week. Besides tuition and registration fees, the program charges a small fee to pay the research guides and consulting professors to commit and hold them responsible to their assignments.