The foreign study program in southern Africa highlights the global teaching and perspective of the Environmental Studies Program. Each fall term, twenty students are admitted to a regional program designed to give them firsthand experience with issues of population/health, land and water use, wildlife management, ecotourism, and resource management across southern Africa. All students take three courses: ENVS 40, which addresses the issues of development and conservation both in the classroom and in field research; ENVS 42, which offers a comprehensive view of the political and social context of initiatives for development and environmental conservation with an emphasis on regional problems and regional opportunities for solutions; and ENVS 84, which is a culminating seminar taught by the Dartmouth faculty director and requires an extensive, independently researched term paper. Various African experts also lecture and lead field exercises during the term. Approximately half of the term is spent in field research, including at least two extended field research trips to sites of environmental interest in two or more of the region’s countries. Students examine wildlife management in the national game parks, water projects and their influence on agriculture and wildlife, and community based programs for economic development and environmental protection.
CURRICULUM
ENVS 40: Natural Resources and Environmental Issues in Southern Africa
ENVS 42: Social and Political Aspects of Development Conservation in Southern Africa
ENVS 84: Seminar on Environmental Issues of Southern Africa
Living Accommodations
While in the program’s base city of Pretoria, South Africa, students live in homestays with local families. During their extended field trips, AFSP participants (students and Dartmouth faculty) stay in tents.
FACULTY CONTACTS
Bill Roebuck, David Mbora, and Ross Virginia
PREREQUISITES for the AFRICA FSP
ENVS 2 or the equivalent
ENVS 39 or ENVS 65, with permission
And at least one of the following courses (availability subject to change; check the ORC and with the Environmental Studies Program office for updated list):
AAAS 14: Pre-Colonial African History (identical to HIST 5.1)
AAAS 40: Gender Identities and Politics in Africa
AAAS 44: Africa: The Ethnographic Encounter(identical to ANTH 36)
AAAS 45: Africa: Ecology and Development (identical to GEOG 40)
AAAS 47: Politics and Political Economies in Africa (identical to GOVT 44)
AAAS 50: Colonialism, Development and the Environment in Asia and Africa (identical to HIST 75, ENVS 45)
AAAS 51: African Literatures: Masterpieces of Literature from Africa (identical to COMP 51)
COMP 51: African Literatures: Masterpieces of Literature from Africa (identical to AAAS 51)
ENVS 45: Colonialism, Development and the Environment in Asia and Africa (identical to AAAS 50, HIST 75)
GEOG 40: AAAS 45: Africa: Ecology and Development (identical to AAAS 45)
GOVT 44: Politics and Political Economies in Africa (identical to AAAS 47)
HIST 5.1: Pre-Colonial African History (identical to AAAS 14)
HIST 5.8: Africa and the World
HIST 66: History of Africa since 1800
HIST 75: Colonialism, Development and the Environment in Asia and Africa (identical to AAAS 50, ENVS 45)
