Study Abroad
Study abroad, in addition to enhancing your education by raising your geographical and cultural awareness, has been linked to cognitive, academic, and professional benefits. Whether you are a business major, biology major, fashion major, foreign language major, or any major in between, Western Michigan University has a study abroad program suited for you.
Summer I 2021
History and Cultural Immersion in Ghana: May 14-May 23, 2021.
Led by Dr. Mariam Konaté
Academic Program
This Study Abroad program in Ghana is designed to offer students the opportunity to learn about the impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on the African continent. The course engages students through cultural immersion (walking with indigenous guides) to develop ethically responsible students for a complex, multicultural world. This course exposes students to other worldviews that exist across the globe today. Finally, this course offers students an opportunity to engage in an educational environment that will tremendously increase their historical, cultural, and geo-political knowledge of the pivotal impact that the European trade in enslaved Africans has had on West Africa in particular, and on the rest of the world.
Students will have the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of learning experiences, including classroom instruction, site visits, field excursions. Students will visit Elmina’s Castle, the first fort built on the Gulf of Guinea by the Portuguese in 1482 and from which enslaved African were transported to the Americas and other parts of the world. Students will also attend lectures given by university faculty from the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast.
Lectures will include the following:
"History of Ghana"
"Politics of Development in Ghana"
"Origin and Development of Pan-Africanism"
"Impact of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa"
"Historical Overview of Ashanti Empire"
"The African American Presence in Ghana"
Academic Credit
Students will earn a total of 1 INTL 3300 credit hours. Prior to participating in the program, students are urged to work closely with appropriate academic advisor(s) to determine how the credit will count toward their WMU degree requirements.
Application deadline: 02/28/2021
Open to WMU students who are registered to take or have successfully completed any one of the following classes:
- AAAS 2000: Introduction to African American Studies
- AAAS 3000: The African American History, Culture, and Experience from the Beginnings to 1865
- AAAS 3010: The African American History, Culture
- AAAS 3600: Black Male/Female Relationships
- AAAS 3900: Women Writers in Contemporary Black Literature from 19th Century to the Present
- GWS 2000: Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies
- GWS 3200: Women, Globalization and Social Change
- GWS 3700: Women Writers in Contemporary Black Literature from 19th Century to the Present
International students with specific visa requirements are encouraged to consult with a WMU immigration advisor prior to committing to the program.
Summer II 2021
Human Rights and Identity in Curaçao: July 9-July 19, 2021.
Led by Dr. Mariam Konaté
Academic Program
This Study Abroad program will give students the ability to travel to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao to acquire a firsthand understanding of the issue of Human Rights and identity in Curaçao. The program will be addressing topics such as the role of the Dutch and the Caribbean in the trade in enslaved Blacks, colonial history, Black Identity and the relationship with socio-economic circumstances, the relations with USA to present day human exploitation such as the undocumented Venezoleans, activism (grassroots to political), spirituality, and gender empowerment. The program will also allow students to draw parallels between the lived experiences of marginalized communities in the USA and those of the Dutch Antilles. Students will examine the global nature of sex work, immigration, colorism, racial discrimination, colonialism, and imperialism. Students will have the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of learning experiences, including classroom instruction, site visits, field excursions. Students will visit an organization that supports sex workers and gives sex education and medical assistance to immigrant women, and neighborhoods where skin color correlates with socio-economics status.
Lectures will include the following:
“Colorism in Curaçao”
“Women, immigration, and sex work”
“Gender empowerment” (position and role of men and women)
“Spirituality in Curaçao” (role of different religions; christianity/tambu/rastafari/etc)
“Activism in Curaçao” (grassroots to political)
Academic Credit
WMU credit will be awarded for UNIV 4040 (1 credit) upon successful completion of the program. Prior to participating in the program, students are urged to work closely with appropriate academic advisor(s) to determine how the credit will count toward their WMU degree requirements.
Application deadline: 03/15/2021
Open to WMU students who are registered to take or have successfully completed any one of the following classes:
- AAAS 2000: Introduction to African American Studies
- AAAS 3000: The African American History, Culture, and Experience from the Beginnings to 1865
- AAAS 3010: The African American History, Culture
- AAAS 3600: Black Male/Female Relationships
- AAAS 3900: Women Writers in Contemporary Black Literature from 19th Century to the Present
- GWS 2000: Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies
- GWS 3200: Women, Globalization and Social Change
- GWS 3700: Women Writers in Contemporary Black Literature from 19th Century to the Present
International students with specific visa requirements are encouraged to consult with a WMU immigration advisor prior to committing to the program.