Eligibility
You must have achieved sophomore status with a grade point average of at least 2.5. to study in Ghana. Preference is given to juniors and seniors when there are more applicants than spots in the program.
Cost
The Fall 2012 program cost is expected to be within $1000 of Calvin tuition and room and board on campus. More specific cost information will be sent with your acceptance letter. The final program cost is based on many factors and is not known exactly until the number of students in the group has been identified. The financial information page covers the details that go into the cost of the program and rough estimates for each. The cost includes:
- Tuition
- Roundtrip air transportation Grand Rapids/Accra
- Full room and board
- Administrative fee
- Program-related excursions
Additional expenses not included in the program fee: passport, visa, medical insurance (required), books and spending money.
Accommodations
You will live on the campus of University of Ghana at Legon (about 7 miles north of the center of Accra) in an international dormitory. You can stay with a Calvin roommate, but you may also choose to live with an international or Ghanaian roommate.
Courses
The following courses are required: (STGH 100 and STGH 101 are taught by instructors at the University of Ghana at Legon).
| Culture and Ethnography in Ghana | |
This course introduces students to the qualitative research methods of analyzing everyday settings from a sociological perspective. In this course, you will carry out your own ethnographic project in Ghana, choosing an accessible research topic and site, creating the field notes, recording interviews, conducting observations, and creating a final product. This final product could be a short documentary film, a research paper, a sociological study, a performance, or a piece of mixed media. You will be playing the role of an ethnographer in this class, a social scientist who is collecting, organizing, and interpreting qualitative data in order to understand a cultural issue. You will begin by studying the fundamentals of cultural analysis and then move on to the specific techniques. The particular methods that you will learn are used in a wide variety of academic disciplines including history, sociology, anthropology, performance studies, folklore studies, psychology, and education. We will be focusing on the interpretive ideas of ethnography and culture; rather than analyzing hard data we will be analyzing language and observations. The specific skills of observation learned in this class are extremely useful in adapting to living in any complex social system, learning how to navigate cultural existence. |
3 semester hours; fulfills Rhetoric in Culture core |
| STGH 312 - Culture and People of Ghana and West Africa | |
| A multi-disciplinary course aimed at an appreciation of the rich and diverse culture and history of the peoples of West Africa. Excursions to sites such as slave forts, the Fante homeland, and historic city of Kumase, and the Museum of Ghana are included. | 3 semester hours, fulfills Cross-Cultural Engagement (CCE) core |
| STGH 100 - TWI Language Study (pronounced Che-Wee) | |
| An introductory course in the dominant local language, designed to help students communicate on a basic level as they interact with the people around them. | 2 semester hours, pass/fail, general elective credit |
| STGH 101 - African Drumming and Dance: Practice and Context | |
| This course provides instruction in several traditional dances of the ethnic groups of Ghana, instruction in some patterns of traditional drumming, and lectures on the social and religious meaning of African dance, including its use in Christian worship. | 1 semester hour, fulfills PE level I or II |
Choose one or two elective courses, taught by instructors at the University of Ghana at Legon:
| STGH 279 - Government & Politics in Africa | |
| An historical as well as analytical and comparative study of government and politics in selected African countries, with particular attention to the trends and problems of government and politics in Africa. | 3 semester hours, general elective |
| STGH 217 - West African Literature and Drama | |
| An introduction to African oral literature and drama. Study of dramatic themes and trends will focus on those related to colonial rule and the post-independence period. | 3 semester hours, literature core credit |
All courses may be applied to the Africa track of the African and African diaspora studies minor. Some courses may be used to fulfill elective requirements for the international development studies (IDS) major and minor. The program qualifies to satisfy the study-abroad requirement for the IDS major and minor.
Apply
Submit a preliminary application to the the off-campus programs office. Once your eligibility for the program is determined (within 1-2 weeks), you will be sent an application. The final application deadline for this program is March 14, 2012.
Contact
Program Director, Fall 2012:
Roland Hoksbergen, Business Department
616.526.6369
Past and Future Program Directors
Fall 2009 - Beryl Hugen, Social Work, Emeritus
Fall 2010 - David Hoekema, Philosophy
Fall 2011 - Stephanie
Sandberg, CAS
Fall 2013 - TBD
