Oklahoma State University

Overview

The program begins spring semester on the campus of Oklahoma State University. Students will participate in an orientation course in which faculty will assist students in broadening their knowledge about the Kenyan culture, environment and regional safety issues.

The international experience starts at the main campus of Kenyatta University, pictured above, in May 2013. Students will participate in an interactive learning program through lectures, field trips and cultural exchanges. The first weekend, students will experience a home stay visit with a Kenyan family and come back to campus ready to share stories of Kenyan hospitality and family life. During the second week, the program will shift to a more rural setting with students visiting a satellite campus at Kitui. Students will see cultural preservation at work in visits to rural cooperatives.

By the third week, the students will be in Mombasa. Travel by bus between Nairobi and Mombasa will expose students to a rich array of wildlife, vegetation as well as a visit to a National game park—go Safari—which means "a journey of learning" in Kiswahili. In Mombasa students will begin to appreciate the diversity and complexity of the Kenyan cultural and how different environments play to nation-wide sustainability issues.

As an end to the journey, in the fall students will present their findings and experiences to classes, clubs and other interests.

Lessons on Kenya

As you plan for an international exchange, you should first learn about the country you will be traveling to, its culture, and its people.   As we prepare for our trip  to Kenya, we have put together related readings on Kenya, its people, and its natural and human environments.

More assignments will follow, but please take time to read from the selections in the
Reading Materials.

SYLLABUS

READING MATERIALS

Assignments

Global Learning:  Kenya (Assignment One)

As part of your Outreach Learning: Kenya program, you are required to write 4 reflection papers.  These reflections should be an open "dialogue" as you begin to discover the richness of the Kenyan culture and the value of studying abroad. Each of these papers should be two typewritten pages and double-spaced.

Paper one should reflect: "My Current Attitudes and Beliefs toward Traveling to Kenya and Abroad."  Include the points listed on the syllabus, but feel free to add any other interesting factors you feel are important.  This paper should encourage you to begin your journal by thinking of your anticipations, hopes, dreams, fears and anxieties about going abroad.

Web site assignment: The goal of this course is to prepare you to travel to Kenya and maximize the learning potential of your study abroad experience.  To aid you in this process, you are expected to find a few resources, which will enhance your knowledge about Kenya. One of these resources must be "industry" related to your degree here at OSU, one resource must be a news source or English language web site (examples below), and one must be an English/Swahili translation resource. The other two sources are left up to you. Be prepared to share the information you gleaned at the next class meeting.

  1. Kenyan Daily Nation
  2. East African Standard

In addition, you are required to view the following web sites and feel comfortable with the materials contained on these sites (be prepared to discuss at next class period):

  1. CDC web page
  2. State Department web page
  3. CIA World Fact Book for Kenya

A Google bookmark list has been started for our class.  The list is called Kenya 2013 and is public.  You will receive an email invitation to join.  We encourage you to populate this list with the websites you visit while working on your reflection papers or as you research Kenya.  Please feel free to make comments on the bookmark list; these comments will serve as a dialogue and a sharing of information.  Students will share their reflections and resources in class at the next meeting.

Questions about your assignments may be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Deadline: February 11, 2013 by Noon.  All assignments should be emailed or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more info, click here to download the brochure.