SUZA wins ADF

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF ZANZIBAR PRESS RELEASE

 

The State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) has been selected among 23 universities across Africa under the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (ADF) to receive the first round of 33 African-born academics working in North America.

 

Under the project, scholars in the diaspora will be supported to return to Africa for academic collaborations initiated by African institutions. Dr Charles Bwenge from the University of Florida’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures will be at the university under the project: Curriculum Co-Development for a New Programme in Teaching Swahili as a Foreign Language.

 

Apart from Dr. Bwenge, there will be Dr. Alwiya Omar from the Department of Linguistics at the Indiana University, who will assist SUZA in teaching Masters and PhD programmes in Swahili.

 

She will also engage in students’ supervision, and conduct some public lectures at the Global Centre for Swahili Studies and Advancement of the SUZA.

 

These top flying academicians who will participate in graduate student training and mentoring will be hosted by the State University of Zanzibar.

 

The fellowship programme was launched last October, and will run for two years. It aims to “turn the continent’s ‘brain drain’ into ‘brain gain’” and to encourage academic exchange and collaboration.

One hundred fellowships are being offered to African-born academics living in the United States and Canada to work temporarily at and with African universities. According to the announcement by ADF, in the first cycle, the 33 diaspora fellows selected by an advisory council will work on the 31 winning projects submitted by institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania/Zanzibar and Uganda – the six countries where Carnegie operates in Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Development and Advancement of Swahili language is one of the priority foci for the State University of Zanzibar. This language is the heritage of Zanzibar, based on this fact; the University has determined to invest into making itself the world’s institution for quality training and research services.

 

The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (ADF) is a scholar fellowship programme for educational projects at African higher education institutions. Offered by Institute of International Education (IIE) in partnership with Quinnipiac University (QU), the programme is funded by a two-year grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), to support 100 short-term faculty fellowships for African-born academics. The programme exemplifies CCNY’s enduring commitment to higher education in Africa. IIE manages and administers the programme, including applications, project requests and fellowships while QU provides strategic direction.