Spring 2006 Contents

1. A Watershed Experience
2. Notes from the President
3. FAQ
4. Global Campus: Cameroon
5. Sports
6. Parent to Parent
7. Commencement Weekend

Spring 2006 In Focus Home

Dancer in traditional feather robe performs at Bafut.

The Global Campus: Cameroon, West Africa

Dickinson’s study-abroad program in Cameroon enables students to develop an understanding of culture and society. Unlike other undergraduate programs in Africa, Dickinson’s program directly enrolls students in an African university. Students must be self-motivated and ready to undertake academic work in an atmosphere that may be very different from any they have experienced.

In January, 15 students embarked on their semester-long immersion in Cameroonian culture, along with  faculty members and administrators  who participated in a conference in Cameroon on religion and political power co-sponsored by The Clarke Center and the Office of Global Education.

Before settling in at the study center in the capital city of Yaoundé, the students were accompanied by faculty and staff members to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, the city of Bamenda, the king’s compound of Bafut and the marketplace in Foumban.

At the University of Yaoundé, students take courses in the humanities and social sciences during a 15-week period. They also have internship and fieldwork opportunities so they can become active participants in Cameroonian society.
To see more photos, go to:
 www.dickinson.edu/news/features/2006/cameroon/.

Dancers perform in the compound of the Fon of Bafut, near Bamenda.

Faculty members gather in a garden in Buea with Nyansako-ni-Nku (center), president of the All Africa Conference of Churches.

Yaoundé, five degrees north of the equator and nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, is surrounded by volcanic mountains and enjoys a relatively cool climate.

Dickinson study-abroad programs attract students from other colleges and universities. Laura Price-Waldman (Macalester College ’07), Kellee Roston (College of Wooster ’07) and Analee Heath (Macalester College ’07) pose under a calabash tree in Yaoundé.

The Dickinson group at the Sultan’s Palace, Foumban, in northern Cameroon.

Professor Edward Ako, resident director of the Dickinson-in-Cameroon program, enjoys traditional Cameroonian food with students during a special visit to the American Embassy in Yaoundé.

Students converse with a French-speaking curator at the National Museum in Yaoundé.

Molly Osborn ’07 and Laura Price-Waldman (Macalester College ’07) pause in front of the gate at the Dickinson-in-Cameroon apartment and study center in Yaoundé.

Professor Ashton Nichols meets with Shana Roth-Gormley ’07, Peter Allen ’07 and Kellee Roston (College of Wooster ’07) at the study center in Yaoundé.