Doing African studies
A new master's program
Historian Sean Hanretta refers to the present as "the era of the NGOs," the era of foreign policy by other means. The potential of nongovernmental organizations to create social change appeals to students, who often exhibit a "just-do-it" approach to social problems.
The current cohort of master's degree students in the
African Studies program: from left, Lindsay Caldwell, Andre Epstein,
Regina Roberts, Rhianon Liu and Marcus Williams.
Photo:Tatiana Deogirikar
With that in mind, the Center for African Studies has launched a one-year master's program aimed at people interested in policy or NGO administration. There were two students last year, and this year the program has its first real cohort of five. Three are co-terms (in international relations, political science and human biology), one came to Stanford with a BA in history and experience as an intern with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the fifth is Regina Roberts, assistant curator for the Stanford University Libraries' superb African collection.
Students specialize in one of three tracks: Culture and Society; Health, Well-Being and the Environment; or Political Economy and Security. They're all studying Swahili (they are required to learn at least one non-colonial African language). They've all had experience working or studying in Africa, and they're all itching to go back.
Among them is Marcus Williams, who is earning a co-terminal degree in international relations, had a Stanford in Government Fellowship at the Center for Democratic Development in Accra, Ghana, and before that was in Tanzania on one of Robert Siegel's trips.
"Two years ago, I was sure that all the volunteers in Tanzania had a good impact," Williams said. "I have a more tempered reaction now. I'm glad people are excited to help, but you can rush in too fast." Williams figures an intense dose of African studies will make him more knowledgeable and more useful.
He plans on applying to the Peace Corps and to other field research jobs. His colleague Rhianon Liu, a co-term in human biology who spent two summers working for FORGE (Facilitating Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment) with Zambian refugees, will apply to medical school. And Lindsay Caldwell, a co-term in political science who spent time at the Institute for Democracy (IDASA) in Pretoria, is interested in working on African nonprofit and NGO fundraising. All had multidisciplinary undergraduate educations.
Andre Epstein, whose history degree is from the University of California-Santa Cruz, has his eye on the Democratic Republic of Congo, not an easy place to sort out. He's looking at possible jobs and volunteer stints there, and in the meantime is working hard on his Swahili and "keeping an open mind" about where all this will lead him.
The professional member of the cohort is Roberts, who is taking two years to do the one-year program while she's quite busy at Green Library.
"Stanford is very competitive with other libraries," she said, "and the incredible strength for African studies is that we have such a large collection of primary and secondary sources."
