Students in Africa

Twelve Dartmouth students, accompanied by Leo Spitzer, Assistant Professor of History, are spending their spring term at Fourah Bay College of the University of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Another 100 students participating in the Foreign Study Program are spending the term in Greece, Costa Rica, Italy, France, and Germany.

The new Sierra Leone program is seen as especially significant because only a few other United States colleges with Black Studies programs have direct associations with institutions in Africa. Fourah Bay College is located atop a wooded hill overlooking Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, a former British colony.

Professor Spitzer, who set up the study program and has lived and studied in Sierra Leone, noted that although the country's predominantly black citizenry speak English, it is an excellent place for students to come in contact with a cross-section of African cultures and customs. The Dartmouth students will take a special seminar at Fourah Bay College as part of the courses accredited by the College and engage in a variety of independent study projects ranging from African music to Islamic religion. Most of the students will also travel throughout Africa following their ten weeks in Sierra Leone.