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Summer service-learning course in Tunisia brings history, social issues, to life for UGA students
Through exchange and collaboration, the university provides people from different parts of the world the opportunity to establish inroads where none existed, and to understand each other’s conditions through common experience. For eight UGA students and five faculty from eleven different departments and disciplines, Arab-Muslim culture, ancient history and civic engagement all came alive this summer during a two-week service-learning course in Tunisia.
This international multidisciplinary, student-faculty collaboration grew out of the expanding UGA-Tunisia Educational Partnership. Inaugurated in 2003 to enhance e-learning in the North African country, the partnership has flourished in the international climate at UGA, with over twenty-five UGA faculty and staff having visited Tunisia since 2003; over 60 Tunisian faculty from across the country have visited UGA to take part in e-learning and higher education management workshops. The summer of 2006 saw the project broaden its reach into public service and outreach and include students from both countries for the first time.
With support from the US State Department, The President’s Venture Fund, the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UGA Engineering professor and director of the partnership Takoi K. Hamrita assembled an enthusiastic array of faculty and staff from across UGA steeped in outreach and keen to the importance of student participation. The two-week program, which included daily Arabic lessons and guided visits to historical sites, provided the framework for UGA students and faculty to work closely with University of Sousse students as well as local elementary and high school students.
Though collaboration with elementary and high school students is common at UGA, the program is the first of its kind to create the opportunity for a Tunisian university to collaborate with students at these levels. Students from the three layers of education came together to engage in discussions concerning social and economic issues, from juvenile delinquency to environmental awareness, using art in various forms as a vehicle for communication and self-expression. At the end of the two weeks the resulting paintings, photography, film, music and theatre pieces were presented at a closing reception for parents, teachers and administrators at the school of performing arts in Sousse and will later be presented at UGA.
“This effort, though a modest pilot effort, has multiple significant implications for Tunisia. It set a tangible example for how the university could be demystified by opening its doors to elementary and high school students and their parents, while highlighting the critical role the university can play in bringing the three layers of education together,” said Hamrita. “Using art as a vehicle for collaboration and dialogue between students carries powerful potential that includes enhancing art education in elementary schools, something Tunisia is very much interested in,” she added.
By engaging with the Tunisian students in this project, UGA students and faculty had the opportunity to share their own experience with service and outreach projects and motivate the Tunisian students to create their own
“We have established a relationship with the Tunisian students that goes well beyond major and specialization to a deep respect for each others’ work and a shared commitment to service and outreach,” said Erica Wilson, a graduate student in the department of Family and child development. “So often, you can become submersed in your own field, surrounded by people just like yourself. This experience has allowed me to interact with others from many different disciplines and open up to various ways of thinking about issues,” Wilson added.
The rich Tunisian culture and warm hospitality left a lasting impression on UGA students. “We were actually standing at ruins I’d learned about in AP European history, ground that Hannibal had walked; it was remarkable,” said computer science major Cole Sherer.
“It is a simple concept, but people tend to spend more time looking at the outside rather than the inside,” said biological engineering student Jessica Buday. “If nothing else, the idea of similarity between all people has been reinforced as a result of this trip,” Buday said. §
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