Senegal: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
David Wohl
Department of Communications
West Virginia State University
The CIEE Faculty Development Seminar in Senegal was one of best professional development experiences I've had in my 28 year teaching and administrative career. Here at West Virginia State University, we've been attempting to create new ties with institutions abroad and integrate international studies in our curricula by opening up new opportunities for collaborations, exchanges, and cross-cultural cooperation. I believe that my Senegal experience was extremely valuable both for my university and for myself. The seminar certainly expanded my knowledge of West Africa. I learned a great deal about Senegalese culture, history, arts, and religion and made many contacts with media artists and faculty members.
My major goals going into the seminar were to further "globalize" my student outcomes in specific undergraduate classes and make specific contacts with individuals in order to facilitate future collaborations and partnerships. My primary teaching and research interests are in the fields of theatre, film, and education. I have made a strong effort over the past two decades to provide international educational outreach activities for both our students and our faculty. We recently strengthened our ties with the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and we now have our first international graduate assistant from that university. We're also in the process of working with the Ugandan Institute for Film and Media and will, hopefully, be sending students to Kampala next year to work with a new independent television facility. My meetings in Dakar gave me an opportunity to forge new relationships in Senegal that may lead to similar collaborations and study abroad opportunities for our students.
One of the best aspects of the seminar was the many activities, including visits and discussions with Senegalese media faculty and artists. I was able to speak with several film and video directors about the independent film movement in Senegal and will certainly be incorporating this knowledge into our undergraduate and graduate international film classes. I was also able to get their recommendations on the best Senegalese films to show and we will be attempting to order many of these titles for use in next semester's International Cinema class.
In the next two years, West Virginia State University will be eligible for a federal program funded by the U.S. Department of Education (Title III-B) that provides support to historically black graduate institutions. Thanks to my participation in the Senegal Seminar, the Communications and Media Studies programs at the University are particularly well positioned to develop specific opportunities for international study and partnerships. As Dean and Graduate Program Coordinator, I intend to look for ways to fund these international initiatives within our Title III program.
The seminar also helped me in my work to develop a course called "African Images through Cinema," which will examine how western perceptions of Africa have been shaped by motion pictures produced in the past 80 years. The course will investigate the stereotypes that persist in the Hollywood treatment of African life and culture and will compare these "cinematic myths" with the far different reality inherent in African cinema over the past two decades. The class will be both an upper-level undergraduate course and a graduate seminar. My discussions with faculty members and filmmakers in Dakar gave me many ideas and resources that I'll be able to incorporate in this new course.
There was so much we were exposed to in Senegal that it was, in many ways, difficult to process what we were experiencing at the time. As I review my notes, I am amazed at how much we were exposed to in such short a time. I particularly want to express my gratitude to Dr. Serigne Ndiaye, the seminar leader. Serigne was an invaluable resource during our time in Dakar. He helped guide us in our particular areas of interest and served as a unique sounding board for all of our questions.
I am extremely grateful to ExxonMobil for sponsoring the CIEE Fellowship Program. My "home" department (the Department of Communications) has been extremely active in international studies activities and has made significant steps to internationalize our curriculum. The Fellowship gave me the opportunity to continue our work in this area and will, I'm sure, help provide further international experiences for our students and contribute to the creation of a more global perspective on our campus and in our curriculum.