I admit, Ethiopia hasn’t been on my radar since the 1980s when my favorite pop stars were recording “We are the World” to raise money for starving children. Drought and famine were all I knew about this East African nation.
Early Tuesday morning I will head there as a doctoral student – along with two classmates, five master’s-level students and an undergraduate – to learn about the country’s rapidly expanding higher education system and other aspects of society. It will be an adventure! I hope you’ll follow me as I share what we learn.
Why Ethiopia?
In late 2013, Appalachian State University received a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia to work with Bahir Dar University (BDU) in developing BDU’s new doctoral program in educational leadership. The grant facilitates exchange visits, curriculum development and collaborative research/publication between BDU and Appalachian.
“There is a tremendous need for Ph.D.s in Ethiopia,” said study abroad leader Dr. Vachel Miller, a professor in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. He was instrumental in securing the grant while he was interim director of Appalachian’s doctoral program.
Ethiopia has invested heavily in higher education, opening 22 public universities in the past 10 years while keeping tuition essentially free for students, according to a 2011 report by World Education News and Review. Education’s private sector there also has expanded rapidly and accounts for about 25 percent of enrollment.
The New York Times reported in March that Ethiopia’s economy has grown an average of 10 percent for over a decade, and the country has met or will soon meet several important Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. According to the Times, Ethiopia is constructing Africa’s largest hydropower plant and the government plans to make Ethiopia a middle-income country by 2025. The country’s overall unemployment in urban areas has declined to 16.5 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.
What we will study
The doctoral course that fellow students Josh Silvey, Nicole Fynn and I are taking is called Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Educational Change in Ethiopia, while students in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling take Systemic Therapy from an Ethiopian Context. The undergraduate, who is majoring in exercise science, will complete an independent study.
Together, we will explore issues of social/educational change in East Africa, human rights and social justice from a cross-cultural perspective. We’ll also visit local cultural/historical sites around Bahir Dar to gain a deep appreciation for the richness of Ethiopian culture and the diverse ways in which Ethiopia is engaging globally.
Did you know that Ethiopia is:
o widely considered the birthplace of early humans
o where the first coffee plants were grown
o where the Ark of the Covenant is believed to be hidden
o geographically diverse with deserts, tropical forests and mountains
Our group will be in Ethiopia for more than two weeks, and my blog posts will report what else we learn about this fascinatingly old, yet surprisingly new country.
Early Tuesday morning I will head there as a doctoral student – along with two classmates, five master’s-level students and an undergraduate – to learn about the country’s rapidly expanding higher education system and other aspects of society. It will be an adventure! I hope you’ll follow me as I share what we learn.
Why Ethiopia?
In late 2013, Appalachian State University received a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia to work with Bahir Dar University (BDU) in developing BDU’s new doctoral program in educational leadership. The grant facilitates exchange visits, curriculum development and collaborative research/publication between BDU and Appalachian.
“There is a tremendous need for Ph.D.s in Ethiopia,” said study abroad leader Dr. Vachel Miller, a professor in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. He was instrumental in securing the grant while he was interim director of Appalachian’s doctoral program.
Ethiopia has invested heavily in higher education, opening 22 public universities in the past 10 years while keeping tuition essentially free for students, according to a 2011 report by World Education News and Review. Education’s private sector there also has expanded rapidly and accounts for about 25 percent of enrollment.
The New York Times reported in March that Ethiopia’s economy has grown an average of 10 percent for over a decade, and the country has met or will soon meet several important Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. According to the Times, Ethiopia is constructing Africa’s largest hydropower plant and the government plans to make Ethiopia a middle-income country by 2025. The country’s overall unemployment in urban areas has declined to 16.5 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.
What we will study
The doctoral course that fellow students Josh Silvey, Nicole Fynn and I are taking is called Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Educational Change in Ethiopia, while students in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling take Systemic Therapy from an Ethiopian Context. The undergraduate, who is majoring in exercise science, will complete an independent study.
Together, we will explore issues of social/educational change in East Africa, human rights and social justice from a cross-cultural perspective. We’ll also visit local cultural/historical sites around Bahir Dar to gain a deep appreciation for the richness of Ethiopian culture and the diverse ways in which Ethiopia is engaging globally.
Did you know that Ethiopia is:
o widely considered the birthplace of early humans
o where the first coffee plants were grown
o where the Ark of the Covenant is believed to be hidden
o geographically diverse with deserts, tropical forests and mountains
Our group will be in Ethiopia for more than two weeks, and my blog posts will report what else we learn about this fascinatingly old, yet surprisingly new country.