Hello everyone;

Asaalaamalekum (peace be upon you!)

Here is the breakdown of classes at SIT.

1. Arts and Culture seminar - In this class we have had guests lecturers from the government, from professors at local universities, etc. We discuss such topics as Islam, Islam in government, and political history in Senegal. We have also visited "Le Village des Artes" which is just that - an artistic community on the edge of Dakar where artists of a wide variety of media work and collaborate. Later on in the term, we will all choose an art-form of our liking (ceramics, batik, glass-painting, etc) and apprentice with a professional in this medium. We are also fortunate enough to participate in a similarly organized encounter with traditional Senegalese music. Each student will spend time learning djembe and traditional dance. After this time, we will then choose to focus on djembe (in more depth), dance (in more depth), tama/talking-drum, or kora (a Senegalese gourd-harp-ish thing with no pedals). 

2. Field-Study Semnar - Here we learn a variety of research techniques and relevant inormation for our ISPs (Independent Study Project). This week we have talked about our field journals, in which we take note of different cultural practices, events, homestay happenings, etc. 

3. French - Ok, put two and two together. We're not learning Arabic, we're not learning Hindi, therefore we must be learning (or working more on) French!

4. Wolof - This is helpful! Wait, that was an understatement. This is SO extremely crucial! Everyone in Dakar speaks Wolof. All of our families speak Wolof. Some people, including children living at the house, don't even speak French. If you want to pay a ridiculous price for a piece of fabric or for a taxi ride, then Wolof isn't for you; however, if you want to gain enough respect to be charged a decent fare for something, throwing out a little Wolof here and there (or even a lot of Wolof) can mean the difference between being completely ripped off and being treated like a local. 

5. ISP - This comes later on in the term. After having done all of our cultural excursions, taken FSS and languages, we will be prepared to go out and do research on a cultural topic of our choice. Some students have done their ISPs on such subjects as, trash in Dakar, NGO work with minorities and sub-groups, music, or hydrology. As you all may have guessed, mine will most likely be about music (though I will confess, some other topics have made me think twice). 

This week, in addition to our normal classes we are doing an excursion to Goree Island (off the coast of Dakar) and to a museum. We will ALSO being doing small presentation-style projects on a cultural topic of our choice. This is like an ISP but on a very small scale. My team chose to do imagery in graffiti. For your viewing pleasure I have posted some photographs. Sorry, but we haven't finished the research for the project so these pics have no captions. Enjoy

Ok, I lied twice. The work featured here is not part of our research, but it is highly politically charged. I needed this caption to explain that since there is no "image" we won't use it.