Global Study Is Diversity 

The US economy is global; the economy of most countries is global. Unless you have been asleep, you know globalness: The tag in your Levi jeans says Hecho en Hong Kong, or Frabrique en Mexico, and these in spite of the fact that the label says Made by Levi Strauss & Co. You could just as easily substitute Indonesia, China, Japan, Brazil, or Pakistan or almost any country for Hong Kong or Mexico on the Levi tag. The computer software you are using to write your History 205 research papers has help-files and special keys for several languages, unless you specified the English version. The computer itself is assembled from parts made over the world. Your Delco replacement car battery that says Made in the USA has instructions in four languages. And if for service or comments you call the 1-800 telephone number listed on your toothpaste, you will get a message that says, If you want to speak to our English representative, press one, and so forth. Transmissions by fax from any place in the world are almost instantaneous.  Even within the USA, state boundaries are virtually meaningless. By phone, fax, or e-mail, you can order four megs of computer memory from a company in California and have it delivered to your dormitory in Florida the same day. 

To manufacture and market their products, corporations now need diversity: people who know their own corporate procedures, their products, their US markets, their global markets, the international company manufacturing a given garment, and the workers of the manufacturing company. Diversity makes students with global experience important, even to companies whose businesses are now limited to US markets but whose visions include international markets. Global study indicates independence, the willingness to leave the familiar for the foreign. It shows adaptability to people and their cultural differences, their foods, their language, their music, their hair styles, their modes of dress. It demonstrates resourcefulness, of accepting the challenge of studying with native students in their classrooms with their teachers. It shows an ability to handle language. Students with excellent language skills are usually smart students, because people think in language: the more language students have the more thoughts they are likely to have. These qualities derived from global study are useful to any employer. The psychological reasons for global study are useful to you personally. 

Global Study is Psychological Wholeness 

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), probably the most famous disciple of Freud, offered the world his perception of racial archetypes as major components of the unconscious. He defined the unconscious as a collection of archetypical images inherited by members of the same group. Archetypical images are inherited images that form the base pattern against which we define our experiences during our lives. These archetypical images, Jung thought, direct experience. They determine who our heroes are. Jung's theory of archetypes is complex, and a discussion of them here would not be very useful. What is important is his perception that racial identity is inherited; it is a part of the subconscious. A Jew born in and growing up in the middle of Nigeria will still be a Jew because his or her Jewishness is innate. If Jung is correct, each American needs to return to the country of his or her ancestry to fully understand why he thinks, acts, plays and prays as he or she does. According to Jung's way of thinking, then, African culture is embedded in every African American. This likelihood would account for the fusion we refer to as African-American culture. Blues, jazz, spirituals, language and other cultural habits of African Americans are fusions with African bases. But so are the cultural habits of other ethnic groups in America. The suggestion here is that global study connects students and their cultural roots, a connection bound to produce people psychically healthy. 

Types of Global Study Programs 

Cross-enrollment Programs: 
Technology of the Internet, computer driven machinery, satellite transmissions, speedy transportation, and competition that all drive world economies and their corporations also drive academic preparation, yours. Some university courses are now taught by satellite. Most university library collections are linked by Internet access. Software programs such as Global Link can translate Internet messages from one language to another. International courses are available through translators. None of the technology suggests that international study is no longer useful; rather it suggests that it is even more useful because people and the institutions that centralize, preserve, create and transmit knowledge are closer. 
Global study programs are usually well defined, including intensive-immersion, language classes and programs in art and cultural studies by highly qualified bilingual and native faculty. Programs often include living with a middle-class host family, exciting cultural excursions, and, of course, university credit. 

The safest, and the easiest, programs are those set up by many universities. These are likely to be called cross-enrollment programs. Most major universities have programs that connect them to universities in other countries. The safety of these programs lies in the fact that, because of agreements between, or sometimes among, universities, courses taken at one institution transfer without loss to the other. Students need only to confer with an advisor and register as a cross-enrolled student to take any course at the host institution. These programs are established at major, traditional European universities. At these universities the ride for global students is smooth. 

Open-Enrollment Programs Offered by Universities and Independent Agencies: 
Some universities, such as Syracuse and Northern Illinois, offer extensive international programs open to students at any university. These programs include academic internships, lasting from four weeks to two years, for students interested in working at an international institute for a little money and a lot of experience. They include full academic programs in most countries, including most African countries.  Students in the US know full academic programs as majors. They include programs for independent study for students engaged in serious independent projects, such as translating Carl Jung or studying African master-drummers. They include student exchange programs. If you live in a university town or have an apartment in a university town, you may be able to exchange residences with an exchange student. These institutional programs differ from those offered by private institutions only in that they arrange transfer credit for their own students. Students who are not enrolled at the institution offering the program must arrange for credit transfer. At private institutions, all students must arrange transfer credit for each course or program taken at each institution, something that often requires a lot of documentation. These programs are arranged through well-established universities or sound private institutions. Arrangements are made in countries considered safe. Students are not likely to encounter bumpy rides.  

Individually Arranged Programs 
by Dr. Francis O. Adeola 

Of all the programs, private, individually arranged programs are the most difficult because they require students to enroll at a foreign university on their own. Students must make their own arrangements travel, academic credit transfer, food, lodging, funds transfer, etc. In these arrangements, the rides may often be bumpy. Because we anticipate interests in studying abroad in Africa, we include an overview of major African universities. Many of these programs can be individually arranged. US collegiate accreditation systems and African accreditation systems do not correspond, so students may have to collect enough information about individual programs to allow their advisors to evaluate them. The lack of corresponding accreditation systems contributes to the bumpy ride of individually arranged programs. But courses specifically related to the host country, courses in its language, art, culture, history and politics, for instance, are easier to transfer than courses specific to a student's major discipline. 

Similar to many American universities, most African universities are controlled by the state and federal government. In terms of tuition, lodging, transportation and all other living expenses, these universities are generally affordable to individual students. Discounting the costs of transcontinental travel, many African universities and colleges are relatively much cheaper to attend compared to their U.S. or European counterparts. However, students must be prepared to cope with frequent, unplanned interruptions of school programs in some African countries, especially those currently experiencing political and civil unrest. Indeed, these events may contribute to the bumpy rides.  

With few exceptions, many African universities are less than half a century old. Nevertheless, from applied sciences to arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and earth sciences, medicine and technology, African universities offer an array of well established programs at baccalaureate, graduate and post-graduate levels. In addition to university degrees, there are other numerous diploma and certification programs tailored to meet specific needs of the students. A comprehensive list of these programs is beyond the scope of this article. Also, it is impossible to contain a full list of all universities and other institutions of higher education within the short space allowed. Therefore, we can only offer a list of a selected few for prospective students, groups or institutions interested in establishing contact or liaison. The universities are listed by country, and their contact addresses, phone and fax numbers are provided. This information was adapted from the World of Learning, 47th Edition, the Internet, and personal knowledge of the institutions. 

You may need an international operator to help you dial the telephone number of an institution that interests you. 

Whether you should take the bumpy ride and arrange a program of study in Africa depends upon the intensity of your desire to take a journey of self-discovery across the Atlantic, one that takes you to African roots. Eventually, American universities especially HBCUs will themselves establish ties with African universities. These ties may come too late for collegians today. If studying in Africa interests you now, first find a country one to which you may have cultural ties. Then examine the academic program at a university in the country of interest. Read-up on the country. E-mail, write or call its Washington, DC embassy for information. Search both the country and the university on the Internet. Take a description of the courses you would like to take to your academic advisor for approval. Get your advisor's signature. Then get your academic dean, or, even better, your academic vice-chancellor to approve, in writing, the courses you intend to take. Do these things before you set forth. 

If you cannot arrange a year of study abroad in Africa and if the desire for cultural ties has been awakened in you, consider joining programs such as the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD). IICD is a nonprofit organization that has been training volunteers to work in Africa since 1987 (e-mail: IIcd 1@berkshire.net web site: http://www.berkshire.net/ ~IIcd 1). 

Individually arranged programs require a lot of student effort. That effort itself can be a part of your journey of self-discovery across the Atlantic into Africa. Self-discovery is always emotionally satisfying. But properly written up, the experience can be a very impressive part of your resume. 

Dr. Francis O. Adeola is professor of Sociology at the University of New Orleans. 

CAMEROON 
University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea.  Tel.: 322134; fax: 322272 
Year founded: 1977. 
Languages of instruction: English, French  
and Spanish. 
Academic year: September to June. 
Students population: 3,300. 

Universite de Yaounde, PB 337, Yaounde.  
Tel.: 220744; fax: 221320 
Year founded: 1962. 
Languages of instruction: English and  
French. 
Academic year: October to July. 
Students population: 41,000. 

CONGO 
Universite Marien-Ngouabi, PB 69, Brazzaville. Tel.: 81-24-36;  
Telex: 5331 KG. 
Year founded: First established in 1961 as 
Centre d'Enseignement 
Superieur; University status in 1971. 
Language of instruction: French. 
Students population: 10,310. 

COTE D'IVOIRE 
Universite Nationale de Cote D'Ivoire, 01 BP V34, Abidjan 01. 
Tel.: 43-90-00; Telex: 26138. 
Year founded: Established as the Centre  
d'Enseignement Superieur d'Abidjan in  
1958; and became a University in 1964. 
Language of instruction: French. 
Academic year: September to July. 
Students population: 21,000 

ETHIOPIA. 
Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa. Tel.: 550844 
Year founded: 1961. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Academic year: September to July. 
Students population: 19,149. 

GHANA 
University of Cape Coast, University PO, Cape Coast. 
Tel.: (42) 32480;  fax: (42) 32485 
Year founded: 1962. 
Academic year: October to July. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 4,278. 

University of Ghana, POB 25, Legon, Accra. Tel.: (21) 774967;  
fax: (21) 774967; Telex: 2556.  
Year founded: 1948 as the University  
College of Gold Coast;  
changed to university status in 1961.  
Academic year: October to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 6,951. 

University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, University PO, Kumasi. 
Tel.: (51) 5354; fax: (51) 3137 
Year founded: 1961. 
Academic year: October to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 5,222. 

KENYA 
Kenyatta University, P.O. Box 43844, Nairobi. Tel.: Kahawa 810901. 
Year founded: Founded in 1972 as C 
onstituent College of University of 
Nairobi, and changed to present status in  
1985. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 8,657. 

University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi. Tel.: (2) 332986;  
Fax: (2) 336885. 
Year founded: Established in 1956 as Royal  
Technical College of East 
Africa; and became University of Nairobi  
in 1970. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Academic year: October to July. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 14,467. 

NIGERIA 
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Year founded: 1962. 
Academic year: October to September 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 29,832. 

University of Benin, PMB 1154, Ugbowo Campus, Benin City, Nigeria. 
Tel.: (52) 600553; fax: (52) 241156 
Year founded: 1970. 
Academic year: October to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 20,660. 

University of Calabar, PMB 1115, Calabar, Cross River State. 
Year founded: 1975. 
Academic year: September to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 16,800. 

University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Tel.: (2) 8101100 
Year founded: First established as  
University College, Ibadan in 1948 and 
became University of Ibadan in 1962. 
Academic year: September to July. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Faculties: Agriculture, Arts, Education,  
Engineering, Pharmacy,  
Medicine, Sciences, Technology,  
Veterinary Medicine. 
Students population: 12,645. 

University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, Kwara State. 
Tel.: (31) 221552 
Year founded: 1975 
Academic year: September to February &  
March to June 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 10,200. 
University of Jos, PMB 2084, Jos Plateau State 
Tel.: 55952 
Year founded: 1975 
Academic year: September to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 13,408.  

University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos. Tel.: 821111 
Year founded: 1962. 
Academic year: October to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 23,309. 

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. Tel.: 771911 
Year founded: 1960. 
Academic year: September to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 18,408. 

Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife), Ile Ife. 
Tel.: (036) 230290 
Year founded: 1961 and changed to the  
present name in 1987. 
Academic year: September to July. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 18,415. 

University of Port Harcourt, PMB 5323, Port Harcourt, Rivers State,  
Nigeria. Tel.: 335218 
Year founded: 1975 
Academic year: October to July 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 11,294. 

SUDAN 
University of Khartoum-Sudan, PO Box 321, Khartoum, Sudan. 
Year founded: First established as Gordon  
Memorial College in 1902; 
renamed University College of Khartoum  
in 1951 and elevated to  
University of Khartoum in 1956. 
Academic year: July to April. 
Languages of instruction: English and  
Arabic. 

ZAMBIA 
University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka. Tel.: (1) 213221;  
fax: 253952. 
Year founded: 1965. 
Academic year: October to June. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 4,965. 

ZIMBABWE 
University of Zimbabwe, POB MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare.  
Tel.: (4) 303211; fax: (4) 333407 
Year founded: 1955 as University College  
of Rhodesia, became University of  
Rhodesia in 1970, and University of  
Zimbabwe in 1980. 
Academic year: March to December. 
Language of instruction: English. 
Students population: 9,745.