Dr. Kyaien Conner is CO-PI along with Dr. Pernille Røge from the Department of History on a recently funded Fulbright Hays Award to the University of Pittsburgh. This grant allows Drs. Conner and Røge to direct a month-long seminar project in Senegal the summer of 2025. Faculty, academic administrators, and doctoral students from across Pitt schools and campuses who have a commitment to integrating African cultural literacy into curriculum and who are eager to develop academic and research partnerships on the African continent are invited to apply.
The project has multiple goals, a few of which include: 1) Increase and broaden participants’ African cultural literacy including their understandings of race, religion, class, and gender beyond the American context; 2) Build partnerships with experts and communities in Senegal challenging Western understandings of knowledge systems and developing expertise for lifelong interdisciplinary research; and 3) Embrace the opportunity to decolonize our own modes of thinking through dialogue, immersion, reflection, and engagement with multiethnic and multilingual communities in Senegal.
Program Description: Participants will spend 4 weeks in Senegal where they will take advantage of offerings including Wolof language training, lectures on interdisciplinary topics by guest speakers, fieldwork, community activities, excursions, field trips, and opportunities to develop research partners. Participants will have the opportunity to conduct their own research while immersing themselves in the local culture through interaction with local Senegalese. The program will mostly take place in Dakar, Senegal but participants will spend 1 week in Saint Louis and travel to other cities of interest as well. Participants will live in apartment-style accommodations for the majority of the trip but will also live with host families for a weekend to experience life with a Senegalese family and in hotels while traveling.
Program Costs: The Fulbright-Hays Senegal GPA grant covers the following expenses: Flights to and from Dakar, Senegal, Tuition in Senegal, Accommodation and food for the entirety of the program, Program-related transportation in Senegal and Educational materials during the program. The grant does not cover: Domestic travel from participants’ homes to the airport and return after the program, Passport and visa fees, Immunizations and other health-care expenses related to travel, independent travel in Senegal, and Personal shopping and gifts.
There is a one-time Program fee of $1000 that covers administrative expenses through the University of Pittsburgh. However, the Center on Race and Social Problems will cover this expense for up to 3 Social Work faculty members and/or doctoral students who apply and are accepted for this amazing opportunity. Please reach out to Dr. Conner directly to learn more.
See website below to get more details on this trip and to apply.
Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in Senegal, Summer 2025 | African Studies Program (pitt.edu)