Thanks to funding from Arts Research Abroad (ARA), and with support from Go Global, the undergraduate seminar on African Interstate Relations (POLI464B) scheduled for Term 2 of this academic year will be offered in conjunction with a field research course (POLI464F) that includes travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. POLI464B offers an introduction to the main actors and dynamics in contemporary African international relations, and the recent crisis in Mali will be an on-going focus of the course. During the seminar students will also form small research groups, each of which will begin to independently explore an additional contemporary African international security issue of its choice. For POLI464F, the students and three UBC instructors will travel to Addis Ababa for two weeks to learn more about how actors in and around the African Union Headquarters perceive the security issues the research groups chose to focus on. After returning to Vancouver, students will present their research findings at a research conference at UBC. POLI 464B will take place in Term 2; the class is scheduled to meet on Tuesdays from 2 to 5 pm. POLI464F will take place in late April-early June, with travel to Ethiopia planned for 2-16 May. Each course will carry 3 credits, and students must take both courses in order to participate.
ARA funding may cover 70% to 100% of eligible program costs for qualifying students. There is a single application process to participate in both courses.
Applications are due on Thursday, 16 October, 2014 at 12 noon.
More information can be found at the following website. There will also be two information sessions about the course, one on Thursday, 25 September, 2014 at 11 a.m. to 12 noon in Buchanan D228 and the other on Thursday 9 October, 2014, 12-1 pm in Buchanan D221. Please RSVP to go.global@ubc.ca if you plan to attend one of these sessions.