NewEd 13-1.indd - College of Education - Michigan State University

STUDENTStions from practicing faculty. 1Thosepersonal case studies will provideessential information, she believes, asshe explores how knowledge has beenexchanged and valued over time andacross international boundaries.She knows the location will also beimportant within the broader dynamicsof higher education in Africa.“There’s increasing demand, decreasingresources, and they are havingto come up with some really strategicways of maintaining quality (and) access,”she said, “so (higher education) isin a tough position right now.”Jamison’s findings will be thefoundation of her dissertation, andshe has worked extensively with MSUfaculty in the College of Educationand the African Studies Center toprepare.She said that, although earning hermaster’s degree in African Studies andAfrican History at ucla provided herwith the academic background necessaryfor her research, “interacting withfaculty here really changed my ideas.”MSU faculty and students havebeen working with African nationssince 1960, and there are currentlymore than 60 projects involvingMSU in Africa. Projects that focus onTanzania deal with issues includinghealth, agriculture, geology and socialdevelopment.Jamison, who is advised by associateprofessor of higher, adult and lifelonglearning Reitumetse Mabokela,TANZANIA >> FAST FACTS• Officially known as the United Republic ofTanzania (in Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muunganowa Tanzania)• Located in East Africa• official language: Swahili• official capital: Dodoma• largest city: Dar es Salaam• area: Approximately 364,898 square miles, orslightly larger than twice the size of California• population: 34,443,603 (2002 census)• currency: Tanzanian shillingTHE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESARCH ABROAD PROGAMApplicants for the Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program must:• Be graduate students admitted to a doctoral program who plan on pursuing ateaching career• Apply through their institution (MSU) and have full-time status• Possess adequate skills in the relevant foreign language• Create a thorough research proposal that includes: (1) how the research willbe done in the 6- to 12-month time period spent overseas, (2) a hypothesisfor the research, as well as issues to be addressed, and (3) justification forwhy the research should be done in another country• Students interested in applying should visit the Office of International Studiesand Programs at MSU (www.isp.msu.edu) for more information.• The Institute for Research on Teaching & Learning, within the College ofEducation, also can be a resource for MSU students during the applicationprocess. Contact Casey Ozaki at ozakicar@msu.edu, call (517) 432-2804 orstop by 513 Erickson Hall.said her research will look at scholarlyexchange in the context of these issuesand she sees great potential forher research, noting that scholarlyexchange is “the core of what we do ata university.”She plans to leave for her longestexcursion yet in Tanzania, the firstplace outside of the United Stateswhere she “really felt at home,” sometimeafter Jan. 1 and will not returnuntil late December.“I’m hoping that (my research)brings to light the dynamics ofscholarly exchange,” she said. “Thereare people with knowledge there thatcan participate equally in this globaldialogue.”ArushaTabora TangaUNITED REPUBLICOF TANZANIAMbeyaDar esSalaame a nI n d i a n O call of 2008 gathering data for herdoctoral dissertation at a university inTanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam.She was awarded the prestigiousFulbright-Hays Doctoral DissertationResearch Abroad fellowship to helpfund her research. The yearlong projectbegins in January.“I’m excited for the opportunity tospend quality time exploring this environment,gaining a better understandingof something I have just gotten ataste of,” she said, noting the relativeswho suggested her first Tanzania visitwere College of Education ProfessorJanet Alleman and her husband,George Trumbull.“Fulbright is a very prestigiousaward for those of us who are doinginternational research, and doing adissertation abroad is quite expensive.”Without the fellowship, “therewas no way this would happen.”The Grimes, Iowa native alreadyhas fluent Swahili skills and ties toTanzanian friends, however, to supporther as she studies how the Universityof Dar es Salaam has changedover time in terms of its approach tointernational scholarly collaboration.Her research will analyze whatfactors have affected the university’sinternational relationships since itsestablishment in 1961, and what maycome into play in the future.She explained the importance ofher location through the university’shistorical context.“Tanzania is an interesting case becausethey had a very charismatic firstpresident after they achieved independence,who was very much concernedwith forging a national identity, andthe university was a piece of forgingthis national identity,” Jamisonsaid. “This university was to buildthe nation, and now it’s going to beinteresting to see how it’s changedwith forces of globalization . . . howit’s turning out to be global.”With a passion for and previoustraining in history, Jamison plansto gather a wealth of oral recollecfall/winter200843