Long Island University’s Global College Launches South Africa Center
New center is located in Durban, where program will begin on February 1, 2008

Dr. Tuntufye Mwamwenda is director of the South Africa Center for Long Island University’s Global College.

Brooklyn, N.Y. - Long Island University's Global College, a unique international program in higher education for over 40 years, has opened a center in Durban, South Africa. Beginning on February 1, 2008, the new South Africa Center will offer an intensive, semester-long program that draws on the culture and life of one of the most diverse and dynamic countries in the world. Visiting students as well as the University's undergraduates are welcome to apply.

"The South Africa Center will immerse students within a country that is a world model of peace and reconciliation and that is also in the midst of rapid economic and social transformation," said Dr. Robert Glass, University dean of International Education and dean of Global College. He added, "Our students will discover powerful learning experiences in Africa that will better equip them for the global complexities ahead."

The Center is under the direction of Dr. Tuntufye Mwamwenda, an expert in educational psychology who previously served as dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and at the University of Transkei. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and has taught at universities in Botswana, Canada, South Africa and the United States.

"We look forward to welcoming students to a world of diversity, excitement and cultural change," declared Dr. Mwamwenda at the Center in Durban. "Global College's courses will help students understand South Africa's rich but painful history, and their own experiences will enlighten them about the culture and realities of our region today," he added.

At the South Africa Center, the curriculum fuses the culture of many races and generations into a look at the inner-city workings of Durban today. Students also will study Zulu and hone their research skills examining topics such as AIDS prevention, the role of the arts in fostering community and communication, environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation and urban development. Field trips will take them to neighboring African countries and community service placements will involve them with organizations that range from the Oceanographic Research Institute at uShaka Marine Center, which is the fifth largest aquarium in the world, to outlets for a booming hip-hop culture and the community-focused Bush Radio Federation.

Durban is the country's third largest city and the continent's leading port in addition to being renowned for its natural beauty on the shore of the Indian Ocean. The South Africa Center is situated in the cosmopolitan Morningside area, with easy access to universities, parks and the Burman Bush Nature Preserve as well as restaurants, cafes and galleries. Located within a converted private residence, at 5 Percy Osborne Road, the Center provides housing for students in two adjoining buildings and in apartments that are within walking distance.

Global College's newest center complements existing programs in China, Costa Rica, India and Japan, the College's Comparative Religion and Culture Program and its base on the University's Brooklyn Campus.

Originating as the Friends World Program in 1965, Global College, as it is now called, is the only global studies program that integrates a series of yearlong cultural immersions and experiential learning into a progressive, four-year bachelor of arts degree. Graduates have gone on to careers in social work, urban education, community planning and the Foreign Service; many have been employed by organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Earth Institute and non-governmental organizations concerned with the developing world.

For more information about Global College or the South Africa Center, please visit www.liu.edu/globalcollege or call 718-488-3409.

Posted: December 21, 2007

Media contact: (718) 488-1418 / (917)-673-5423