As soon as The Traveling School touched down in Zambia, student questions started popping up like meerkats. “How many people live here?” “How do they spend their days?” “What languages are we hearing?” “Will we see any elephants?” “What time is snack?”
We’ve settled into our funky hostel with colorful muralled walls and boldly patterned cushions. A confluence of travelers and locals hang out at the pool, perfect for connecting with new people and for playing water polo during Physical and Outdoor Fitness class.
Students try to unravel a “human knot” (and learn about communication and teamwork.)
Betty tries on the sorting hat to see which mentor group she’s in: Ellē’s Whooping Monkeys, Caitlin’s Lion-hearted Lions, Sophie’s Marvelous Meerkats, or Grace’s Radical Rhinos!
Our inaugural academic classes, silent reflections, gratitude circles, and increasingly deeper questions have all unfolded in the cozy sunken lounge area, which the students have lovingly dubbed “the pillow pit”. Some of those questions include…
“What is the ‘othering’ process and how can it be challenged? How can we affirm our identities yet see from other perspectives?”
Honors Global Studies
Students annotated Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema,” a 1956 satire (unbeknownst to them) of an anthropological study of the first culture we’ve encountered on our fall semester. Students compared notes about exoticized descriptions of the Nacirema’s rituals. During discussion, their jaws dropped once they realized what “Nacirema” is spelled backwards! …and concluded that while examining a culture as an “outsider” versus an “insider” inevitably yields different interpretations, identifying similarities can help us forge cross-cultural connections on our journey through Southern Africa and back home.
“Is science objective? How do our cultural perspectives influence our understanding of the environment and relationship with it?”
Honors Environmental Science
Students annotated Potowatami botanist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s essay “Asters and Goldenrods,” in which she recounts wondering as a college student why the respective purple and golden flowers look beautiful together and weaves together scientific inquiry with indigenous ways of knowing to find out why. Students made observations, conducted an experiment, dabbled in metaphor, and dove into discussion to seek holistic answers. They determined that even science, a discipline widely perceived as having an unbiased gaze, can be viewed with a critical eye.
“What is history, who tells it, and why does it matter? Is history about facts, or is history about stories, and what’s the difference?”
Honors History and Politics
On our first experiential learning excursion, students investigated these questions on a guided tour of the Livingstone Museum, the oldest institution of its kind in the country. The docent, Bwalya, was so informative that students thanked him and expressed appreciation for his knowledge and time again during our evening gratitude circle. While exploring the exhibits, they drew connections between facts of Zambian, American, and Canadian colonialism. They were surprised to learn that many of the display cases house replicas of Zambian artifacts that are currently held in Europe and the ongoing story of Zambian efforts to repatriate their material histories.
“What is the danger of a single story? How can we use our power to construct or flatten identities through story?”
Honors Literature and Composition
Students listened to acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech “The Danger of a Single Story”. They compared and contrasted various touristic photos of the destinations we’ll visit and contemplated, “What story might the framing of this photo tell? How are the subjects portrayed? What might be out of frame that, if included, would change the story?” Armed with their cameras, they were prepared to take ethical photos upon embarking on our first expedition: a boat safari on the Zambezi River, the fourth longest river in Africa, where they snapped pics of crocodiles, elephants, and hippos!
After disembarking the boat, students shared what they learned. “Crocodiles allow plover birds to sit in their open mouths and clean their teeth like toothpicks!” “A hippo can bite a crocodile in half in one chomp!” “Elephant poop plops, but hippo poop sprays!” While we learned many answers on our boat safari, the questions continue to multiply…
– Caitlin, Program Coordinator
