African Initiatives to Educate and Serve

Duquesne has undertaken projects in African countries that expose Duquesne students to African society, and give them opportunity to help improve conditions there.

Academic Programs in Africa

Kenya and Nigeria

Duquesne's Theology Department became associated with Tangaza College in Nairobi, Kenya, a theology school founded by three religious congregations, including the Spiritans. There are about 1,000 students there, who can gain a master's degree in theology or pastrol ministry from Duquesne. This newest affiliation joins two existing partnerships; with the Spiritan International School of Theology in Enugu, and the Dominican Institute in Ibadan, both in Nigeria.

Zimbabwe

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts developed a Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation program, in partnership with the Spiritans, as a "toolkit" for ministers serving in developing areas. Initial participants in three pilot courses on theological reflection, conflict resolution and economics included seminary students in Zimbabwe, India and South Africa.

Leadership in African Studies

To develop collaborative relationships with other institutions in Africa, Dr. George Worgul will serve as University Coordinator for Academic Programs in Africa. He has been involved in African programs and the growing Spiritan community there for more than two decades. This recognizes the University's conviction that the future of the Spiritan community -- in terms of leadership, in terms of the community itself and in terms of students being guided by the Spiritans -- lies in Africa."

In alignment with the University's strategic goal to place "a new emphasis on Africa and the African diaspora," Gerald M. Boodoo, associate professor of theology, has been named Director of the Center for African Studies, effective July 1, 2012. The Center for African Studies will benefit students from all schools in terms of their career possibilities. Initially, Boodoo's work will be to develop a minor in African studies that consists primarily of courses already offered at Duquesne.

The Rev. Elochukwu Uzukwu, C.S.Sp. holds the Father Pierre Schouver, C.S.Sp., Endowed Chair in Mission. He works to deepen the academic and intellectual discussion about African culture and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Serving Social Justice

For 17 years, Dr. Lisa Lopez Levers has conducted research and field experiences in the African countries of Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, focusing on those affected by violence, foster children, people affected by HIV/AIDS, children with emotional and behavioral disturbances and people with disabilities. She received the Sizemore Spirit Award in 2010. Associate professor of education at Duquesne she has worked as part of an evaluation team for the Republic of Botswana's Ministry of Health.

Learning through Service

Ghana

Dean Dorothy Bassett of Duquesne's School of Leadership and Professional Advancement (SLPA) and Dr. Stanley J. Kabala, associate director of the University's Center for Environmental Research and Education, led 20 American environmental and energy professionals and some graduate students to Ghana during July 2011. They gave their hosts drinking water-purifying pots, like the ones made by their Ghanaian counterparts when they were in Pittsburgh last year, to African communities.

Liberia

As part of their clinical rotations, five Duquesne University physician assistant students and a faculty adviser spent two weeks working in Liberia. These fifth-year graduate students served in the maternity ward of ELWA Hospital in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, providing pre- and post-natal care, as well as emergency care, surgical services and inpatient services for adults and children.

Namibia

Dr. Rodney Hopson, professor in the School of Education, has led undergraduate and graduate students from Duquesne and other schools on several trips to southern Africa as part of his course Comparative and International Education Studies in Namibia, Southern Africa. For three weeks, students promote social good while working in human rights, media, advocacy, Catholic or other institutions with non-governmental and governmental agencies in southern Africa.

Tanzania

Dr. Anne Marie Witchger Hansen, assistant professor of occupational therapy, spent three weeks in Tanzania, where she led graduate students and faculty colleagues in a hands-on orientation about the needs of occupational therapists there, directed workshops and conducted research. "Our job that first week was to determine what hospitals and clinics needed," said Hansen, whose group visited government hospitals, Spiritan hospitals and Lutheran hospitals across the Arusha region in Tanzania.