Examine the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda and efforts to foster peace, unity, and reconciliation. Travel to northern Uganda to study collective strategies of remembrance.
16
None
Kinyarwanda
English
Aug 28 – Dec 10
Rwanda
Uganda
Kigali
Peace & Justice
Identity & Human Resilience
In 1994, Rwanda was the site of a devastating genocide in which more than 1 million people were killed in 100 days. Today, Rwanda provides an excellent case study on reconciliation and peacebuilding. In Kigali, the sprawling capital city, you will study the root causes and impacts of the genocide. Travel to Uganda to learn about the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict and Uganda’s own reconciliation process. You will visit genocide memorials, a refugee settlement, and healing programs for genocide survivors and victims of displacement. You will also see Murchison Falls National Park.
None. However, emotional maturity is necessary, as studying genocide and its aftermath may be difficult and upsetting. Knowledge of French is not required but students with a background in the language will have opportunities to use it on the program.
Visit memorials and key sites of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. Excursions include the Murambi Genocide Memorial, a technical school where more than 50,000 Tutsi were killed, and the Gisozi Genocide Memorial and Information Center’s mass grave, peace garden, and comprehensive exhibit on the Rwandan genocide. You will also visit the Campaign Against Genocide Museum that documents all steps that were taken to stop the genocide against the Tutsis. You will get opportunities to interact with genocide perpetrators who have completed their sentence and reintegrated back into the community, the genocide survivors and their off springs to discuss the main achievements as well as pending challenges in relation to reconciliation.
During a two-week excursion to northern Uganda, you will meet Ugandan academics, visit NGOs and civil society organizations, visit a former internally displaced persons camp, and experience everyday life in this post-conflict area. You will visit one of the Ugandan Refugee settlements housing Rwandese, Somali, Sudanese, and Congolese refugees. At Murchison Falls National Park, you will spot wildlife on an early morning game drive and take a boat trip up the Nile to behold a waterfall.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Anatomy of Genocide and Intra-State Conflict – syllabus
(AFRS3000 / 3 credits)
This course examines the histories that precipitated the genocide in Rwanda and the twenty-year conflict in northern Uganda, casting a critical eye upon the political institutions of the modern world and popular reductionist explanations that regard conflicts in Africa as driven simply by ethnic tensions. Students will visit sites of historical and political significance in both Rwanda and Uganda, through which they will begin to explore the complex relations between histories of colonization and decolonization, indigenous traditions, and Rwanda’s genocide and Uganda’s conflict. Lectures on selected topics are delivered by local Rwandan and Ugandan scholars. Course content includes theories of actors during genocide and conversations with surviving victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers. These experiences give students extraordinary insights into the issues covered in the course.
Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Peacebuilding – syllabus
(PEAC3000 / 3 credits)
This course provides a comparative approach to post-conflict reconciliation, resettlement, and recovery in Rwanda and Uganda. Both countries are emerging from conflict and present excellent settings in which to examine the various measures, strategies, programs, and projects that have been put in place by Western organizations, national governments, NGOs, and communities to mitigate the impact of conflict and to rebuild, reconstruct, and revive fractured relations and displaced communities. Carefully scheduled visits to NGOs, government agencies, and communities in Rwanda and Uganda are complemented by lectures by Ugandan experts and selected reading assignments. The course concludes with a critical focus on the prospects for sustainable peace in Rwanda and Uganda and in the Great Lakes region of East Africa.
Kinyarwanda – syllabus
(KINY1003 / 3 credits)
The role of Kinyarwanda language training is to provide students with basic tools needed for entry into Rwandan culture. The language training is organized and carried out by a language instructor experienced in teaching Kinyarwanda to non-native speakers. Language study consists of 45 hours of formal instruction including experiential sessions on shopping, eating out, and Rwandan cooking and music. Language study is reinforced through the homestay experience and through interactive assignments. Language study also focuses on training students in post-genocide cross-cultural communication nuances, which further facilitates their ability to conduct field research or do an internship with a local NGO.
Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)
A qualitative research design course designed to provide an overview of methodological field study approaches within the local cultural context, affording students the tools necessary to conduct field research in Rwanda. The course has three main objectives. First, the course introduces students to the tools and methods of field study with a focus on how to do field research with victims of genocide and their descendants or violence perpetrators. In doing so, the course addresses the social and cultural dynamics in post-genocide Rwanda. Classes analyze institutional and cultural strategies used to prevent ethnic conflict and interrogate the role of the field researcher in a post-conflict environment. Second, the course details the ethics of field research and introduces students to the Human Subjects Review process. Third, the seminar also devotes time to psychological orientation before site visits and to the processing of field experiences. Given the emotional weight of the program and the impact it may have on students, the program has weekly sessions to debrief, process, and talk about assigned readings, field visits, or testimonies of survivors of genocide. One function of these sessions is to reorient student focus toward positive examples of bravery, caring, and compassion that studies of genocide often reveal.
In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:
Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)
Conducted in Rwanda in an approved location appropriate to the project. Sample topic areas: unity, justice, and reconciliation; development and reconstruction; refugees and displaced people in the Great Lakes region; approaches to nation building; transnational justice mechanisms and their role in peacebuilding; language and identity; issues surrounding collective memory and memorials; democracy and freedom of speech in post-genocide environments; indigenous mechanisms of conflict resolution.
Sample ISP topics:
Browse this program’s Independent Study Projects / undergraduate research.
OR
Internship and Seminar
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)
You will gain valuable work experience and enhance your professional skillset in an international work environment, drawing on the wide network of community organizations, activists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and academics connected to the program.
Sample internships include:
Living with a host family in Kigali, you will gain an inside perspective of post-genocide Rwanda. Become attuned to local social and cultural dynamics, observing and learning from Rwandans’ processes of remembering and forgetting, as well as their strategies for overcoming genocide ideology and working toward unity and reconciliation. Living with a local family will give you additional practice speaking and understanding Kinyarwanda.
Host families are usually middle class and live throughout Kigali. Your host parents may be small business owners, government employees, accountants, doctors, or lawyers. Your Rwandan family may include many siblings in addition to other relatives. Some families live in large, single, self-contained houses with a fenced garden, while others have smaller homes and outdoor bathrooms and cooking facilities. You will find soccer and church important to many Rwandan families. You will likely take public transportation to class, which will help teach you to get around the city.
Kigali is a medium-sized, clean, and modern city that show signs of successful recovery from the devastating impact of the 1994 genocide. However, parts of the city also reflect the poor living conditions many Rwandans still endure. Kigali stretches across many hills providing breathtaking views of the city and surrounding valleys.
Alumni of this program are currently working as:
peace and human rights activists in their schools, communities, and organizations.
researchers in the fields of peace, justice, and development.
fields related to peace and conflict, conducting further studies at master’s and PhD levels.
SIT Study Abroad is committed to making international education accessible to all students. Scholarship awards generally range from $500 to $5,000 for semester programs and $500 to $3,000 for summer programs. This year, SIT will award nearly 1 million in scholarships and grants to SIT Study Abroad students.
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