Union College News

Union College Program To Take Kentucky Teachers to Africa

Union College has been awarded a federal grant to fund a program that will take ten Southeastern Kentucky educators to Cameroon, Africa this June.

The $67,000 grant is awarded by the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program, a U.S. Department of Education initiative. The grant will fund travel, lodging, and related expenses for a five-week seminar on “The Interaction of Environment and Culture in Cameroon: An Interdisciplinary Area Studies Curriculum Development Project.”

The seminar’s intent, according to Union College’s Dr. Fidelis Achenjang, is to “allow a group of K-12 educators to learn about the interaction of environment, history, and culture in Cameroon.” Dr. Achenjang, who worked with Union College psychology professor Dr. Charles Jones to develop the project, says the group of teachers will “develop lesson plans, instructional strategies, and curriculum resources” to reflect their experience in Cameroon and integrate environmental issues into area studies in Kentucky schools.

The five-week travel program gives teachers unique opportunities to gather items supportive of their instruction on the topic, especially indigenous arts and crafts and environmental specimens. Participants will meet with and interview Cameroon teachers, public policy experts, government officials, artists, and religious leaders.

Union College encourages K-12 teachers in Southeastern Kentucky to apply for the seminar in Cameroon.

To apply, contact Dr. Fidelis Achenjang at 606-546-1275, or Dr. Charles Jones at 606-546-1283. The trip begins on June 6 and ends on July 10.

Union College is a four-year, private, liberal arts college affiliated with The United Methodist Church and located in Barbourville, Kentucky. For more information, visit www.unionky.edu.

April 16, 2007

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