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The Global Liberal Studies Course Taught Around the World

Posted on April 1, 2024, modified on April 1, 2024 by Maxine P

A group of students smile at the camera on a city sidewalk

Students in Cecilia Palmeiro’s “City as Text” class in Buenos Aires’ La Boca neighborhood. The class studies its traditional tenements—painted in different colors—in reading the history of Buenos Aires through its architecture. Photo credit: Daniel Espinoza

Global Liberal Studies (GLS) majors have the unique opportunity to take the course City As Text during the fall semester at most locations in NYU’s global network. The course, part of the GLS junior-year learning sequence, selects location-specific texts to immerse students in the setting where they’re living and learning. “Across all City As Text courses, emphasis is placed on the importance of primary sources. Students academically investigate their present geographic setting but also experience its profound intricacies on-site. The classroom work, alongside the field trips, is designed to facilitate the framing and contextualization of the study away experience,” says Philip Kain, the director of academic engagement and experiential learning and a clinical professor at Liberal Studies.

For example, at NYU Buenos Aires, readings and lectures are enhanced with visits from local government officials and activists. And, of course, excursions throughout the city to places like the Palace of the Argentine National Congress, Plaza de Mayo, and La Boca neighborhood, an artists’ haven that many 19th- and 20th-century European immigrants called home, provide further insight for students. “We produce a kind of knowledge that fosters reflection and analysis that exceeds the singularity of Buenos Aires and inspires their approach to other places,” says NYU Buenos Aires course instructor Cecelia Palmeiro, an expert on Argentine and Brazilian literature and gender issues, a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, and the coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies and Policies at the National University of Tres de Febrero.

A group of students stand in front of a street mural featuring Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona

Students in Cecilia Palmeiro’s “City as Text” in front of a mural of Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona in Buenos Aries’ La Boca neighborhood. Photo credit: Daniel Espinoza.

This fall in Palmeiro’s class, students considered the past and present of Buenos Aires through the lenses of immigration, environmental concerns, art and its role in political protest, and reproductive health. “In order to obtain the critical tools necessary to make sense and produce academic knowledge out of this experience, students read ‘Neoliberal Reform and Landscape Change in Buenos Aires, Argentina’ by David Keeling and the classic ‘The Right to the City’ by David Harvey,” explains Palmeiro.

This approach is not singular to NYU Buenos Aires, however, as students at NYU London traveled to the city’s Brixton district to learn about the area’s musical history and shifting racial makeup. And at NYU Accra, students focused on how migration and religion shaped the Ghanaian capital, visiting places of worship to learn in context.

Architect Cecilia Alvis points to a colorful mural

Architect Cecilia Alvis with “City as Text” students in front of a mural on the Nicolás Avellaneda Bridge. Photo credit: Daniel Espinoza

NYU Paris students studied the potential impacts of the 2024 Summer Olympics, learning about the social and environmental impacts of the upcoming event, and in NYU Berlin, students contextualized their learning with the history and landmarks of the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the Cold War. “City As Text has played a significant role in the GLS curriculum since its inception. Our aim was to create a course centered on active engagement at the study away locations with a global perspective as its foundation,” concludes Kain.

Repurposed from NYU News

NYU Paris Staff Spotlight: Martina Faltova

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Katie L

Martina Faltova in a coat and hat stands in front of a flower stand

Martina Faltova at Paris’ Bastille Market

In 2001 Martina Faltova was a study abroad student in Cambridge, England, when a chance encounter with an NYU professor led her to becoming his family’s au pair in New York City. Since her visa required a language course, she enrolled in Intermediate French at NYU. She loved the University so much that, when she returned home to the Czech Republic, she applied to work at NYU Prague. Now, more than 20 years later, she’s the assistant director for student life at NYU Paris.

Your job starts before students even arrive: organizing events, arranging housing, and prioritizing everyone’s safety and wellness. What inspired you to work with study away students?
I was a guest in another culture, and when I was leaving New York City, the family I lived with told me there was an NYU site in Prague and I should apply to it. And I loved that because I just came out of New York, I knew who the students were, and I felt like I could give back. Also, I love traveling, languages, meeting new people, and helping people learn more about Czech culture.

What role does language have in a student’s success at NYU Paris and NYU Prague?
In Paris the language course is required, so everyone has to take French. And it really makes your life easier. It’s a wonderful feeling when you can communicate, and it’s a really big sense of accomplishment. In Prague, though language courses are not required, learning Czech helps you make connections with the local people and understand the culture better too. Other language courses are offered at NYU Prague as well.

What are additional ways students can connect to local communities?
In Paris students can take courses at partner universities and hold internships. I also see students who choose to stay in a homestay, where they meet local families and become more connected to the place. In Prague I saw a lot of connections for the music students because they were performing in local places like pubs and would practice at other schools around Prague.

An NYU Paris student interning at a nonprofit organization

What attracts students to each site?
In Prague there’s centuries and centuries of history around you. It’s also very affordable. You really can do anything: easily buy tickets to the opera, go to nice restaurants, or live on a budget. In Paris the arts scene is incredible for anyone taking art or film courses. Here, students leave the classroom and see the paintings they discussed, and they wander the streets featured in famous movies.

You mentioned that NYU Paris is also branching out from the arts.
NYU Paris has changed a lot in the past six years. When I arrived, the majority of our courses were in the humanities. Now we have more and more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. So we see a lot of students studying computer science and mathematics.

Which initiative are you most proud of?
At the beginning of the semester, we bring in people from local communities like nongovernmental and volunteer organizations and promote our cultural activities and trips. We invite all of our student and club leaders to promote their work. Students just mingle and learn about these opportunities, then they sign up for clubs. They talk to organizations about volunteering and helping. I just love that day.

Written by Marti Trgovich

NYU Students Can Study at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Posted on March 11, 2024, modified on March 12, 2024 by Maxine P

KAIST’s Lyu Keun-Chul Sports Complex

NYU science and technology students who want to study abroad but stay on track with their majors will have another option starting this year: the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. KAIST is “an innovative and dynamic institution, and it is among the top science and technology universities in the world,” says Nyoka Joseph, the assistant director of student services for the NYU International Exchange Program. “NYU students will join 3,600 KAIST undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students who live and learn on a 350-acre campus in Daejeon, a city of 1.5 million people in central South Korea.”

The exchange program is part of a partnership between NYU and KAIST that was launched in 2022 to combine each university’s distinctive strengths and drive advances in research while forging new industrial collaborations and investments. The partnership also lays the groundwork for KAIST’s first campus in the United States, which will be a joint venture with NYU in New York City. Students who are interested in studying abroad at KAIST must first apply to be nominated. Once they are nominated, they will receive access to the KAIST application.

NYU students can choose from a wide variety of preapproved courses at KAIST or seek approval from their academic adviser or dean to take other courses at the institute. The preapproved courses take advantage of KAIST’s strengths in industrial design, technology and culture, artificial intelligence, and Korean language. For students who want to focus on science and technology courses while building their Korean skills, the Korean International House provides one-on-one Korean language tutoring and is one of many resources for NYU students.

Statue of Jang Yeong-sil in front of trees and glass building

Statue of Korean scientist, Jang Yeong-sil, on the KAIST Daejeon campus

“Nearly everything that a student needs can be found, including academic facilities, nearly 30 dorms, athletic facilities, dining, and international student support services,” says Joseph, who recently visited the KAIST campus to tour the facilities and surrounding city. “There are 60 undergraduate clubs and organizations that NYU students can join. When I spoke to international students on campus, they talked about how that helped them feel they were settling into the school socially and that it was a great way to meet people outside of the classroom.”

Repurposed from Global Notebook

Meeting Point

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Kristin Law

Connecting NYU and the public through the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute

In 2008—two years before NYU Abu Dhabi welcomed its inaugural class—NYU established a presence in the city to begin building awareness about the type of events and dialogues the local community could expect the institution to host. The NYU Abu Dhabi Institute was a chance to create a relationship with the public, offering a space to address global challenges and contribute to a growing ecosystem of cultural institutions in the area.

Today, the institute is a center of advanced research as well as scholarly and creative activity. Its public programs and academic conferences bring together academics, professionals, and leaders from around the world to discuss research areas and topics of local and global significance. With some 45 public discussions and more than 25 academic conferences over the course of the year, the institute offers NYU a unique chance to give back to the intellectual culture of Abu Dhabi.

“We feature a range of topics that reflect the diversity of this global university, and we offer a space to talk about these complex problems from a variety of different perspectives,” says Senior Director of the Institute Maurice Pomerantz. “It’s a chance for our colleagues in Abu Dhabi to connect with colleagues from around the world and also speak not only to the standard academic audience but to professionals and policymakers from the larger community. A key part of our mission is to show the world the relevance of the modern university.”

Programs typically center on a theme connected to the global challenges of the moment; many of last year’s lectures focused on the environment, and upcoming ones will address artificial intelligence. Presenters often have multidisciplinary backgrounds, with knowledge that bridges fields, as well as experience in both academia and the broader world. Some discussions are in English and some are in Arabic, and the audience often includes NYU students and faculty, professionals, local school members, and families with children. The institute also hosts a series of lectures and events at NYU’s Washington Square campus. Last year alone, the institute led more than 30 events there.

Lectures encompass a variety of subjects and perspectives—one week a Booker Prize winner and an expert on Afghan music traditions may present, then the next week may feature a filmmaker who focuses on refugees’ stories. The institute archives past discussions on its YouTube channel, so anyone in the world can join the conversation. There are also numerous opportunities for students to participate, such as recommending faculty, helping with question and answer sessions at events, and much more.

In addition, the institute hosts peer reviewed academic conferences that can be proposed by faculty anywhere across NYU’s global network. The conferences advance NYU’s culture of research and offer a venue to many annual meetings of scholarly and academic societies from around the world. Regional and international conferences across most academic fields turn to the institute for specialized academic forums that discuss cultural, historical, artistic, and scientific themes.

“The institute is a rare opportunity to directly combine a public mission and a research mission,” Pomerantz says. “It’s a luxury to have a series of live talks and conferences today, especially ones that are relevant locally and meaningful on a global scale. I think this has really become something of a treasure here in Abu Dhabi.”

Written by Sarah Bender

Student Reporting in Buenos Aires

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Katie L

Maureen Zeufack

When Maureen Zeufack, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Class of 2023, researched options for studying away, she wanted to explore somewhere new and was immediately drawn to NYU Buenos Aires. A Media, Culture, and Communication major, Maureen found the opportunity to immerse herself in Argentina’s unfamiliar yet vibrant and multicultural lifestyle too good to pass up. “I wanted to go somewhere I didn’t have a connection to, somewhere completely out of my wheelhouse,” Maureen explains. “Academically, I wanted to improve my Spanish. Plus, the media classes aligned with my major, so it really was the perfect fit.”

The daughter of Cameroonian immigrants, Maureen has family in Africa and Europe, and she lived in Asia as a child. What she didn’t expect while studying in Buenos Aires? Finding a slice of home in a place she’d never been.

Maureen was intentional about her class selection, especially when it came to choosing Santiago O’Donnell’s course Reporting Buenos Aires. “I took the class because I knew the semester would go by quickly, and I wanted to have an excuse to explore the city, get more familiar with the culture and the people, and dive into everything,” says Maureen. O’Donnell, a former staff writer at both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, assigns students stories that require them to engage with the surrounding city. This way they learn more about the city’s culture by putting themselves in new situations, observing their Argentine neighbors, and meeting people they may not otherwise encounter. “Since I’m Cameroonian American, I was interested in seeing what the African diaspora is like in Buenos Aires and, if there are Africans in the city, what’s going on in their communities,” says Maureen.

Maureen poses for the camera in El Buen Sabor Africano restaurant

Maureen inside El Buen Sabor Africano restaurant

For one of the class assignments, Maureen was tasked with writing a restaurant review. She was surprised to find there was only one African restaurant in all of Buenos Aires. Even more surprising? The owner and head chef, Maxime Tankouo, is also from Cameroon. And not only that—he and Maureen are from the same tribe.

“I thought, ‘What are the odds that in this country, where there aren’t many Black people or Africans in general, that not only is he Cameroonian, but he is also from the exact same tribe and the same part of the country as me?’” Maureen says with a laugh. “That was something we really bonded over.”

While sitting inside the walls of Tankouo’s restaurant, El Buen Sabor Africano, Maureen says she “immediately felt at home.” Although she was far from her familial home, there were pieces of it right there in Buenos Aires, from the music Tankouo played to the decor that filled his restaurant’s walls. She enjoyed a full meal—grilled corvina fish bathed in orange and red African spices, perfectly cooked sweet plantains, and a dish of spicy sautéed red beans and vegetables—all under the gaze of a large, painted lion, Cameroon’s national symbol, on the restaurant’s wall.

A plated meal of fish, plantains, onion, sauteed beans and vegetables

A filling meal of African flavors at El Buen Sabor Africano

Maureen gained more than just a good story for her class. “I know now that I’m especially interested in exploring the African diaspora experience in Argentina,” she says, which is what she focused her final class project on. She adds, “I realized the world is a lot smaller than you think. For something like this to happen while I was there, in a place where sometimes you don’t see a lot of people who look like you, it was necessary and refreshing. It was nice to see a familiar face and know that someone there had a similar background as me.”

Written by Kelly Stewart

Diversity and Inclusion in the NYU Global Network: Chijioke Obasi Named Director for Global Programs Inclusive Engagement

Posted on October 31, 2023, modified on November 13, 2023 by Maxine P

When Chijioke Obasi joined NYU earlier this year as director for global programs inclusive engagement, she brought a wealth of experience to the role. Dr. Obasi, who is based in London, began her higher education career as a communication support worker for deaf students who use sign language. Since then, she’s held various faculty and administrative roles in both social work and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). And she’s found that the two areas are more connected than one might think at first. “Valuing lived experience and cultural humility is transferable across both areas,” she says. “Working with difference and developing good intercultural communication skills are essential to both.”

Dr. Chijioke Obasi

Dr. Obasi’s doctoral research at the University of Central Lancashire centered the experiences of Black women and culturally Deaf women at work in the UK. She notes that her previous experience and research are directly applicable to her new role. “My work for the Office of Global Programs has made me think about how accessible our study away programs are for students from many different backgrounds,” she says. “It would be great to increase access for students with physical disabilities, for example, but this would need to be done in a way that promotes a truly inclusive environment, where students feel a true sense of belonging. I am keen to work with students and other colleagues to look at how we might best do this.”

Given how different DEI is across the world, it’s no small feat to ensure students from all backgrounds feel this sense of belonging and are able to realize their full potential while studying away. “Because of all the wide-ranging histories, legislation, and cultural practices across the world, we are not looking for a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Dr. Obasi.

It takes time to adjust to the culture, language, and even climate in a new country. Dr. Obasi offers students opportunities to tap into all the resources they have available for intercultural learning and communication. “From their predeparture to their return and beyond, our office ensures that all students have the chance to engage with their personal issues of identity and self-awareness as well as wider issues of global inclusion.”

To further their mission, Dr. Obasi and the Office of Global Programs now hold an online mixer where students from across the NYU global network can build community and discuss DEI issues. She also hopes to work closely with students currently studying away to make a series of videos about the global sites and student experiences within particular affinity groups. In addition, her plans to work closely with NYU staff and develop intercultural competence extend the scope of the typical global programs audience. The hope is that every community member can help make the NYU global network an even more diverse, welcoming, and vibrant place than it is already.

Written by Kristin Maffei

Focused on the Future of NYU London: A Conversation with Executive Director Mojtaba Moatamedi

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Katie L

Dr.Mojtaba Moatamedi

Dr. Mojtaba Moatamedi, NYU London’s new executive director, joined the staff in January 2023 and has big plans for the global location’s future. Formerly the president of Al Ghurair University in the United Arab Emirates, Moatamedi says it was the possibility surrounding NYU London and what lies ahead for the site, especially its new, state-of-the-art academic center slated to open in fall 2024, that drew him to the job.

Moatamedi brings a wealth of experience in senior leadership, research, and teaching to NYU London, and, prior to his role as Al Ghurair University’s president, he served as the university’s dean of the College of Engineering and Computing. He has also held leadership roles at Imperial College London, Cranfield University, the Arctic University of Norway, University of Salford, and the University of Sheffield.

Moatamedi’s education includes a PhD in Engineering from the University of Sheffield, an MBA from the University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School, and an LLM in International Business Law from the University of Leeds. His research and teaching focuses on multiphysics, modeling and simulations, and engineering design.

Global Dimensions recently caught up with Dr. Moatamedi. Here’s what he had to share:

Global Dimensions: What drew you to NYU London?

Dr. Moatamedi: The main excitement for me was the future of NYU London. A lot can happen with the new academic center building, opening next year. The University is very invested in NYU London, and I was drawn to the opportunity to really build something and make a difference—that is the biggest reason I came here.

Global Dimensions: You mentioned the new academic center on the horizon. How will this new space impact NYU London students?

Dr. Moatamedi: First, the last 25 years of NYU London has helped us shape what our students need both space- and technology-wise. So we kept the shell of the new building but removed everything else, designing it exactly for our students. Our current space is somewhat limited. For the most part, students come to class and then they leave. They don’t really have a place for “student life” just yet. But with the new building, the whole design—an outdoor space, student lounges, a place to pick up food and beverages—will be really exciting.

Second, the building is in one of the best locations in London. In terms of universities, we’re next to the London School of Economics and King’s College London. Being adjacent to other universities will enhance the student experience immensely. We’re also 10 to 15 minutes away from Downing Street and the Parliament of England. And it’s on one of the oldest streets in London in a central area for music and arts. So building this new academic center and becoming a neighbor of these universities will help us enhance the profile of NYU London in the United Kingdom.

Overall, the student experience is going to be amazing. Our students will really get to experience being a student in the UK while also getting a great education.

Global Dimensions: The building is anticipated to open fall 2024. Where are you in that process?

Dr. Moatamedi: We’ve already started. If you look at the building, the scaffolding is up and they’re hard at work.

It’s really exciting and, for me, personally, this building represents a long-term commitment. The future of NYU London is bright and it’s going to be different from any other academic site.

Global Dimensions: When it’s all said and done, what do you hope your students take away from their time at NYU London?

Dr. Moatamedi: Our students are getting to work with some of the best academics in the country (we have more than 100 faculty) who’ve worked at some of the top universities in the UK. And they all work hard to bring bits and pieces of UK history into our courses. When students are in class, we don’t want it to be a generic classroom experience—we want them to really learn about the UK.

Written by Kelly Stewart

NYU Los Angeles: One Day, Two Lives

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Maxine P

Angel, a junior majoring in Politics with a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology, and Mariajose, an NYU alum, share their experiences at NYU Los Angeles. Their stories especially focus on the required internship component that is designed to enhance classroom learning and prepare students for careers in entertainment and media.

A Universal Language at Every Age

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Maxine P

Through internships, volunteer opportunities, and class projects, NYU study away students can make a positive impact on the children in their local communities while also gaining valuable, real-world experience they can apply to their future careers.

While studying at NYU Prague last spring, Joey Duke, a junior majoring in Music Education at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, found there is more to his field of study than he could have imagined. Through the class Foundations of Music Education led by Professor Klára Boudalová, he had the opportunity to work with the Prague Symphony Orchestra to help make classical music accessible to children in the Czech Republic.

Seven people pose for a camera on the orchestra stage

Concert planners and participants pose for a photo onstage at Smetana Hall after the orchestra performance. Pictured from left to right are: Jaime Patterson, Jair Gonzales, director Klara Boudalova, Joey Duke, actress Veronika Kubarova, Jahnvi Seshadri, and conductor Jan Kucera.

“We worked on the Orchestr na dotek, which means ‘the orchestra to listen,’” Joey says. After a semester of learning from the orchestra, the class’ final project was to organize an orchestra completely on their own. “It’s their program created just for young audiences, and it was a game changer for me. It showed me there’s a lot more you can do with music education.”

Joey and his classmates “took a part in everything” when it came to creating the orchestra. They chose composers, selected and cut the music, wrote a storyline, and worked with the musicians and performers to ensure the performance went off without a hitch.

“We knew we would be these kids’ first impressions of the composers, and we wanted to make sure we selected the right pieces and cuts,” explains Joey. Their orchestra focused on the works of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, which they intertwined with a story about pirates. “The music really couldn’t be more than three minutes at a time, so we had to select the most important parts. That took a lot of score reading and musical knowledge. Then for the story, Debussy features a lot of ocean music and Ravel features a lot of Spanish music, so we were like, ‘We’ve got it! We’re getting on a ship, we’re venturing across the sea, we’re going to islands.’ It was this big, fantastical process, and once we got past the blank canvas, the possibilities were endless.”

Similarly, at NYU Florence, Anika Istok, a junior majoring in Psychology at the College of Arts and Science and minoring in both Italian Studies and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS), had the chance to connect with children through music.

“Music is so important for kids,” says Anika who spent the fall of 2022 volunteering with NPM Bambini in Movimento, an organization that provides support, therapy, and inclusive recreational activities for children, adolescents, and their families to help improve their health and wellness. “It’s an important way for kids to express themselves, especially if they’re nonverbal, shy, or don’t initiate interactions. It’s amazing because, through something simple like playing our community drum together, they were able to bond in a way that, even with words, you can’t accomplish.”

Photo of Anika wearing an NPM Bambini in Movimento polo shirt

Anika Istok in her NPM Bambini in Movimento shirt

Volunteering with NPM Bambini in Movimento was fulfilling for Anika on multiple levels. It not only advanced her work in psychology and CAMS but also helped her become fluent in Italian. She noted volunteering as part of the culture at NYU Florence, so she knew she would get involved somewhere. Still, it was important for her to find an organization where she could really make an impact, and at NPM Bambini in Movimento, she was able to do just that.

“We weren’t necessarily teaching music; rather, we were experiencing music together,” Anika adds. Anika helped teach two after-school classes, one for children between 2 and 5 and one for children between 6 and 8 years old. “A lot of the kids we worked with had either a disability or some sort of special need, and a lot of them were too young to be in school full time or had some trouble in school. Connecting with them outside of their normal educational environment was really important.”

Both Joey and Anika returned to New York City after their semesters away with newfound knowledge and appreciation for their selected fields of study. “This opportunity showed me that I could not only aspire to do something like this but do it. And then we watched it happen,” says Joey. “At the end of the day, music is who we are as a people. It carries all of our cultural meaning, it carries a message, and for kids to understand the music from where they are is for them to participate in their communities. For me, I realized there’s so much more we can do. That semester really opened my eyes to the impact we can make through music.”

Written by Kelly McHugh-Stewart

In and of the City: A Conversation with NYU Accra Director Chiké Frankie Edozien

Posted on May 2, 2023, modified on May 2, 2023 by Kristin Law

Prior to his time as the site director of NYU Accra, Chiké Frankie Edozien spent 11 years leading the site’s Reporting Africa program. An award-winning journalist and author, Edozien’s work focuses on government, health, and cultural issues in Africa and across the globe. His memoir, Lives of Great Men: Living and Loving as an African Gay Man, an exploration of the lives of contemporary LGBTQ+ men and women on the African continent and in the diaspora, won the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography. His work has appeared in Time and the New York Times, among others, and from 1999 to 2008, he worked as a reporter for the New York Post. In 2017 Edozien was awarded NYU’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award for excellence in teaching, community building, social justice advocacy, and leadership.

When Edozien started his tenure as the NYU Accra director in January 2020, the phrase “in and of the city” inspired his approach to leadership. And even through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has continued to build a bridge between the University and local Ghanaian community, creating an atmosphere of immersive learning for students eager to truly become citizens of the world.

Global Dimensions recently interviewed Edozien about his time leading NYU Accra, his initiative to work closer with the local community, and his hopes for the students he works with.

Interviewer and writer: Kelly McHugh-Stewart

Q: You started as director in 2020, I imagine that was an interesting time to begin a new role, and I’m sure there have been obstacles, but could you start by sharing a few highlights from your time as director thus far?

Chiké Frankie Edozien: Of course. There have been several. I think Go Local is one of the things I enjoyed. That was two semesters of working with students who lived in Ghana but were unable to travel to their NYU home campuses due to the pandemic. During that year in particular, we were able to not just deliver education to students but also show them a Ghana they never knew. It was very gratifying to teach people who were born and bred in Ghana and have them tell us, “We didn’t know about any of this!”

It’s also been really wonderful to revamp some of the courses we offer and try to make sure we are giving students the best academic experience. We’ve updated our food, music, and journalism courses. We also took advantage of the fact that the fall season has a lot of cultural festivals and created arts and humanities courses. We’re not divorced from anything that’s happening in Accra; that’s certainly a highlight for me.

Q: Related to that, tell me about the Labone Dialogues series you established.

CFE: Yes, that has been another highlight. One of the things that is very interesting for me is that, even though we might be the smallest global site, we have a lot going on and we offer a lot to our neighbors. I thought about all the wonderful things we have access to, all the wonderful people who come into contact with our students and into our classrooms, and I wanted to find a way to bring the things we do to the public and provide access for people in the community.

In the last three years, we’ve hosted 10 conversations, and we’ve had wonderful scholars, musicians, and artists here. We’re not just about educating our people, we’re about sharing our resources and encouraging local production of knowledge.

Q: That’s amazing. Can you share a little more about what goes into the Labone Dialogues?

CFE: It starts with some kind of student engagement, which is not open to the public, then there’s a master class for the community to come in, listen, and ask questions. But we also have a craft session for select community members who do not normally have a chance to meet these people NYU has access to. They get to come and work on their craft whether it’s a book, theatre project, or music piece. For us, we think of it as a gift to the community for hosting us in their city, and it has been quite gratifying to be able to share the resources we have with them.

Two people seated onstage in front of an audience having a conversation with microphones

Nigerian writer, Leye Adenle (right), in conversation with Kinna Likimani (left) at a Labone Dialogues community event in February of 2023.

Q: What is unique about NYU Accra and why would you encourage students to spend time studying there?

CFE: NYU Accra is at the center of the world, not just physically but also in terms of the changing world. Ghana is not a developed nation; it is a developing nation. And with that comes a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunities to do very meaningful work. When we place interns in companies, they are not fetching coffee or making photocopies—they are working on projects. Whether it’s trying to find and deliver vaccines to people, auditing corporations, or sourcing portable water resources, our students have access. I teach journalism and know that, even as a professional journalist, it’s difficult to get an audience with the mayor of a town or the statehouse in the United States, but our journalism students have access to government officials and private businesses. They get answers to their questions.

Our students can also meet ordinary people because we don’t have an NYU bubble here. We really are in and of the city. To have an African experience in your undergraduate years is a wonderful thing, but to be able to do it in a place where you have access to everyone, where almost nothing is beyond your grasp—that’s really quite an experience.

Q: What do you hope students take away from their time in Accra?

CFE: I would like them to really take a bite out of the world. We work very hard to ensure that when a student comes to study in Accra, they’re not just coming to study, they’re really coming to spend a semester in the region. We understand ourselves as NYU Accra, but we also understand ourselves as NYU in Ghana, so we spend a good chunk of the semester showing students all the different experiences and different regions. It’s important to us that our students talk about their time here with a sense of authority—not that they just studied in Accra, but they lived in Ghana, they lived in West Africa, and they understand the nuances. And that’s what we want for them: that they can truly be global citizens.

Q: You recently had a short story, “Krifé,” published in the new book Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices. Congrats!

CFE: I think that came out in January, so it’s very new!

Q: What does “krifé” mean and what is the story about?

CFE: “Krifé” is a colloquial way of referring to a certain kind of folk in Ghana who are very much into their religion. So that work is really an observation about class differences in West Africa, an observation of people who make assumptions about others, while understanding that not everything is as it seems. One advantage of being here is, in everything that I do, I can really observe how contemporary West African society is versus what’s been written about it. It is my hope that by the time I’m finished here, I can do more pieces like that.

Q: What book are you currently reading?

CFE: I just got this book called For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings. It’s by the Kenyan writer Troy Onyango and is a collection that has a razor-like focus on different kinds of East Africans—people who are trans, people whose families might be considered different, people who are going through different things—in contemporary society. I’m very much interested in his take on things. I just started it, but I’m hoping it gives me a better understanding of the region on the other side of us.

Q: Finally, what is one book you’d recommend to a student interested in studying in Accra or someone who simply wants to learn more about the area?

CFE: I recommend a book by Ghanaian writer Esther Armah; it’s called Emotional Justice: A Roadmap for Racial Healing. I like her take because she lives in Ghana, but she also lived and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. There has been a lot of turmoil over the last few years, and one of the things that’s very important for us as scholars and people is to not only look at what’s happened but how we can get past it. How do we move forward? She takes a good look at that, not just from an African perspective, but from the perspective of an African who has been an observer and bystander in the Western world.

And with our young people, it’s really up to us as professors and site directors to make these kinds of books and conversations available so that, in their own time, they can think about them and make the world a better place. For us, that’s very important. At this site in West Africa, we are part of the conversation in a way that works toward healing. So I recommend this book to anyone interested in this region because what happens in the United States is not disconnected from what happens here. We may be far away, but we are connected in more ways than it seems.