SASAH 2023 Yearbook

The ARTHUM 3380Y class was given a case study developed from Western International’s “Critical & Ethical Global Engagement” module by Bob Gough (Director, International Internships and Development, Western Heads East Program), Dr. Barbara Bruce (Assistant Professor and Experiential Learning Coordinator, SASAH), and Wynnie Zhao (Case Writer and Researcher, The Africa Institute at Western University).

This case follows the story of a group of university students who undertake three-month remote summer internships with the International Office at Green University (GUI) and Phoenix Group (PG), a non-profit organization in Tanzania dedicated to empowering women and girls. The case is told from the perspective of each intern, the onsite supervisor, and the GUI Internship Coordinator. As the internships progress, several problems arise within the group. The student leader must decide how to proceed forward and address these tension areas and ethical dilemmas.

The class was required to work through Western International’s “Critical & Ethical Global Engagement” module and given this assignment:

Working together in your group, analyze the case and specific problem carefully and . . .
1. Identify the tension areas and ethical dilemmas that are relevant to the problem.
2. Consider the issues carefully, taking time to think about the problems from the perspectives of/to empathize with the interns, the PGG students, and the PG personnel, as well as the GUI Internship Coordinator.
3. Develop ideas about the actions the Internship Coordinator could take to salvage the learning experience in the moment and about how these tensions and dilemmas could be addressed in future.

Then, create a 10-minute presentation of your case report using PowerPoint and VoiceThread in Owl.

As one of the cornerstones of higher education, intellectualism (and intellectuals), like the Arts and Humanities, seem to be increasingly under attack, often targets of public suspicion. That is to say, there is an increasingly anti-intellectual mood in the air. Whereas previously the university was a bastion of intellectual work separate from outside response or influence, increasingly we’re called upon to make our research public, to be public intellectuals. But this role goes back at least to Emile Zola’s letter to the President of France in response to the Dreyfus Affair, “J’Accuse . . . !”, even to Socrates, who was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce his beliefs. Investigating the past, present, and future roles of the public intellectual, this course thus urges you to ask as you begin your time in SASAH, and in university in general: What does it mean to be an intellectual in the twenty-first century? Does, can, or should what we do in the classroom and in our research have a more direct public impact? If so, what is the role of the Arts and Humanities in making this impact? Above all, what is your role and responsibility as a public intellectual, whether as a student or elsewhere in your lives, especially at a time when hope for the future seems more necessary than ever? In the process of asking these questions, we’ll look at a variety of historical and contemporary examples and definitions of the public intellectual, and charge you with exploring answers through a variety of assignments both critical and creative.