A Week at Dartmouth: Bringing the African perspective to an American campus

A Week at Dartmouth: Bringing the African perspective to an American campus

For the past two years I have been invited to speak at Dartmouth College during the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). The YALI program is, in my opinion, President Obama’s most significant legacy in Africa. The program which provides training and support to about 1,000 young African leaders from civil society, business and the public sector has not only increased the visibility of young African leaders, most importantly, it has enabled them to build networks. My engagement with Dartmouth, which is one of the prestigious Ivy League Schools in the US, has increased annually. This year the university used its “Great Issues Innovation Fund” to invite me in as a guest lecturer to spend a week at one of America’s most prestigious universities speaking to a wide variety of classes and groups. It was a wonderful week of exchange, discussion, learning and experience sharing.

From Entrepreneurship to Activism

I am a political leader, entrepreneur and rights activist. Dartmouth deftly drew from all of my experiences to create a wide variety of platforms for discussion and exchange. I co-taught four classes.

Politics of Africa with Professor Jeremy Horowitz. Jeremy Horowitz who has lived in Africa, including in Cameroon knew exactly what to assign students as readings on Cameroon and on my personal experience as a political leader. The hour flew as we covered Cameroon’s post-colonial journey, the current Anglophone crisis, the economics of dictatorships in Central Africa and the political perspectives for my wonderful country. Dartmouth students do their homework. They had read and analyzed, enabling us to have in-depth discussions and make comparisons that stretched across the continent. I left feeling buoyant. The students’ questions and perspectives triggered a multitude of new ideas in my mind.

Gender Identities & Politics in Africa with Professor Ayo Coly. I co-taught two sessions with this class and would go back again tomorrow without hesitation. Discussing with Ayo Coly was in itself a delight. This feminist professor of Senegalese origin delves into African feminist theory with gusto. She masterfully intertwined the dance performance of South African Dada Masilo, Obioma Nnaemeka’s notion of negro-feminism, the role of Liberian women in ending the war as portrayed in “Pray Back the Devil” and my own political leadership in Cameroon to produce the most thought-provoking discussion on Gender and Politics in Africa that I have participated in, in years. It is pleasantly jolting to theorize one’s own practice in the context of what African women are doing all over our continent. This class left me thinking, thinking and thinking.

The Challenges of Global Poverty with Don Steinberg. Dartmouth is remarkable at drawing in nationally and internationally renowned figures to teach. Steinberg who has over 35 years-experience in US Foreign Policy as deputy administrator for USAID, National Security Council senior director for African Affairs and who served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations is a delight to exchange with. Here again the hour proved too short. I had to dig deep in my own 28+ years of working on development issues in Africa to meet the student’s questions. From economic growth to education policy, we discussed different models I have had the opportunity to work with and lessons we can draw on to catapult development. Luckily, we were at the end of the day. Exchanges with a handful of students continued for a good hour or so after class.

Women in Politics with Professor Deb Brooks. The timing did not work for me to participate in this class in person. Professor Brooks came up with the idea of filming a session for future use in her class. We covered my journey as a woman in politics. Why I came into the field, challenges and successes in the last 10 years as well as perspectives for the future. I look forward to seeing the video myself!

A variety of learning environments

I also tremendously enjoyed the variety of learning environments as I had coffee and desert with Human Development Fellows and King Scholars. These less structured sessions with a smaller number of students enabled more in-depth discussions that were tailored to students’ specific questions and needs. Particularly enjoyable for me was reconnecting with Ambassador Johnnie Carson, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and members of his U.S. Policy on Africa class over lunch. Ambassador Carson was a great friend of Cameroon when he was at the State Department and has continued to be so. His class had question after question ranging from the Cameroonian economy to the fight against Boko Haram and the implications for U.S. Policy.

Policy and development is of course wonderful and essential. However, I was also thrilled to speak to the MBA students at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business on entrepreneurship and building a consulting business in Africa. The group of students from about 5 African countries had a multitude of questions on starting and growing a business in challenging environments on the continent. I did not close without stressing on the importance for a business owner to be involved in improving governance. It is your duty as an African citizen and it’s essential for business!

Building People Power…

The highlight of my week at Dartmouth was the Public Talk and Community Dinner on “Building People Power: Lessons from Grassroots Movements in Cameroon and in the USA”. Given the very recent mobilization of US citizens against gun violence and the march by Cameroonian women to stop violence in our country and improve governance, the topic was extremely timely. With a conference room full of Dartmouth students and faculty as well as some of the alumni from the Class of 1957 which supports the “Great Issues Innovation Fund” which enabled my week at Dartmouth and alumni from the class of 1982 who are considering gifting their alma mater in a similar way; we examined some of the key features of these movements:

Ordinary citizens deciding to take on entrenched, powerful systems
Unlikely leaders – young people and women – who when we look throughout history turn out to be very likely leaders
The need for citizens all over the world to greatly increase their engagement with public governance to address the complex problems with which our world is faced.

The lively discussion during the public talk continued for several hours at the community dinner. To me, it emphasized once again, the need for us as citizens to engage in lively, informed, in-depth discussion on the intricate challenges with which we are faced. Whether one is from Douala or from Hanover as citizens we can no longer afford to be bystanders in the governance conversation!

The week at Dartmouth was invigorating. Students bring to the discussion, fresh perspectives, passion, the “why not” question which always stimulates and an eagerness to find solutions which one can lose after years challenging circumstances.

The resources on the Dartmouth campus are impressive. Students have more science, communication and computer equipment on one campus, I am certain, than in all of Cameroon’s universities combined. Even more important however, is the way alumni, professors and staff pool these resources and converge to give these students the ultimate learning experience. Everything comes together to help the student succeed. It is no wonder after such an experience that Dartmouth alumni are such generous benefactors to their school.