Nairobi Safari

As promised, here are a few of the pictures of animals (and one cloud view) we took last weekend when we went on our mini-safari in Nairobi National Park. It was a splendid day, filled with wonder and admiration. Along with the turtle below, we couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces!

Seminar Presentations

 On two consecutive Wednesdays, 12 and 19 October, Andrew and Jeanne gave public seminars at Egerton University: "The Future of Literature in 21st Century Education" and "The Rise of Interdisciplinary Studies and Their Impact on Literary Studies in the US," respectively.

First, the obvious, we use our hands a lot when giving public presentations. We both were actively pointing out features on our Prezi projections, so we have an excuse. If you want to see Andrew's Prezi, it's available at http://prezi.com/jkloldt1jvlv/edit/#0. You may have to sign up to see it, but it should be free.

More important, the talks went well and had excellent audiences of fellow faculty members and students. We followed the format of giving an hour-long talk and then taking questions for 45 minutes to an hour. It seems like a long time, but the presentations sped by, especially because the questions were so engaging.

Andrew talked a lot about the digital humanities and how they are changing our understanding of literature, which translates into new practices for teacher training in the language arts. Jeanne's topic was more expansive. She first introduced the history of disciplinarity (which, going back to Aristotle, was already infused with interdisciplinarity) and then showed how the inter-/multi-/cross-discipline movement in the U.S. is offering new challenges and opportunities for literary studies. Her work in Global Studies over the past two years provided a distinct perspective for seeing this change.

 Now that our presentations are done, we are going to Nairobi this weekend to visit friends and the Nairobi National Park, where we'll do a mini-safari (cameras only). Stay tuned for animal postings!

Weekend Walks

A guard at the gates to the apartment complex, Christine, encouraged us to go for walks in the fields and villages surrounding the university, so this weekend we started to do so.

Christine









On Saturday, we left our flat, crossed the stream and the dam behind our building, and walked through a small village, exchanging how-are-you? greetings with the many children who came running out to see the strangers and test out their English on us.

 Our Complex

 The dam behind our complex provides a nice background sound of running water day and night.

 Here's the stream that leads to the dam.

Our path through the village.

Then, on Sunday morning, we went for an early walk through the fields to the west of our complex. The land is owned by Egerton University and is put to good use, with many acres of wheat, maize, cattle grazing, and lively bird activity--all framed by Acacia trees, which present a vernal skyline plateau.

 Acacia trees frame the fields of wheat.

 Happy cows!

 Wildflowers.

Grazing donkeys.

We have views of some of these areas from our home, but the walking brings us up close to all the wonders of our surroundings. Our flat is very comfortable (see below), a ten-minute walk to our office and about twenty minutes from the main gate, where we can catch a matatu to the city of Nakuru. The combination of rural fields, local villages, university life, and a nearby major city make our location ideal for seeing much of Kenya and the Rift Valley.

 Andrew at his desk in the living room.

 Dining area.

 Living room.

 Jeanne's office.

 Bedroom.

 Saturday is laundry day for us!

 And on Saturdays, Andrew usually goes to the market in Nakuru to pick up yummy fruits and vegetables.

The Beauty of Kenya

Rift Valley Adventist Secondary School

On Friday, October 7th, Andrew traveled with a group of students and staff from the Egerton University Gender Institute to visit the Rift Valley Adventist Secondary School, which reopened last year as a boarding school for girls and boys. The school had closed after the post-election violence of 2008, for it had been caught in the struggles, resulting in one student killed and a main building burned down. Now, though, with a new principal and head teacher--and 109 students at present--the school is rebuilding and looking to a solid academic future. It's in a beautiful, rural location high up in the countryside, giving students and visitors a splendid view of the Rift Valley.

 University students from the Gender Institute brought supplies and gave well-informed, inspirational speeches on topics ranging from study habits to avoiding drugs, alcohol, and sexually transmitted diseases. Andrew chipped in with his own brief speech on the obligation to develop the mind, and the other staff members urged the high-schoolers to perform well on their exams and come to Egerton and other universities to pursue higher education.

The students and head teacher, in turn, gave us a tour of the campus, performed an amusing drama for us, and then fed us a delicious supper. Plans are in the works to bring the students to Egerton next week to get a taste of the university.


--Andrew with Egerton University students


--Beautiful views of the fertile landscape all
around the campus


--A reminder of the post-election violence


--Andrew giving his talk


--Fred presenting gifts from the Gender Institute


--Andrew with students from the drama club

Our Visit to a Shamba

This is our friend Lynn, who owns a shamba (small farm) outside of Nairobi. Lynn is a writer, translator, former French teacher and examiner of secondary schools in Kenya, who has lived here for a good part of her life. We visited on Friday and Saturday, after spending two days in Nairobi at the International Book Fair and the Gayatri Spivak Colloquium. Our stay was enlightening. Andrew discovered much about the dispersal of languages based upon traditional occupations (farming, fishing, etc.) of various peoples in Kenya. Jeanne was happy to see how the farming operations on the shamba are so sustainable--almost nothing gets wasted. And we both had a good time seeing Lynn's German Shepherds, who have a liking for avocadoes.