NetNews

John B. Linsley '04, of Topsfield, Massachusetts, will present research at the 8th Annual African Language Teachers Association Conference to be held April 29 through May 1 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Linsley completed an independent study project in Kiswahili in the fall with Visiting International Lecturer Mahiri Mwita, in modern languages and literatures. He will present his paper, "Kiswahili: Global Prospects and the Impact of its Application as an Area of Academic Study in American Universities and Study Abroad Programs," at the conference. "As an American student who has studied Kiswahili in a small, liberal-arts college program, as well as participating in a study-abroad program that offers Kiswahili as one of its core subjects, I discuss in the paper some of the areas that I think programs in Africa offering Kiswahili as an academic focus need to consider as crucial to American students," Linsley says. "The benefits of increased study-abroad opportunities will be complemented by the professional research currently being done by Kiswahili research institutes in both Kenya and Tanzania. An upsurge in media sources broadcasting in Kiswahili via radio and the Internet will improve the language's image as a medium of communication that can meet the needs of a modern world. The combination of these growth factors and, most notably, improved support and implementation of study-abroad programs offering Kiswahili as a core subject area, will allow the language to flourish in an era where lesser known languages are often at risk of being overrun."

Linsley is a government major at St. Lawrence, with minors in African studies and history. He studied in Kenya last year, though the University's International Education Program, and was awarded a research grant for studying along the Nile River. He is also active in the Outing Club.

Posted: January 26, 2004