Uganda: Post-Conflict Transformation

Educational Excursions

The program includes field visits to IDP and refugee camps, museums, sites of collective memory, genocide memorials, and organizations working in the areas of community building and transitional justice. Excursions to different areas of Uganda provide a better understanding of the country's ethnic and cultural makeup.

Murchison Falls National Park - photo by Becky Asch

Excursions in Uganda include:

Kitgum Straight Talk Foundation, Orom. The Kitgum Straight Talk Foundation is devoted to educating adolescents on growing up, staying safe, reproductive health issues, life skills, and sexuality. Students visit the people of the nearby camp for internally displaced people in Orom, talk to youth leaders, community members, and practice interview skills.
Jinja - Once a booming industrial city in eastern Uganda, Jinja suffered economic decline following the expulsion of the city's Asian population by Idi Amin in 1972. The city lies near the Source of the Nile and is home to spectacular waterfalls, which could disappear with the building of new electric power dams.
Lira - A town to the east of Gulu, where LRA rebels massacred about 400 people in 2003. There is now a memorial site in the town.
Caritas Relief Agency - Caritas was actively involved in providing relief items to local communities and the rebels during the Juba Peace Talks.
Baker's Fort and Lwero Triangle, Northern Uganda. Baker's Fort was involved in the slave trade. The fort was captured by Sir Samuel Baker who established a garrison to fight slavery and the slave trade in the years 1872-1888. The visit to Baker's Fort and Lwero Triangle give students insight into northern Uganda's history and trigger discussions about the role of memorial sites.
Nakivale Refugee Camp - a refugee camp housing Rwandese, Somali, Sudanese, and Congolese refugees.
Kasubi Tombs and the Buganda Parliament, Kampala. The burial ground of the Bagandan kings. The Baganda are the largest and most powerful ethnic group in Uganda. The site is in the process of being reconstructed following a major fire.
Murchison Falls National Park. Students will be able to spot wildlife on an early morning game drive through this national park. A boat trip upstream the River Nile reveals a beautiful view of a stunning waterfall.

Eight-day excursion to Rwanda
The program's excursion to Rwanda gives students the opportunity to study post-genocide restoration and peacebuilding in a different context and to learn about post-conflict transformation in the broader Great Lakes region. Through lectures by Rwandan academics and visits to memorial sites in Kigali, students come face to face with the stark reality of the genocide as well as post-genocide efforts to rebuild lives. Students will be able to observe and learn from Rwandans' processes of remembering and forgetting and strategies of denial and redress. While in the region, students also visit Kibuye on the shores of Lake Kivu.

Murambi Genocide Memorial - a technical school where 50,000 Tutsi were killed
National Museum Butare - Rwandan history and culture museum
Nyanza Palace - Palace of the last king of Rwanda
Gisozi Genocide Memorial and Information Center - Informative memorial site with a mass grave outside, a peace garden for reflection, and a comprehensive exhibition on the Rwandan genocide and other genocides of the 20th century
Habyarimana's Residence - The residence where the plane carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down. This event was the onset of the 1994 genocide.
Excursion to the Millennium Village - Day trip to a peace and reconciliation village to see cassava farmers, basket weavers, cultural dances, and eat local food.
Kibuye at Lake Kivu - Kibuye is a city in Karongi district, and the capital of Rwanda's West Province. The city lies on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu, known for its awe-inspiring sunset.

Credits: 16

Duration: 15 weeks

Program Base: Uganda, Gulu

Language Study: Acholi

Prerequisites: Coursework in conflict theories recommended. Read more...