Terms Abroad - Prof. Cheikh Ndiaye

Union College offers a number of terms abroad for students to practice their language skills in their native environment, and to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the culture that they are studying. Many students choose to take a term abroad during their Junior year. The department also offers mini-terms that take place during the winter break between the Fall and Winter Trimesters, thereby allowing students the opportunity who would not normally attend for scheduling reasons.

For more information on the programs themselves or on the application process, visit the following websites:

Union Chronicle
April 09, 2004 Volume 61 Number 2

In Martinique, a meeting with a poet and statesman

In Martinique with Césaire -- standing from left, Andrew Robb, Patrick Ottenhoff, Stefan Hasegawa, Michael Wentz, Robyn Ross, Kerry Golcher and Julia Dunfey. Seated from left, Yadira Briones, Césaire and Prof. Cheikh Ndiaye.

Students on 2003 Winter's mini-term in Martinique had a rare meeting with poet and statesman Aimé Césaire.

Césaire, a founder of the Négritude Movement that influenced African and Afro-Caribbean literature, is internationally recognized for his poetry, such as Return to My Native Land, his political writings, like Discourse on Colonialism , and theater, like his version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. His long political career began after World War II as deputy for Martinique in France's Constituent Assembly. He then became the first mayor of Fort-de-France (retiring in 2001). In 1946, Césaire introduced a bill in the French Parliament that led Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, French Guyana in South America, and Reunion in the Indian Ocean to the status of French Departments.

Union students in the Martinique mini-term also attended language classes and seminars at the Université des Antilles et de la Guyane in Fort-de-France. The seminars dealt with the history, culture, literature, social geography, and economy of the French Caribbean with a focus on Martinique. There were also many excursions around the island, and students were housed with Martinican families.