Thursday, October 30, 2008
Safiyo Xuseen lives in Mogadishu, Somalia, but she’s also attending the University of Kansas.
Xuseen is a junior at Mogadishu University and is one of 20 students enrolled in a political science class taught by John Kennedy, assistant professor of political science. Kennedy teaches the class in person to students at Kansas and by video to students in Mogadishu.
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How the Class Started
“Political Science Methods of Inquiry” started when a KU student from Somalia heard about a project John Kennedy, assistant professor of
political science, had developed in China. The student asked Kennedy to consider applying the project to Mogadishu University.
Kennedy originally applied for funding for the Mogadishu class from a variety of sources, but was told he couldn’t do it without
sophisticated satellite equipment.
He turned instead to John Rinnert, media producer with Instructional Development and Support. Rinnert developed a streaming video of
the 50-minute class for the students at Mogadishu University. The video was problematic because it took about three hours to download
and had frequent delays and interruptions.
This year Rinnert worked to make the video a downloadable file. The video takes the same amount of time to download but can be
watched without interruptions.
As part of the class, “Political Science Methods of Inquiry,” 20 students at Kansas exchange e-mails with the students in Somalia.
Jackie Prine, Omaha, Neb., junior, is partnered with Xuseen and has learned about Xuseen’s family through the exchange. Prine provided the
information about Xuseen.
Kennedy taught the class to students in Somalia for the first time last year. This year, violence in the city and at the University has created new communication problems for some of the students.
On Oct. 14, the Mogadishu University dean of social sciences and one student were killed and five students were seriously injured during an attack on the college.
Kennedy said KU students learned about the attack from their partners in Somalia before some major news sources had detailed information.
Although none of the students involved in the class were injured, the violence affected the students in Somalia daily.
Rachel Yancey, Topeka senior, said she communicated with a woman in Somalia two or three times a week at the beginning of the semester. Now she hears from the woman about once every two weeks.
Students in Somalia can access the Internet at school computer labs and at Internet bars around the city. Sometimes, communication breaks down because the University closes or because the violence keeps students from attending class, but Kennedy said the e-mails had been relatively consistent overall.
“As the fighting continues, so does our class,” Kennedy said.
E-mails between Yancey and her partner generally address issues from the class, but they also exchange basic information about their families. Yancey said her partner was one of the first women in her family to attend college.
Yancey said the class helped break down stereotypes about Somalia.
“It’s an unstable country. It’s an unstable government,” Yancey said. “But life is still happening on an individual basis.”
Sara Vestal, Kansas City, Kan., senior, exchanges e-mails with Abdullahi Yabarow, her class partner. Vestal said she initiated most of her contact with Yabarow because he was busy providing information to the United Nations about the situation in surrounding villages.
Vestal said the class had opened her eyes because while students at Kansas were making excuses for turning in papers late, students in Somalia were struggling to turn in assignments because their streets were being bombed.
“It just seems like they go through so much more to learn,” Vestal said.
The majority of the violence in Somalia originated with two groups: pirates and clans.
Islamic Courts took control of the Somali government in June 2006, but were forced out by a transitional government supported by Ethiopia in January 2007. Piracy around Somalia has increased in recent weeks, and pirates are targeting Somali ships.
Much of the violence comes from clans fighting among themselves or from the transitional government trying to push the clans out of the country. Kennedy said it was ironic because the clans sometimes united to confront the government.
The people suffering the most in Somalia were civilians who were not directly involved with the fighting, Kennedy said. He said more Somali civilians had died in the city of Mogadishu than Iraqi civilians had died in the country of Iraq so far this year.
“We hear much more about Iraq, but there are more civilians dying in a smaller area in Mogadishu,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the research methods students were learning could lead to future jobs that would help develop the country.
“Mogadishu University and the students are the future of the country,” Kennedy said.
— - Edited by Jennifer Torline
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