AATF Fulbright-Hays GPA to Côte d'Ivoire

Program location: Côte d'Ivoire, Africa
Program dates (tentative): July 13-August 9, 2025
Who: approx. 14 teachers/curriculum writers -- seven (7) K-12 educators and seven (7) university instructors
Who may apply: Any AATF member
Application deadline: October 15, 2024
The goal of the program is to create K-16 curricular units that focus on storytelling and other aspects of francophone Africa. Participants will be able to indicate in their application on which topic their curricular unit will focus.
Costs:
The AATF, thanks to the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad budget, will cover:
  • round-trip flights from New York to San Pedro, Côte d'Ivoire 
  • housing at the University of San Pedro, Côte d'Ivoire
  • transportation
  • three meals/day while in Côte d'Ivoire
  • classroom rental 
  • guest lecturers
  • Baoulé language instruction
  • excursions to Abidjan, Grand-Bassam, Yamoussoukro
  • a small stipend to purchase authentic materials for curriculum development
  • Fulbright-Hays has the following requirements for participants: must be a U.S. citizen, employed full-time, and 3 or more years away from planned retirement.

  • All participants in this program must be current (paid) AATF members at the time of application (2024 member) and in the year of departure (2025 -- participants must renew before January 31, otherwise they will be unable to attend and an alternate will be sent in their place). 
  • The team will be comprised of approximately seven (7) K-12 French language instructors/curriculum writers and seven (7) university French instructors.
  • Applications will be accepted through October 15, 2024. After that date, a committee will review the applications and make their recommendations. Should interviews be necessary, they will take place before the end of October. All applicants will be notified of their application status by December 1, 2024.
  • Please find a link to the application below.
  Selected participants are expected to:
  • participate in the pre-departure activities (held online via Zoom) and pre-departure homework
  • purchase round-trip airfare from home city to New York City 
  • obtain the necessary visa for travel to Côte d'Ivoire
  • obtain the necessary vaccinations (typhoid, Yellow Fever, malaria)
  • obtain the necessary travel insurance (travel medical insurance and travel medical evacuation insurance)
  • create the agreed-upon curricular units and provide them to the AATF for use in either the Grand Concours/National French Contest or to become shared resources on the AATF website.

The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) requests $114,972 in its application to the U.S. Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Short-Term Curriculum Development Program to create a balance between Francophone African curriculum and its current France, Quebec, and French-speaking European-focused curriculum. Specifically, the AATF will develop curricular modules and materials focusing on Francophone Africa with two goals: (1) to better educate current French-language students and (2) to attract new French-language students majoring in engineering, international relations and development, economics, global business, entrepreneurship, and environmental and military sciences. The interdisciplinary Francophone African curriculum will include language, culture, history, geography, economic and political systems, literature, art, music, dance, cooking, and storytelling. The modules and materials will be customized for our graduates to meet the current and future geopolitical, socioeconomic, and military needs of the United States in Africa as it competes in a heated continental rivalry with China and Russia. The AATF will select 14 participants: seven public and private K-12 French teachers along with seven university French professors and teacher trainers to develop the proposed curriculum during a one-month stay at the University of San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire. Upon their return, the AATF will work with participants to disseminate the new curriculum (1) on its website, (2) via media/social media coverage and podcasts, (3) through conference workshops and presentations, and (4) through articles in its professional journal, The French Review. The project dissemination plan is designed to reach thousands of students and teachers in public and private schools ranging from dual-language immersion schools to universities in all 50 states. The AATF’s long-term, post-grant goals concerning Francophone Africa are to assist AATF members in (1) launching online intercultural exchanges, (2) establishing study-abroad programs in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Morocco, and Tunisia, (3) encouraging joint research and faculty exchange, and (4) facilitating student exchange. The AATF qualifies for 9 Competitive Preference Points: 3 points as a first-time applicant (confirmed by Cory Neal), 2 points because of its inclusion of 50% K-12 teachers, 2 points for 20+ hours of study in a less commonly taught language (Baoulé) and 2 points because of the proposal’s focus on the academic fields of global business, economics sustainability, and international development).

Overseas Phase (tentative and subject to change)

Timeline

Activity

 

Travel Day

Delta flight from JFK

Evening departure

Day 1

Arrival in Abidjan

Connecting flight to San Pedro

Check in, tour of campus, tour of city

Day 2

AM

-Welcome: Jeremie ZOUEU, USP VP Academic Affairs

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of reading from New Daughters of Africa 

PM

-Discussion of curriculum development themes

-Create teams, begin work on modules & materials

Day 3

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Lecture: Discussion of Francophone African cinema (Dr. Christophe Konkobo)

-Film: “Dancing in the Dust” (1988 Ivorian film directed by Henri Duparc)

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 4

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of readings from New Daughters of Africa 

-Lecture: An Introduction to NGOs (TBD speaker)

PM

-An Introduction to French African Cuisine

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 5

 

 

 

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Storytelling (A TBD griot from Côte d’Ivoire)

-Lecture: “Shea Butter” (TBD guest speaker)

PM

-Team meetings: Curriculum development using storytelling

Day 6

 

 

 

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film: “A Screaming Man” (2010 Chadian film by director Mahamat Saleh Haroun

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

-Week evaluation

Day 7

Excursion

Visit city of Grand-Bassam; Locate local griot

Visit university

Return to San Pedro

Day 8

AM

-Free time

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 9

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of reading from New Daughters of Africa 

-Lecture: “Social Justice Issues in Francophone Africa” 

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 10

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film: “Days of Glory” (A 2006 Algerian-Moroccan film directed by Rachid Bouchareb

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 11

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of readings from New Daughters of Africa

-Lecture: “Clean-Burning Charcoal and Women Entrepreneurs” (Amin Sully Abubakar, CEO Zaacoal)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 12

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Storytelling (A TBD griot from Mali)

-Lecture: “The power of women beekeepers” (Prof. Bruno IRITIE)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 13

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film “Keïta: The Heritage of the Griot” (A 1994 film by Dani Kouyat’e)

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

-Week evaluation

Day 14

AM/PM: Excursion: Visit city of Abidjan

Purchase instructions materials

Return to San Pedro

Day 15

AM

-Free time (shopping, beach, etc.)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 16

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of reading from New Daughters of Africa 

-Lecture: “Women’s World Banking: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs” (TBD guest speaker)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 17

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film: “The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun” (A Senegalese film by Djibril Diop-Mambety

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 18

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of readings from New Daughters of Africa 

-Lecture: “The Slave Trade in French West Africa” (TBD guest speaker)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 19

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Storytelling (A TBD griot from Burkina)

-Lecture: “Côte d’Ivoire’s Cocoa Industry”

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 20

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film: “GUELWAAR” (A 1991 film by Ousmane Sembène)

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Work on modules & materials + week evaluation

Day 21

Excursion

Visit capital city: Yamoussoukro

Visit INP-HB, Presidential Palace, Basilica

Stop at villages

Return to San Pedro

Day 22

AM

-Free time (shopping, beach, church, café)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 23

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Lecture: “AFRICOM: U.S. Military Presence in Francophone Africa”

-Discussion of reading from New Daughters of Africa

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 24

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Film: “The Battle of Algiers” (A 1967 film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo)

PM

-Film discussion led by Dr. Christophe Konkobo

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 25

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Discussion of reading from New Daughters of Africa 

-Lecture: “Sustainability: Final Thoughts” (TBD guest speaker)

PM

Team meetings: Work on modules & materials

Day 26

AM

-Baoulé language class

-Storytelling (A TBD griot from Niger)

-Lecture: “Women in Logistics-Africa (Christiane Ohin-Traore)

PM

-Team meetings: Work on modules & materials: final day

Day 27

AM/PM

Final on-site discussion of seminar (presentations, readings, modules & materials)

Seminar evaluation

Day 28

Check out

Fly to Abidjan

Return flight to JFK
You must be a signed-in current (paid) 2024 AATF member to access the application.
Link to application

Please join us for an informational webinar on Sunday, September 29! Details and registration can be found HERE.