Program Description

This unique study abroad program allows students to expand their creative faculties in the visual and performing arts in a cross-cultural learning environment. Students develop a foundation for greater understanding of both Malian and American culture while becoming familiar with contemporary Malian life. Participants live and work with Malians, study French or Bamanankan, and explore indigenous, Islamic, colonial, and global influences on current social conditions. Artistic apprenticeships, rigorous study, extended homestays, an independent project, and focused field trips are combined to create a safe and challenging environment for personal and intellectual growth.

Beginning with an orientation in Bamako, Mali’s capital city, students meet with the Program Director, Program Assistant, Site Coordinators, and the Teaching Team. Daily intensive language classes and seminars on artistic, cultural, and historical themes are integrated with focused field trips in Bamako, creating a rich and challenging learning environment for the first three weeks of group residency.

Intensive cultural immersion is then fostered through two 3-4 week periods of combined apprenticeship and homestay – the heart of this distinctive program. Students are individually matched with a local artist, artisan, musician, or dancer, according to their goals and interests. Living with their mentor’s family further involves students in the daily life of a typical Malian household while promoting sustained, in-depth focus on an artistic, collaborative independent project. In the past, students with majors in studio arts, music, dance, theater arts, anthropology, photography, peace studies, and international studies have apprenticed in dance, music, drama, textiles, jewelry, photography, puppetry, painting, wood sculpture, bronze metal casting, and pottery.

Our 10-day study trip separates the two 3-4 week homestay/apprenticeship periods, incorporating study with travel to a variety of locations throughout the country. Readings, lectures, and guided tours provide students an in-depth look at the history and diversity of artistic expression found throughout Mali. Past sites include: Siby, Kangaba, Kolokani, Segou, Mopti, Djenne, Dogon country, Sikasso, and Bougouni.

Arts and Culture in Mali, West Africa concludes with an exciting end-of-semester performance and exhibition of student works before an appreciative audience at the National Arts Institute. Our host families, friends, staff, teachers, and colleagues are in attendance, providing a very satisfying finale to a memorable three months of cultural immersion and artistic endeavors.

The program consists of four courses: Apprenticeship/Arts Practicum, Historical and Contemporary Issues in Malian Culture, Aesthetic Traditions of Mali, and French or Bamanankan Language. Antioch Education Abroad awards a total of 16 semester credits upon successful completion of this program.

Participating student have come from a wide variety of colleges and universities, such as: Brevard College, Brown University, Carleton College, the City College of New York, the College of William and Mary, Columbia University, Eastern Michigan University, Florida State University, Goucher College, Hampshire College, Knox College, the Maine College of Art, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, the University of Arkansas, the University of Missouri at Columbia, the University of the Pacific, West Virginia University, Wesleyan University, and Yale University.

Mali:  The Land and its Peoples

Mali's population is comprised of a number of distinct peoples or ethnic groups, including Bamana or Bambara (the largest single group), Maninka or Malinke, Soninke, Khassonke, Peul or Fula, Wasulunke, Bozo, Somono, Dogon, Bobo or Bwa, Senufo, Songhoï, Tuareg, and Moorish peoples. The vast majority of Malians are Muslim, and mosques of all shapes and sizes are found throughout the country. The official language of Mali is French, but Bamanankan is more widely spoken than any other language.

The peoples and regions encompassed by today's Republic of Mali boast rich and colorful histories. Malian oral epics often begin with the Ghana or Wagadu empire (7th-12th c.) of the Soninke people. The decline of this empire and the subsequent dispersion of its people led to the rise of the Mande or Mali empire (1240-1400), known for its famous founder-hero, Sunjata Keita, and for the later emperor Kankou Moussa’s extravagant gold-laden pilgrimage to Mecca. At its height under Askia Mohamed, the Songhoï empire (1465-1591) covered greater territory than any other in the history of West Africa.

With the fall of Songhoï, the era of the great empires came to a close. The Bamana kingdoms of Segu and Kaarta (1640-1861) were conquered by the jihadists Sekou Amadu, who formed the Peul (Fulbe) empire of Massina (1818-62), and El-Hadj Oumar Tall, who established the Tukulor empire (1850-90). The small Senufo kingdom of Kenedugu (1650-1898) remained in power in the south for almost 250 years, and was the last of the Malian states to fall to the French. The French military, arriving in the interior in the 1880s, first defeated the Tukulor empire, and then moved decisively on Samory Toure’s Wasulu empire (1870-98).

In the late nineteenth century, Mali came under the control of the French, included in a colony known as the French Sudan. After years of struggle under oppressive colonial authorities, Malians gained independence in 1960. Three post-independence eras followed: Modibo Keita’s socialist regime (1960-68), Moussa Traore’s military rule (1968-91), and the current multi-party democratic era (1992-today). Since 1992, Mali has had a new constitution providing for a multi-party democracy, with the only restriction being a prohibition against parties based on ethnic, religious, regional, or gender lines. Mali has a tripartite system of government consisting of executive, judicial and legislative branches.

The Niger River traverses the country from the savanna in the south to the desert in the north. Mali's Sahelian climate ranges from subtropical to arid. The rainy season in Bamako, characterized by hot and somewhat humid days, typically begins in June and continues through September, ending anytime from mid-September to early/mid October. Mid-October to early/mid January is generally regarded as the most pleasant time to be in Mali, as daytime temperatures average in the mid-70s to low-90s, and nighttime lows can drop to a very refreshing 50s to 60s in some parts. Dust- and sand-laden harmattan winds may arrive as early as mid to late December, lasting through February. The period from February to May is extremely hot and dry.