The Global Learning Programs and Services Division and SMCCCD Study Abroad hosted Dr. Anthony Brown and Dr. Mabatho Sedibe, visiting faculty from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.
Dr. Brown collaborated with Skyline College’s South Africa Study Abroad program in 2017 and 2018 at the University of Johannesburg. He led a session on cultural identity in South Africa for SMCCCD students as part of Professor Danielle Powell’s two-week Intercultural Communication course. Many students found Dr. Brown’s session to be a watershed moment of their respective academic experiences. His lecture on October 2, 2018, however, was the first time that he gave a lecture to Skyline College students in the U.S.
Dr. Brown presented his lecture, Humanizing Education through the Spirit of Ubuntu to over 50 students, staff, and faculty. Ubuntu is an African philosophy that connects human existence and well-being as a collective responsibility. Dr. Brown shared his life journey and intersecting identities with students. He explained how education was what allowed him to break out of the script South African society had pre-written for him. He described the Power of the Decimal (e.g., 30.0 is greater than 5.00), explaining that no matter what number of resources we begin with in life, education is a tool to move the decimal over. He encouraged students to use education to move their decimal, to find their identity, to write their script, and to make positive changes in society.
Later in the afternoon, Dr. Brown hosted an interactive workshop for students in the ASTEP Learning Community and Women’s Mentoring and Leadership Academy. The workshop, titled The Self in the Learning Space: Education for the Realities of Today and a Hopeful Tomorrow, incorporated many of the key themes that students learned during the summer Study Abroad Program in South Africa.
Dr. Brown graduated with a Doctorate of Education in Inclusive Education from the University of the Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He holds a Masters of Arts (Special Educational Needs) from Leeds University in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor in Education (English) from the University of Namibia. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Johannesburg.
San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) Study Abroad is the district-wide study abroad program housed in the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College. For more information about studying abroad, faculty teach abroad opportunities, visiting international faculty presenters and student scholarship opportunities, please contact Zaid Ghori at (650) 738-7088 or ghoriz@smccd.edu.
Article by Stephanie Wells | Photo by Zaid Ghori
