International Education
Semester Program in Kanifing, The Gambia

Academics in The Gambia

You have a variety of course options in The Gambia. Each semester, participants choose from a selection of both St. Mary's and University of The Gambia (UTG) course offerings.

To read about the types of experiences students have in The Gambia, contact Professor Bill Roberts for a copy of the PEACE Program newsletter. 

Hand-selected African and St. Mary's faculty teach St. Mary's four-credit courses in The Gambia. You will enroll in the classes at St. Mary's, earn St. Mary's grades, and the courses will appear on your transcript the same way that they would if you took them in Kent Hall. University of The Gambia students will join these courses. Offerings vary a bit each term, but a sampling of courses would be:

1. African Leaders of the Modern Era: The Struggle for Independence and Democracy (ILCT 106) with SMCM professor Femi Ojo-Ade
2. Wolof Language and Culture (IDIS or ILC) with instructor Baboucarr Jallow
3. History of Africa (HIST 361) with UTG professor Nicodemus Awasom
4. Environmental Management in The Gambia (CHEM upper-division elective) with UTG professor Oladele Oyelakin
5. Human Rights in Africa (POSC upper-division elective) with UTG professor Aboubakar Senghore

Additional courses are available through direct enrollment in the University of The Gambia's term offerings. The university offers courses within these faculties:

• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Economics and Management
• Science and Agriculture
• Medicine and Allied Health Sciences

Courses are available in development studies, French, English, economics, history, sociology, natural sciences and agriculture, and Islamic studies. UTG also offers courses in sub-programs such as political science and gender studies. Exact courses offerings are posted just prior to the beginning of each semester. SMCM students will enroll in courses alongside Gambian peers and earn UTG credit for these UTG courses. Each UTG course will be considered for transfer credit and evaluated for its SMCM equivalency. Since these three-credit courses are UTG courses, your course grade will appear on your transcript, but it will not be mathematically calculated into your SMCM GPA.

Academic Credit for Coursework Abroad

Credits earned abroad will count toward your degree at St. Mary's, often fulfilling Core Curriculum, major requirements, or elective credit. Coursework in The Gambia may be a combination of St. Mary's course credit and transfer credit.  Each course for transfer credit is evaluated for its equivalency at St. Mary's.

To transfer credits to St. Mary's from UTG courses, SMCM students complete the Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit Form and return it by e-mail to the SMCM Registrar's Office with a copy to the Office of International Education. The Registrar will work with department chairs to determine equivalencies for individual courses taught abroad.  As stated in the catalog, the College may refuse to grant credit for study-abroad courses taken by the student that have not been pre-approved. 

More information about how to ensure credits earned abroad transfer successfully to St. Mary's is available in the College catalog under Academic Policies and on the Pre-departure Blackboard course.