Technology for African Languages in the Digital Age: An Interdisciplinary Approach 

Course Information GLS 

Supported by the Beth M. Siskind Global Seminars Fund

Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya May 31–July 12, 2025

Mahiri Mwita, Senior Lecturer, Program in African Studies

Happy Buzaaba, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton African Humanities Colloquium

Srinivas Bangalore, Lecturer, Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication

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This course fulfills the QCR  education requirement education requirement and counts as a course for the Minor in African Studies and Translation.

Discover how to teach a computer to understand African languages and explore the current landscape of language technologies in Africa. This interdisciplinary seminar delves into the evolution of language technology over the past two decades, highlighting its focus on commercially dominant languages like English, Chinese and French, while emphasizing the need to expand into African languages for cultural and societal benefits.

Students will learn about the impact of language technology on daily life through examples such as smart devices and virtual agents. The seminar will explore how integrating African languages into digital technology promotes inclusivity, allowing these languages to thrive in digital orality and mainstream spaces previously dominated by major world languages. The course will also focus on the typology of African languages, with a special emphasis on Swahili, the lingua franca of Eastern and Central Africa. Students will gain insights into Swahili's grammatical and linguistic structure, understanding its growing importance in the global mediascape.

In the second phase, students will be introduced to natural language processing (NLP) concepts and tools, covering applications such as search engines, speech processing, text classification, machine translation, information extraction and recommendation systems. This segment aims to provide a comprehensive view of everyday applications and a basic understanding of the components driving these technologies.

The seminar will enroll local Kenyan students to collaborate with Princeton students, fostering a rich exchange of knowledge and culture. Students will work together on projects, collecting data on local African languages to create sustainable resource bases.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law that helps protect the privacy of student education records. Rights afforded to students under FERPA include the right to inspect and review your educational records, the right to seek amendment of those records and the right to prevent disclosure of information from the educational records without prior consent, subject to some specific exceptions.  

Questions? Contact Fiona Romaine, Program Manager

The Global Seminar Experience VIDEO

SWA 103K: Intensive Beginning Swahili in Kenya

Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya
May 31 - July 12, 2025
Mahiri Mwita, Senior Lecturer Program in African Studies this course counts towards a Minor in African Studies. 

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SWA 103K is a 6-week summer abroad course for students who have no prior proficiency in Swahili language. The program is based at Maseno University, Kisumu Town campus in collaboration with the department of Kiswahili, Maseno University. The syllabus of the course combines content that is usually covered in the regular SWA 101 and SWA 102 at Princeton in the fall and spring semesters respectively. Because the course is offered in a Swahili speaking environment, students have the advantage of scheduled conversation sessions with local students and immersion in the local culture which is not possible at Princeton. These special circumstances give SWA 103 a higher level of proficiency than the regular SWA 101 and SWA 102 offered in campus.  The curriculum and cultural itinerary for the course is designed and taught by the Princeton University faculty directing the program in collaboration with Maseno University’s department of Kiswahili. Students who complete SWA 103 in Kenya will be able to test out of SWA 101 and SWA 102 and eligible to enroll in SWA 105 when they return to campus in the fall.

SWA 103 content introduces Kiswahili language and culture to learners who have no prior knowledge of the language.  The course is taught in Kiswahili and focuses on acquiring novice-level skills to perform basic communication functions in the culture of Swahili speakers. Instruction is through pre-class vocabulary-learning tasks, in-class lecture, in-class and out-of-class performance of cultural themes and experiential activities that enhance the skills of observing, listening, reading, writing, and speaking about what learners encounter on a day-to-day basis. The cultural themes include basics of daily life such as greetings, introductions, communicating with/about family and relationships, telling time, describing daily and weekly activities, food, physical features, and other aspects of material culture of USA and East Africa. Out-of-class immersion sessions include students performing experiential tasks such as interacting and speaking with locals at different set-ups like riding a local commuter service, requesting for assistance, visiting, buying, and paying for groceries, meals, and services. At the end of the course, learners are expected to have acquired simple grammatical competency to perform day-to-day interactions in Swahili language.

Questions? Contact Fiona Romaine, Program Manager 

Intensive Beginning TWI 103G – in Ghana

June 1- July 12, 2025

Hannah Essien, Lecturer Program in African Studies 

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This is an intensive six-week summer immersion course in Twi language and culture open to Princeton students with no prior proficiency in the Twi language, Heritage students who cannot read or write the Twi language and those interested in understanding the Ghanaian society and culture. Combining both in-class language and culture study as well as interactions with native speakers, the course aims at enriching students’ language acquisition through speaking, writing, reading, and listening. This program aims at offering students the best opportunity to experience and practice the Twi language in real life situations as well as encounter life outside of the classroom, through the exploration of important historical and heritage sites, and participation in some Ghanaian practices and culture and Akan customs and traditions. Basic grammatical structures of the language will also be covered. This immersion program combines TWI 101 and TWI 102, and learners are expected to reach proficiency level of Intermediate low.

This course counts towards a Minor in African Studies. 

Students who successfully complete the program can test out of TWI 101 and TWI 102 and eligible to enroll in TWI 105 in the fall.

In addition to learning the language and culture, students can give service to the local communities by volunteering in local schools and hospitals.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

• 42 day program based in Legon, Ghana
• Homestay for students: double occupancy 41 nights
• Breakfast and Dinner included on weekdays
• Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner included on weekends
• Community service - language exchange with local community school
• Cultural Activities - Du Bois Center | Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park & Independence Square | Accra Arts Center | Local Meal Cooking Class | Ghanaian Dance Workshop
• 2 Overnight Excursions
• Central Region Elmina Slave Castle | Assin Manso Slave River Site | Kakum National Park
• Asante Region Bonwire Kente Village | Adinkra Village | Manhyia Palace Museum | Ghana National Cultural Center |Kumasi Market
• This course is offered in collaboration with the Office of International Programs | CIEE | PIIRS

Questions? Contact Fiona Romaine, Program Manager