Cheyney University hosts Fulbright Scholar from South Africa

CHEYNEY >> Cheyney University’s Office of International Programs is hosting Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Dr. Luvuyo Dondolo, senior curator of the Alder Museum of Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Dr. Dondolo’s residency at Cheyney is aimed at enhancing the efforts of the University in the internationalization of its curriculum, increasing the exposure of Cheyney students to international studies, as well as to the expertise of Cheyney faculty in the area of international scholarship.

“I’m definitely excited to be here,” said Dr. Dondolo. The last time he was in the United States was 2001-02 when he studied Public History, Museums, Heritage & African History on a Rockefeller Fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.

Dr. Norma George, Director of Cheyney’s Office of International Programs and international student advisor, is glad to have him here at her alma mater, America’s first HBCU (Historically Black College or University). She submitted a proposal to the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars after meeting Dr. Dondolo last summer while she participated in a Fulbright Hays Group Project abroad to South Africa. That project was intended to give U.S. educators the opportunity to engage with their South African counterparts in exploring the country’s path from Apartheid to Reconciliation.

“Dr. Dondolo is a historian with specializations in public history, heritage studies and museology,” explains Dr. George. “He has done extensive work in curatorship, archives, intellectual tradition, collective memory, and cultural tourism, with special focus on the Apartheid years and the transition of South Africa to democracy.”

During the 2016-17 academic year, Dr. Dondolo will be a guest lecturer in a variety of classes across departments at Cheyney. In addition, he will make presentations at University-wide events and collaborate with Dr. George on developing the historical background for a course on South African Literature that she is creating based on work that she did while in South Africa. There are also plans to have Dr. Dondolo teach an informal conversational class in an African language. He is a native speaker of IsiXhosa, and is fluent in IsiZulu and Afrikaans as well as English.

“Most importantly, given Dr. Dondolo’s expertise in public history and museology, the University hopes to take advantage of his presence on campus to help in the preservation of Cheyney University’s history as the first institution of higher education founded for people of African descent in the United States,” Dr. George says. “While there is widespread recognition and some written documentation of the institution’s historical role and significance, no permanent exhibit exists of the institution’s history or its role in American higher education. Given that Cheyney University is nearing its 180th anniversary, establishing a permanent exhibit would be an invaluable educational tool for the local community and the nation, and would greatly enhance the posterity of the institution for future generations.”

For more information, please visit the website at www.cheyney.edu

Dr. Frank G. Pogue, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Interim President (left), presents a copy of “A Living Legend: A History of Cheyney University,” by Charlene Conyers, to Cheyney’s Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Dr. Luvuyo Dondolo (right), senior...