Program Overview

The Trent-in-Ghana (TIG) program enables undergraduates to deepen their understanding of international development by living and studying in the Global South. Students spend a full academic year in Ghana, from September until the end of April.  TIG selects around 10- 15 students from Universities across Canada to join the program along with a number of Ghanaian students. A non-academic coordinator resident in Ghana supports the program.

Organization

The Trent program is based at the School for Development Studies, University of Cape Coast.  Two courses, IDST 3770 (Africa Seminar) and  IDST 3780 (Ghana Seminar), are offered at the School and are taught by Cape Coast faculty. A third course, IDST 3790 (Local Dynamics of Change) is based in Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana. During the second term students also participate in a 10-12 week placement with a development organization in diverse settings across Ghana. 

Experiential Learning

TIG provides students with the opportunity for intense personal growth, enriched by interactions with the many generous and wonderful people of Ghana.  It also offers  opportunities for students to develop the skills necessary to live, study, and complete a placement in the context of a country in the Global South where they are privileged to be guests.  In meeting these challenges, they can rely on support structures provided by program staff, their Ghanaian hosts, and fellow students.

Orientation & Living Arrangements

All successful applicants participate in an orientation program in Peterborough in March/April and in Cape Coast in September. Details on visa applications, travel arrangements, money arrangements, health requirements and precautions, etc. are contained in the Handbook for Participants issued to all students and reviewed in detail at orientation. Students live with a host family in Cape Coast and typically, in a guest house in Tamale.