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Rowland Chair Supports Humanities Immersion in South Africa
This November, Humanities educators Barb Muench and Nicki Abetti traveled to South Africa as part of Muench’s Rowland Chair award, engaging in an immersive study of place that allowed both teachers to connect firsthand with the history, culture, and lived experiences that shape the unit students study each year. Muench and Abetti were joined by Dr. Marie George, an infectious disease doctor and parent of two BBA alumni.
For Nicki Abetti, the experience was both moving and transformative. “I am so grateful to BBA, the Rowland family and to Barb Muench for this incredible opportunity to study the culture of South Africa for our 9th grade Humanities curriculum,” Abetti shared. “I was most impacted by the music I experienced: people singing from the pavements of streets to the pews of churches to the entrances of courtrooms; South Africans sing their joy and they sing their sorrow.” These moments, she noted, offered powerful insight into how culture, resistance, and resilience are woven into daily life.
For Barb Muench, the journey marked a return to a place that has profoundly shaped her teaching for more than a decade. Drawing on relationships first formed during a 2017 sabbatical, Muench and Abetti were welcomed into township communities outside Cape Town by longtime friend and educator MC Mgobozi, who grew up in Langa during apartheid and has since become a vital voice in BBA’s Humanities classes. “This return to South Africa, with Nicki, was an even more profound experience,” Muench reflected, noting the opportunity to celebrate community strengths while also witnessing the ongoing challenges of a post-apartheid nation.
Throughout the trip, Muench and Abetti kept their students at the center of their experience. From township visits to time spent learning from descendants of the San, South Africa’s first people, the educators gathered stories, perspectives, and partnerships they will bring directly back to the classroom. The Rowland Chair continues to make possible this kind of deep, experiential learning—connecting global understanding to meaningful, lasting education at BBA.
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