The College of Global Studies at Arcadia University is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Brittani Smit as Resident Director, South Africa.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Smit to Arcadia in South Africa. Dr. Smit brings with her a strong background in developing student learning experiences through on the ground, street and community level engagement and an intellectual framework that can help our students consider the unique historical and socio-cultural contexts that frame life and learning in South Africa. We look forward to all that Brittani will bring to helping our students understand the contemporary South African reality in all its dynamism, complexity, poignancy, and beauty” says Lorna Stern, Vice President of Arcadia University and Executive Director, The College of Global Studies.
Dr. Smit is of Jamaican heritage and was raised in New York. While completing her bachelor’s degree in English literature at Trinity College (CT) Dr. Smit studied abroad in Rome and Cape Town. She returned to Cape Town for her postgraduate studies, studying for both a master’s and PhD in English literature at the University of Cape Town.
Her doctoral research focused on the interplay between race, colour, class and gender-based discrimination in contemporary literature of the Anglophone Caribbean and the Cape. She brings this multi-faceted lens to bear on her work as Resident Director, encouraging students to consider their lived experience in South Africa and on the African continent within a broader historical and socio-cultural context that considers questions of post-colonialism, modernity, gender, class and racial justice.
She has many years of experience supporting students in South Africa through her work with the University of Cape Town’s Humanities Faculty Mentorship program and the university’s Writing Centre. She has also worked in the field of study abroad both as a Student Life Manager and as an Academic Coordinator, and has extensive experience with all aspects of program delivery and custom program design and implementation
“I’m very excited to join the Arcadia team and look forward to building on the excellent work that has already been done here in Cape Town. I’m eager to show students the richness and multi-layered learning that can be garnered from engagement with the diversity and complexity of contemporary South Africa,” says Dr. Smit.
As Resident Director, Dr. Smit enjoys helping students navigate the joys and challenges of engaging with South Africa’s natural, social and cultural landscape and supporting them on the journey of self-discovery that accompanies studying abroad.
For more information please contact educationabroad@arcadia.edu
Click here to learn more about The College of Global Studies current programs available in South Africa.