"The purpose of education is not to fill buckets, but to light fires." – Yeats

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For almost a decade, Tsehai has been the center for knowledge production and information exchange among Ethiopian scholars, Ethiopianists, members of Ethiopian communities, and those who are interested in Ethiopian affairs. Today Tsehai is expanding its horizon and serving a wider audience; however, it still maintains its commitment and focus of encouraging the development of and interest in Ethiopian Studies through publishing activities, organizing academic workshops, seminars and conferences.

One of the objectives of Tsehai is to introduce the new generation, both Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians, to the thoughts, writings and achievements of Ethiopians and to works on Ethiopia in order to generate a cross-fertilization of interests and knowledge between the generations and, thus, ensure the continuation and development of Ethiopian studies. In pursuit of these objectives, Tsehai will continue to run the Tsehai Summer Institute that it started last year at the annual Tsehai Conference. Reputed Ethiopian scholars will lead workshops on a wide variety of topics and share with the participants the fruits of their teaching experiences and research activities on Ethiopian and related issues.

The workshops consist of a series of tutorial lectures, organized as interactive sessions, on the various facets of Ethiopian society and history. They are accessible to students of all levels and are intended to give them the opportunity to engage in discussions with scholars and to develop and expand their interests in and knowledge of Ethiopia.

To meet students’ needs, Tsehai will review and update its Summer Institute workshops yearly. We would love to hear the subjects that you are interested in learning.

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The exact dates for the workshops will be announced at a latter date, but it will be at the first week of July 2008. Workshops are limited to 20 attendees each. Participation in workshops is on a first-come, first-served basis, so prepare to register early! Depending on the number of advanced registrations, there may be an opportunity to register on-site for some workshops.

Each participant will receive an extensive resource kit that covers the topics of the workshops. Participants who complete all the workshops will receive a professional certificate from Tsehai Summer Institute.