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RVI Courses

RVI Courses

Watch the trailer above to learn more about RVI's field courses.

RVI’s field-based education and training courses aim to inform key constituencies working in eastern and central Africa about the people and communities in the countries where they work. The education programme includes the Annual Field Courses on Sudan and South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes, and bespoke courses tailored for a variety of international organizations. 

More information on the 2023 Horn of Africa Course is available here

Panelists on RVI's Horn of Africa Course
Panelists on RVI's Horn of Africa Course

RVI’s first field course took place in 2004 in Kenya. Since then, the three annual courses have taken place in Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, southern Sudan and Uganda, while bespoke courses have taken place in more than 15 countries in Africa and in the UK. ‘I dare say I have done nothing comparable in so comprehensive a package.’

Bob Snyder, Canadian International Development Agency, Horn of Africa Course.

 

RVI courses are tailored to the needs of the organizations who participate and are taught be leading experts and practitioners in the fields of political science, economics, anthropology, history, security, development, humanitarianism, policymaking, media and activism. RVIcourses utilize multiple teaching formats including lectures, panel discussion, working groups, interviews and video presentations.

ANNUAL COURSES BESPOKE COURSES

Yolande Bouka and Assumpta Migiraneza discuss reconciliation in Rwanda on the Great Lakes Course
Yolande Bouka and Assumpta Migiraneza discuss reconciliation in Rwanda on the Great Lakes Course

 

ALL REGIONS

Due to operational reasons beyond RVI’s control, this year’s annual Field Courses will now be held in Entebbe, Uganda rather than Ethiopia. Entebbe was the location of the first Great Lakes Course in 2010. RVI is excited to be returning to Uganda, and looks forward to holding all three courses on the shores of Lake Victoria. Entebbe International Airport is well served by international and…

ALL REGIONS

Due to operational reasons beyond RVI’s control, this year’s annual Field Courses will now be held in Entebbe, Uganda rather than Ethiopia. Entebbe was the location of the first Great Lakes Course in 2010. RVI is excited to be returning to Uganda, and looks forward to holding all three courses on the shores of Lake Victoria. Entebbe International Airport is well served by international and…

ALL REGIONS

The Rift Valley Institute’s annual field courses will be held in East Africa in June and July 2016. Course applications are now open. Taught by teams of leading regional and international specialists, the three courses—now in their thirteenth year—provide the basis for an understanding of current political and developmental challenges in the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes, Sudan and South…

Political rivalry and unending civil wars in the Sudans continue to jeopardise social and economic development. Understanding the histories of state formation and conflict is more important than ever. The 2015 Sudan and South Sudan Course addressed the challenge of working in this complex, fluid environment, linking analysis of current events to contextual understanding of history, society and…

The Great Lakes Course covered the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi. The state and its institutions were cross-cutting themes this year. In the DRC, the Course looked into the debates around the electoral process and the ongoing violence in the Kivus. For Burundi, the shrinking political space ahead of the 2015 elections and its impact on democratic processes were…

The Horn of Africa Course covered Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland, and Northern Kenya. The 2015 course offered a multi-disciplinary examination of the crises afflicting the Horn and explored continuity and change under new political leadership at the national and sub-national level across the region.

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The RVI’s 2015 annual field courses began in June in Naivasha, Kenya, in the heart of the Great African Rift Valley. The courses, now in their twelfth year, started with the Horn of Africa Course, which took place from 13 June to 19 June. The Great Lakes Course takes place from 27 June to 3 July, and the Sudan and South Sudan Course from 11 July to 17 July. 

RVI courses are intensive,…

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The RVI annual field courses feature teaching teams composed of regional specialists drawn from the region itself and from Europe and America. The most recent additions include Laura Hammond and Berouk Mesfin on the Horn of Africa course, Judith Verweijen and Jean Omasombo on the Great Lakes Course and Aly Verjee and Nada Mustafa Ali on the Sudan and South Sudan Course. The field courses take…

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The Rift Valley Institute’s three field courses offer a unique opportunity to spend an intensive week with an outstanding group of experts and fellow participants, away from routine distractions. Held annually in the summer, the courses are taught by teams of leading regional and international specialists, the courses provide the basis for an understanding of current political and…

ALL REGIONS

The Rift Valley Institute’s annual field courses will be held in East Africa in June and July 2015. Course applications are now open. Please apply online here. Locations of courses will be confirmed in early 2015. Taught by teams of leading regional and international specialists, the three courses—now in their twelfth year—provide the basis for an understanding of current political and…