A Seed Under the Tamarind Tree

Under the leguminous shade of the campus
Tamarind tree - we sat and talked....

Under the leguminous shade of the campus Tamarind tree - we sat and talked - about the heat - yes; but also about a very bright future for technology and science education at the University of Toliara (UoT).

I was with my colleague; Dovick Alexis - and the head of our social sciences institute, the ENS, Dr. Juliette Silasi.

We had just toured the Institutes developing Information Technology Center - which is incredibly promising but severely hampered by security concerns due to a straightforward - lack of resources to invest in basic infrastructure.

Now was time to get down to business; I had two goals here - to get permission to begin developing a website for the UoT; and to advance our UoT membership level in a leading international science education network - The EvoS Consortium for Evolutionary Studies.

The website would require permission from our President; Prof. Dina Alphonse; however - the offerings from EvoS were met with an enthusiasm and logical connections I was not prepared for!

I presented Dr. Silasi with a basic transdisciplinary model of Human Sciences - and she intuitively understood what EvoS is about. Indeed - the very structure of the ENS institute Silasi has shaped over the years is ideally suited to become a campus hub for EvoS - strengthening both this social sciences institute - and developing a resource for literally ALL other natural and social sciences departments at UoT.

We agreed that, in addition to my development of Neuropsychology programming for the ENS (why I originally came aboard) - I would offer an introductory course; in the vein of David Sloan Wilson's "Evolution for Everyone" at the University of Binghamton - and now across the SUNY system. An introduction into the world of integrated bio-social sciences - it's great for the students of course; but I am also seeing how it may be transformative for the University as well!

That evening we all sat down with President Alphonse. The concept of a UoT website was welcomed as a way to advance multiple University goals (e.g. technology integration, multi-lingual integration, and global presence). As well - President Alphonse was equally warm to the premise of EvoS - and it's ability to strengthen Universities by building bridges across departments. The President welcomes our pilot EvoS course in the Faculty of Psychology - and pending success here; we may be able to offer resources across the broad range of biological and social sciences offered at this most unique University; using a basic evolutionary framework as the glue that connects all knowledge!

In the very same way that biological and social sciences are inter-linked; so were my requests for a website and an EvoS experiment.

Laza Andrainy - Member of the UoT
IT Leadership Team

Today we purchased the domain: www.UniToliara.info; and today we begin a truly massive service-learning project to bring UoT to the world stage - by creating an Internet presence worthy of our promise! Amongst coffee cups and palm trees; I sat with a motivated young student; Laza Andrainy. We had worked till 8 last night crafting text at the English Language Learning Center - and today we began Laza's training in basic web-publishing using Google sites.

We have a LOT of work ahead of us; the University is of substantial size - mapping it onto a website from scratch is daunting - never mind doing it in three languages (English, French, Malagache)!! Yet - in this hard work - I believe some magic will happen. I believe the website - and it's creation through our cross-departmental IT Leadership Team; can serve as an engine, incubator, and metric for connecting disciplines and departments throughout the University in all of the ways the EvoS model for Higher Educator fosters. More fundamentally; I believe it is a way for UoT Students to take increased ownership of both their education - and the Internet itself. As I watched Laza learn and begin to create digital, global content for the first time on our humble Acer Netbook; it was clear a seed has been planted.

Follow our project as we cultivate the growth of information technology and transdisciplinary science education in Southwestern Madagascar!

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Thanks to the Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies - African Futures Project for the donation of the laptops used to create the first University of Toliara Website!