Building Bridges to Places, People and Praxis in The Gambia, West Africa: Lessons Learned

An Autoethnographic Account of ‘Adventurous Agency’ in Building Bridges to Places, People and Praxis in The Gambia, West Africa: Lessons Learned. ASA Thursday Chat, September 10, 2026 by Dr. William Roberts, Professor of Anthropology. As an undergraduate I was attracted to anthropological fieldwork as a form of educational “adventure.” To fulfill my undergraduate thesis requirement, I took a leave of absence between my junior and senior years in college to pursue primate research in Central and South America. Not long after graduation my “adventures” continued as a Peace Corps public health volunteer in The Gambia and Zaire. During my graduate training, I joined the socioeconomic research team as part of a larger Gambia River Basin Studies project to explore the feasibility of high dams in the region. Subsequently, I worked in The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea as part of my graduate student training. Shortly after my oral defense, I took a visiting faculty position as an applied cultural anthropologist at a local public liberal arts college. My talk/story will focus on the trajectory of the Promoting Educational And Cultural Exchange (PEACE) program, in The Gambia, West Africa through my college and the contacts I had developed during my years of work there. I highlight some of the lessons I learned about collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, e.g., administrators, community members, professional colleagues, students, associated with my goals to institutionalize the program and make it sustainable. I will also discuss how I was able to navigate the ups and downs of both university and Gambian political and social relationships to keep the PEACE program on track. Bio: Bill attended the College of William & Mary (’75), then served as a public health volunteer in Peace Corps Gambia (1979-81) and Zaire (1981-82). He completed his PhD at American University (1991) and began teaching at St. Mary’s College of Maryland where he served as department chair (2011-2020) and established a 20+ year international exchange program with the University of The Gambia. Bill plans to retire from SMCM in 2029 and continue in his emerging role as annual program and awards manager for the Society for Applied Anthropology.