Hay Kyung Lanteigne
Staff Attorney , United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
Huntsville, Alabama 
Host: Faculty of Political and Juridical Sciences, Tunis, Tunisia
Field: Law
Grant Dates: April 8, 2006 - April 21, 2006

I conducted a two-week course in Contract Law at the Faculty of Political and Juridical Sciences as a part of the Faculty of Political and Juridical Sciences’ master’s program in common law.

There were 18 students in my class: 14 women and 4 men. We met seven times during the two-week period for a total of 20 hours of classroom time. The students were alert and eager and their English comprehension quite good. I found them to be respectful and friendly. Even though the course was geared mostly toward lectures, I highly encouraged the students’ participation in class discussions. Sometimes these discussions were more like English vocabulary lessons but they were necessary to the students’ comprehension of legal concepts and principles.

As advised by the Faculty, I took my own laptop, but the school provided the connections to enable me to use the visual aids during class. I had also mailed to the Faculty a packet of course material which they had copied for the students ahead of the beginning of the course. The faculty members I met, especially the coordinator in charge of the administration of the courses taught by visiting professors, were very helpful.

This was my first visit ever to a predominantly Islamic country and to Africa. Tunis and nearby towns were beautiful in the perfect Mediterranean weather that prevailed during my entire stay. Even though I was an Asian-looking woman traveling by myself, and in a wheelchair, I never felt insecure or in danger. On the contrary, when I was out on Habib Burguiba (the main street in Tunis) browsing in and near the Medina and sometimes encountered difficulties with access in my wheelchair, I was frequently assisted by people who cheerfully pushed or lifted me over the curb.

My lack of French or Arabic, the two languages spoken in Tunisia, did not present an insurmountable difficulty because it was not too hard to find someone who spoke English. However, I did take care to learn some very basic phrases (common greetings and etiquette phrases) in both French and Arabic before departing for Tunisia. My speaking them in Tunis (doubtlessly with heavy accent) nonetheless brought smiles and seemed to break the ice.

Conducting 20 hours of classroom time in seven days was somewhat exhausting but the Fulbright Specialist experience is entirely worthwhile.

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