The Twin Cities is home to one of the largest concentrations of Oromo people outside of Ethiopia. As their children grow, many are not learning Afan Oromo — one of the major languages in Ethiopia. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ College of Liberal Arts, however, is helping revive the language.
The Department of African American and African Studies faculty Karen Ho, Bula Sirika Wayessa and Yuichiro Onishi led the development of the Oromo language course, supported by strong interest from the Oromo Student Union and their families.
“Along with the students, parents were so happy knowing this could exist,” says Assistant Professor Wayessa. “We were overwhelmed by their calls to get more information and join the course.”
In 2023, Awa Saidy, associate director of the African Studies Initiative, spearheaded the first funding for the course. A Department of Education grant to focus on less commonly taught languages, along with an international grant from the Institute for Global Studies, brought the course one step closer to launch.
