POMONA - Over the last seven years, there has been a concerted effort at Cal Poly Pomona to increase the number of international study abroad programs, both overseas and on campus.

Until recently, students were limited to two or three programs in addition to the California State University's consortium of study abroad opportunities, said Gary Crester, Ph.D., chairman of the Sociology and Psychology Department.

"I think that there became a much greater focus on study abroad and the value of it," added Gregory Young, a professor of international economic law.

Students pursuing liberal studies - as well as professional majors like international business and landscape architecture - have about 15 options for short-term study abroad programs, with new ones frequently offered by faculty.

In fact, new programs in both Vietnam and Italy were recently developed, said Donna Tillman, chairwoman of the International Business and Marketing Department.

"We're moving into the globalization arena like everything else," she said.

Crester and Young are now working on a new Ghana program, where students will spend two weeks in the West African country. Ghana's emerging role in the world economy and socio-economic development will provide a vital learning experience for students, Young said.

"I think we should know more about the world," added Young, a former Fulbright scholar. "We tend to know much less about Africa and Asia."

The professors hope the program - expected to be available by summer 2005 - will support the university's emerging African Studies program.

In the meantime, they have invited Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a prolific journalist and current head of public affairs for the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C., to be a guest scholar this week at Cal Poly Pomona.

Since it will be more than a year before the professors can take students to Ghana, they are trying to bring the country to the students.

"Some Americans don't know much about other places, so we will afford them the possibility to understand how other cultures work," Agyeman-Duah said.

Agyeman-Duah is also helping the two professors develop contacts at the University of Ghana for Cal Poly Pomona's study abroad program.

Later this week, the Ghanaian diplomat will be immersed in campus life at the Pomona college, delivering a number of lectures and meeting with local Ghanaians, Young said.

The public is invited to attend Agyeman-Duah's keynote speech May 6 at 5 p.m. in the Bronco Student Center. His topic will be the African Renaissance in the early years of the 21st century and how Ghana fits in, he said.

"It's amazing when you see, hear and understand how people think about their countries and the U.S.," Young said. "We often don't have a true sense of what they may really think."