Eric Smith

Bachelor of Humanities, Senior Program Manager, Community Forests International and Community Forests Pemba, Zanzibar, Tanzania

B.Hum Graduate 2011

What was your experience like in the program?

My time in Humanities laid the groundwork for my career in international development. Initially, it provided a diverse learning community, where we celebrated and supported one another’s passions, achievements, and differences. It also provided a solid grounding in close reading, research, communication, and analysis. As it continued, the study of the great books deepened my interest in other cultures and understanding of how norms and values develop over time. It cultivated the openness, respect and curiosity needed to work collaboratively across cultures and languages.

How has your B.Hum degree helped your career?

It was during a year abroad at the University of Leuven that I first became interested in international development. Soon after, I began working at Canada’s International Development Research Centre while pursuing a master’s in political science. This led to conducting research on French decolonization in Africa, the learning needs of Canadian civil society organizations, and South-South University partnerships in Bangladesh and Thailand. I next worked in Northern India for a year where I worked with Tibetan refugees, on environmental initiatives, and ecotourism.

I then worked for nine years with Saint Francis Xavier University’s Coady Institute researching, teaching and implementing monitoring, evaluation, and learning systema while also managing Global Affairs Canada projects on women’s leadership in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, and Tanzania. While in Nova Scotia I volunteered extensively on affordable housing development and ecotourism in the region. 

After a lot of thinking and discussions with family and friends, I moved to Zanzibar, Tanzania in early 2025. There, I work as a Senior Program Manager with Community Forests International on agroforestry, women’s leadership development, and forest protection and restoration. As the Island is 99% Muslim, I was grateful to the Humanities for having read and studied the Quran in classes on religion and later studying Islamic political thought in 4th year.

Overall, the Humanities contributed significantly to my commitment to sustainable and equitable community development, here in Canada and around the world. I still have my library from the program and reach into it frequently when looking for inspiration. The writing skills we learned in B.Hum have also always stood out to my colleagues and supervisors as incredibly important and a huge asset in whichever job I have had.