U of VA Takes Over Semester at Sea!
- From: Ray Goldenberg <ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:41:22 -0800
Hi Everyone,
I received this press release from the University of Virginia and
thought it would be of interest. If you have missed any of my news'
postings, they are available on my web site.
Best regards,
Ray
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University of Virginia Expands Study Abroad Opportunities;
Becomes Home Port to Institute for Shipboard Education
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 20
The University of Virginia will become the academic home for
the highly regarded Semester at Sea Program beginning with the 2006
summer session as part of a new partnership between U.Va. and the
Institute for Shipboard Education, according to a joint announcement
made today.
Semester at Sea is a global comparative study-abroad experience
that traces its origins to the earliest days of study abroad in 1963.
Each year during both the fall and spring semesters, approximately 670
students from colleges and universities around the country take an
around-the-world voyage on the floating campus, the MV Explorer. A
shorter trip with slightly fewer students is held for the summer
session. Almost 40,000 students from approximately 1,500 different
institutions have studied and traveled to 60 countries through the
program.
In announcing the University's academic sponsorship of Semester
at Sea, University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III pointed
to the University's Virginia 2020 Commission on International
Initiatives that was created five years ago to establish the
University as a global presence and to cultivate a global perspective
in students, faculty and members of the University community. "The
University has been working to encourage and coordinate international
activities across the entire organization and to make an international
dimension an essential part of our identity," Casteen said.
"This partnership will provide our students with a distinctive
opportunity for expanded learning opportunities. Students who
participate in Semester at Sea will develop a deeper understanding of
the diversities that distinguish various cultures around the world, as
well as the common bonds that tie us together in an age of global
interdependence. At a time when the University is working to expand
its international activities, this program will be a wonderful
complement to our existing international study programs."
U.Va. will set the academic tone of the program by appointing
an academic dean for each voyage who will, in turn, create the
curriculum, work with the program to define the itinerary and recruit
the approximately 28 faculty members from across the country. All
participants will receive academic credit from U.Va., which can then
be transferred to the students' home institutions. Each voyage also
includes a 35-member administrative staff consisting of a director of
student life, eight student residence life professionals, a physician
and medical assistants.
Les McCabe, president of the Institute for Shipboard Education,
the nonprofit parent organization for Semester at Sea, said he was
pleased about the future of the operation and the new opportunities
that the partnership with U.Va. brings.
"We believe that the caliber and reputation of the University
of Virginia will serve to strengthen our program further and help to
ensure our long-term success at providing a unique international
experience to our students," McCabe said. "Later, when we learned
about the University's commitment to internationalization and global
education through its Virginia 2020 program, we knew that we had an
incredible opportunity to engage in a highly cooperative working
relationship. The University of Virginia is a world-class institution
and will bring a wealth of academic resources as well as a
demonstrated commitment to international education."
Courses on the voyages are offered in 20 different academic
areas, ranging from anthropology to environmental science to theater
arts, and course content is integrated with countries on the
itinerary. Students choose from more than 70 courses (30 for the
summer session), and classes meet daily while the ship is at sea.
Every student takes Global Studies, an upper-level geography course,
which highlights the complexity, dynamics, and interdependence of
world systems.
A typical semester-long voyage is built on an itinerary that
takes students to a range of countries where they experience
non-Western cultures, developing economies and diverse political
systems. Recent voyages have included Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa,
Kenya, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, China and Japan.
At each port of call along the way, students take part in field
activities directed by the faculty members, who base the activities on
their own international experiences. The fieldwork relates to the
on-board courses and counts for 20 percent of the hours needed for
course credit.
During the 100-day fall and spring semesters, the minimum
required academic load is 12 credit hours or four courses. For the
65-day summer program, the minimum course load is nine credit hours or
three courses.
Leigh Grossman, the University's vice provost for International
Affairs, believes that this new partnership adds to the breadth and
depth of the international programs already being offered to U.Va.
students. She noted that while many University students are
comfortable with the more traditional total immersion option, Semester
at Sea offers a new aspect of study abroad that will interest students
in what she calls a "survey of the world."
"This offers students a safety net of 600 fellow students and
30 faculty members as they visit nine or 10 ports of call," Grossman
said. "They spend half their time on a ship learning and half their
time in port seeing what they have learned about global politics,
global psychology, global economy, global public health. To think that
an individual is not changed after 100 days ... I have talked to
numerous students who have gone through this program, and I can tell
you that the changes have been profound."
Over the years, Semester at Sea's floating campus has become
known for its groundbreaking trips. For instance, a stop in Vietnam in
1994 was the first large-scale visit by American college students
since the Vietnam War. The program made similar visits to China, South
Africa and the former Soviet Union. In spring of 1999, the group made
what was believed to be the largest sanctioned visit to Cuba by a
collection of American college students in nearly four decades.
In 1963, a group of California businessmen created the
University of the Seven Seas, and after three voyages, Chapman College
of California became the academic sponsor of the program, renaming it
World Campus Afloat. In 1967, the Institute for Shipboard Education, a
nonprofit corporation, was formed to assume administrative oversight,
renamed the program Semester at Sea, and moved the academic
sponsorship to the University of Colorado. From 1980 until this
summer, the program's academic partner has been the University of
Pittsburgh.
Semester at Sea's campus, the MV Explorer, is a 24,300-ton
motor vessel built in 2002 by Blohm & Voss shipbuilders in Germany. It
is billed as the fastest passenger ship afloat today with a cruising
speed of 28 knots. Explorer features classrooms, an 11,000-volume
library, a computer lab with wireless Internet access, a student
union, a campus store, two dining rooms, a swimming pool, and a
fitness center. The ship has a crew of 200.
The spring 2006 voyage, which sets sail on Jan. 19, will leave
from Nassau, Bahamas, and will return to San Diego on April 28. The
summer session leaves from Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 17 and
returns to Seattle, Wash., on Aug. 21.
While both the spring and fall voyages in 2006 have been booked
to capacity, spaces are available for the summer session. As a way to
introduce the Semester at Sea program to its students, U.Va. is
offering discounts of 50 percent for the cost of the summer session to
100 of its students.
The standard cost of Semester at Sea is $15,775 for a 100-day
fall or spring voyage and $9,525 for a 65-day summer program.
Financial assistance is available to students based on financial need.
Students who are eligible for Pell Grants or Stafford Loans may use
them for Semester at Sea, either by transferring the awards through
their home school or by applying through Semester at Sea. In addition,
students may apply for financial assistance from the Institute for
Shipboard Education.
Over the next six months, the institute's Les McCabe said he
will move his 32-person operation to Charlottesville. He added that he
believes the Institute will grow at the University of Virginia and
foresees the opportunity to hire additional staff once the relocation
has been completed.
For information on the Semester at Sea, go to
www.semesteratsea.com.
.
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