Most international study programs offer the opportunity to become familiar with one new culture. With Semester at Sea, students can study several and travel the world across the oceans.
Semester at Sea is an international exchange program that circumnavigates the globe while conducting courses both in classrooms aboard the ship and in the setting of various countries.
"There is not anything like Semester at Sea," said Kati Falk, the program coordinator for UAF international exchanges. "The best thing about it is you get such a broad overview of so many places. You get a sampling of so many cultures and a broader world view than with other exchange programs."
For 40 years, the Institute for Shipboard Education offers Semester at Sea through the University of Virginia. UAF just introduced this program in spring 2006.
Aboard the M/V Explorer, students and professors from accredited universities around the world participate in a 100 day learning experience, living, eating and surviving together while visiting up to nine countries.
The voyage is split into 55 days at sea and 45 days in port. Classes are only held while at sea. When the boat docks, students are free to explore within the country.
Allison Matter, an education major, spent spring 2006 completing the program. She was the first student to participate from UAF.
Her journey started in the Bahamas, continued on to Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan and back to San Diego.
It was the most amazing thing she has ever done, Matter said via e-mail. Each port of call taught her something new and gave her memories that will last forever.
"It's hard to choose a favorite, because I loved different aspects of every single one," Matter said. "India was one that stands out in my mind -- everything about it was intense. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the people, the commotion, the culture, everything was so intense."
Matter also had the opportunity to do volunteer work while in different locations. She worked at an elementary school, Mother Teresa's Orphanage, in India. In South Africe, she worked for Operation Hunger.
"The hardest thing I've ever done--seeing the children in the conditions they were in, but probably the best thing I've ever done," Matter said. "My heart was shattered, but I did not want to leave."
Matter's home for the semester was the M/V Explorer, a 24,000-ton passenger ship. The ship is 525 feet and the fastest of its size in the world. The Explorer holds approximately 685 students, 100 faculty and staff associates and 200 crewmembers.
The ship is home for the passengers both at sea and at port. The live-aboard campus features a swimming pool, athletic department, several dining rooms, a wellness center, a health clinic, computer labs with wireless internet, study areas and a 8,000-volume core library.
The program offers a wide range of upper and lower division college level classes. Professors aboard the vessel share their knowledge about particular world regions they have lived and studied in and relate it to their subjects taught.
A large portion of the students' grades, 20 percent, comes from fieldwork, which is done in the visited countries. This is to ensure the understanding of foreign cultures and the overall mission of Semester at Sea, which is to experience one voyage, discover many cultures and develop a global perspective.
During her journies, Matter kept a Web journal.
"I'm even more thankful for having the opportunity to see the world," she wrote in one entry. "In many ways, I am a new person. I am a different person. I would like to think I am a better person."
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