Sailing the high seas for college credits
A voyage of discovery awaits you.
The Great Wall of China, the Orinoco River in Brazil and the great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt are all available to explore while you study abroad.
Er, study aboard – a ship.
The program is called the Semester at Sea. It is more than another semester of school, according to the brochure; it is a life-altering learning adventure.
“This whole voyage has been one overwhelming experience day after day. Each country broadens my mind a little. Life will surely never be the same,” one student said in the brochure.
It provides a varied international curriculum with an opportunity for in-country field trips.
The itineraries take Semester at Sea to the four corners of the world, making a global campus. Currently, the ship is returning from China and will dock in Seattle on April 26.
One of Utah State University’s own students, Seth Nafziger, will be returning on the 26th when the S.S. Universe Explorer docks.
Since 1963 more than 37,000 students have studied and traveled to more than 60 countries around the world. Semester at Sea offers 100-day fall and spring voyages, and a 65-day summer program.
The “campus” is held on the S.S. Universe Explorer, a 23,000 ton passenger ship. The ship is the heart of the Semester at Sea program and it soon becomes “home” to some 650 students from colleges and universities throughout the United States.
The ship includes classrooms, study lounges, a library and theater. It also has a cafeteria, student union, campus store, swimming pool, fitness center and health clinic.
If that isn’t enough, you can also get your linens changed and eat three meals a day.
The food is provided at sea and in port.
Classes meet daily while at sea. Most classes average between 20 and 30 students. The required class load for the fall and spring semester is 12 credit hours. For the summer program, the required class load is nine credits. Courses, such as anthropology, business or music, are offered to fill a variety of classes needed for different majors. All are offered through the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.
Because of the campus setting (an enclosed ship), the atmosphere cultivates close relationships between the students and the faculty, according to the program’s brochure. Most faculty members are required to have experience in the countries the ship visits.
According to the brochure, this interaction helps ensure that the student is both personally and academically ready to examine new cultures.
“Semester at Sea opened my eyes to the lives of others all around the world, in cultures completely different from my own, and in the process helped me understand myself, and my country, a little bit better than before,” another student wrote for the brochure.
Each class has a field requirement the student must complete during the voyage. Some of these activities include staying at the homes of families in different countries, visits to universities, and traveling to historic, cultural and religious significant places. The ship docks in the port for four to five days.
“In every country, I carefully plan my itinerary to make sure I visit a memorable place, yet it is the people I meet that I take with me,” another student said.
The price tag for a semester at sea: $14,675 for standard accommodations, which includes tuition, room, board and passage fare. Financial aid is available.
For more information about the Semester at Sea, visit www.sememsteratsea.com or visit the Study Abroad Office located in the Taggart Student Center, Room 312.
-acbailey@cc.usu.edu