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Off-Campus
Study Projects in January 2007 are identified in the
table below. Please note that descriptions, itineraries, and most
especially cost estimates are subject to change as project plans
solidify. Fixed costs
will be charged to students' accounts and include items such as group travel, lodging, group meals, group events, etc.
402 Maximum Exposure: A Journey through the Geobiology of two Hawaiian Islands During this course we will explore the geology and animal and plant diversity that comprises mainland Hawaii and the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Hawaii and Kauai represents two ends of a geological and biological time spectrum, and thus are ‘living laboratories’ for studying the old and the new. All of the islands form from volcanic process and over time the volcanic rock builds up from the seafloor. Once the island becomes exposed above sea level, the island can become colonized through biological succession. The biological diversity of the island will depend in large part on the composition of the rock and how long it has been exposed above water. Eventually, the island becomes eroded and the volcanic rock sinks below the surface of the ocean to become a seamount. Of the eight main islands that make up the state of Hawaii, Hawaii (the Big Island) and Kauai are the youngest and oldest, respectively. We will observe the diversity – or lack thereof – of terrestrial and marine organisms that inhabit these two islands and their surrounding waters. Of special interest will be those that reveal unique evolutionary histories and adaptations to their environment. Such organisms serve as excellent case studies for discussing how geological phenomena (e.g. environment and biology) are interdependent and functioning simultaneously. Background reading, field lectures, student note-taking/journaling, and independent and collaborative observations and explorations comprise the learning goals for our course. On mainland Hawaii we will tour the active volcanic areas, visit black, green, and white sand beaches, and compare how the volcanoes influence the climate between the east (wet) and west (dry) sides of the island. We also will navigate much of Kauai to experience a range of landscapes and organism diversity, from rainforest to canyon to coast. We also plan to discuss how humans have impacted the environment, and what effects it has had on the geology and biology of the islands.
404
New Mexico: Ghost Ranch Located in the beautiful and isolated mountains of Northern New Mexico -- the inspiration for painter Georgia O'Keefe-- Ghost Ranch affords students the unique opportunity for complete immersion in a rich, multi-faceted cultural experience, and intensive study with talented faculty in one of the following areas: Black and White Photography, Painting and Drawing, Ceramics, Creative Writing, Silversmithing, Sacred Journeys and Spiritual Traditions, Rio Grande Weaving and Design, Connecting to Your Deeper Self, Triassic Park: The Triassic Scene Seen Through Digital Photography, and Outdoor Adventures. Students will have opportunities to meet with area residents and artisans, medicine men, monks, ranchers and local personalities (Teo Manzanares -- Gerogia O'Keefe's driver -- usually speaks to students during WT). In addition to the courses listed above, students will particiate in a variety of cultural excursions: visits to Native American pueblos, Dar al Islam (a Muslim Mosque), Bandelier National Monument and Chaco Canyon (ancient homes of cliff-dwelling Native Americans, ) Los Alamos (home to the first nuclear weapon), and other sites exploring the natural and human history of the area. Optional excursions include skiing in Taos or Wolf Creek, Colorado, shopping/site seeing in Santa Fe, and hiking in the 20,000+ acres surrounding the ranch.
406 Intentional Community: Values in Practice Twin Oaks is an intentional "utopian" community, in rural Virginia, initially founded in 1967 as a Walden Two community (modeled on B.F. Skinner's utopian vision in the novel Walden Two). The community is currently composed of about 85 adults and 15 children. This DePauw Winter Term group (students and faculty) will participate in the regular 3-week visitor program at Twin Oaks Community . As visitors, we'll participate fully in community life. (This includes about 41 hours/week of labor—but "labor" includes lots of things not typically counted as worktime elsewhere, such as attending meetings, doing dishes, etc.) There will be several orientation workshops (also part of "labor") to help introduce us to community life. We'll also keep journals of our experiences, and have additional readings and discussion meetings. The group will convene for occasional reflection on such themes as nontraditional lifeways and intentional community, different conceptions of economic justice, and our own individual values and social visions (and how these mesh with, or are challenged by, our experiences at Twin Oaks).
500
Europe on the Mind This course will expose students to the European roots of the modern study of mind and brain. In London, students will consider the influence of Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, and Thomas Willis, focusing on how developments in biology and quantification influenced the early development of psychology. We will examine how Charles Darwin helped to place humans and their minds in nature, how Francis Galton began to use measurement and statistics, and how Thomas Willis began to understand the nature of the organ of mind—the brain. Students will also examine the culture and location that led to such important developments. In Vienna, we will examine how the confluence of history, economics, politics, philosophy, culture, and science led to the development of psychoanalysis, ethology, and other areas of science. More specifically, we will examine the lives and work of Sigmund Freud and Konrad Lorenz (a Nobel laureate). Both scientists developed their ideas in the context of Vienna; both were concerned with biology and psychology. Their ideas, though similar in some ways, were quite different, as were their lives and experiences in Vienna in the first few decades of the 20th century. Freud was forced to flee the Nazi anschluss, while Lorenz welcomed it and joined the German army. Vienna also played a significant role in the lives of other individuals important in psychology, biology, and science, including Karl von Frisch and Eric Kandel (another Nobel laureate). Like Freud, Kandel had to flee Vienna, but as a young man escaping to America rather than as a old man fleeing to London. Kandel found both safety and a calling in the United States, and his work with ‘lowly’ animals has changed our understanding of learning and memory. In both London and Vienna, we will examine how the early history of psychology, psychiatry, biology, and neuroscience continues to influence contemporary perspectives in the field. By exploring original and contemporary laboratories, visiting museums, and hearing experts in the field, students will acquire a solid understanding of how the history and culture of two European locales shaped scientific perspectives of human nature.
502
Sport and Culture: "Soccer: A Sociology of The Global Game" The quickest entry-point into most local cultures anywhere on earth can be found by talking soccer. Historically, soccer is one of the great cultural institutions, and like education and the mass media, has played a key role in shaping and cementing senses of national identity throughout the world. Soccer today is more global than ever before. Teams, clubs, and regions increasingly establish cultural identities through rivalries and opposition. Such rivalries invariably have deep historical origins enforced by prejudice, religious conflicts, economic inequities, or class and ethnic division. But in the United States, soccer is still a passing thought within the cultural identity and make-up of this country. Why is America an exception to this “global game?” The course is designed to analyze the social and historical dimensions of the world’s most popular game by investigating key social aspects including the supporter cultures and the diversity of playing styles. This course will investigate the similarities and differences of the social and historical development of soccer by comparing three uniquely different societies, Holland, Belgium, and the United States. The daily schedule in January while on-campus will be as follows: In Holland and Belgium we will train with local coaches, hear lectures through the KNVB and the Belgium Federation (the National Governing Bodies of Futbol in their respective countries), play games against local clubs, visit to soccer arenas, explore cities important to the history of Holland and Belgium, and visit significant cultural and historical sites within both countries such as Anne Frank House, The Hague, Van Gogh Museum, etc.
504
Botswana: Culture, Health and Tradition in Contemporary Southern Africa This project will afford students from DePauw the opportunity to engage with critical interdisciplinary questions that surround the contemporary Tswana situation. Students will be asked to seriously think about and participate in African life that is both similar to and strikingly different from their own. While Botswana is an incredibly stable country, it challenges us to think about development and population health issues in a global society. Students are asked to attend lectures from University professors, to travel to less populated and developed parts of the country, to consider seriously what everyday life is like in an African country where what some often consider 'traditional' versus 'modern' exist side by side. Botswana has long been a stable democracy and the capital, Gaborone, offers many cosmopolitan and intellectually stimulating opportunities but our hope is that students seek out and investigate the kinds of opportunities that challenge what they consider to be 'everyday' for them and realize what is everyday for others. That is, we expect students to be able to return to DePauw with a broad understanding of the history and politics that are part of Tswana life. And we expect them to return with more specific knowledge of this area, its unique history and the challenges that this part of the world faces at present given the particular AIDS orphan and economic crisis.
508
China: Tradition and Change This is a historical and sociological study tour of select cities of China—-Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hong Kong—-aiming to provide students with an opportunity to observe Chinese culture and society at a close range. Its purpose is to enable students to appreciate how history continues to matter and how the dramatic economic transformation taking place in China now is reshaping the landscape, skyscape, and, most importantly, the lives of the people in this most populous nation of the world. The cities chosen represent a cross-section of China’s fastest growing region: Beijing, the political and historical center; Xi'an, an ancient capital in the hinterland left behind by current economic boom taking place on the coast; Shanghai and Hong Kong, the prime economic and financial centers; and Hangzhou, a famed garden city. Except for the two day visit of Hong Kong, the project will consist of guided tours of museums, monuments, historical sites, and scenic spots. In addition, there will be free time for students to explore each of these four cities on their own.
510 DePauw Percussion Ensemble - International Percussion Ensemble Week in Croatia, and Tour of Central European Music Academies Each group is asked to perform works by composers of their country, so we would play a program of American works (Rouse, Cage, Reich, etc.) The preparation of the music for this tour will take place in the fall 2006 semester, during the normal percussion ensemble course. The concert program will be repeated in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovenija, Austria, and Germany. At the IPEW in Croatia, there will also be a series of workshops presented by each ensemble and its conductor. There will be much interaction amongst the students and teachers.
512
Culture and Critique: London, Berlin and Paris According to influential German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, a “public sphere” emerged in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe as intellectuals gathered for critical discussion of, first, literature and the arts, and later, politics, in spaces outside the realm of the state and official authority. Habermas identifies British coffeehouses, French salons, and German Tischgesellschaften as the main locations of these discussions. This public sphere, says Habermas, challenged church and state authorities by placing interpretation in the hands of private individuals. At the heart of the public sphere, at least in its initial stage, were thus groups of educated persons who came together to discuss theater, concerts, painting, sculpture, and literature. According to Habermas, these discussions gave rise to professional criticism, which soon moved into the rapidly developing press, and to contestation of political authority, which led most famously to events such as the French Revolution. In this winter term study project, students will become acquainted with Habermas’ formulation of the public sphere and will visit some of the sites where it first developed as they become familiar with three European capitals: London, Paris, and Berlin. Even more importantly, they will participate in their own version of the public sphere, attending theatrical performances, concerts, and exhibitions in three countries and gathering in structured settings for informed critical discussion and debates about these twenty-first century European cultural events. Note that the fixed cost of the program includes tickets to performances and exhibitions in each city.
514
Eco-Tourism, Culture and Marine Ecology: Cozumel, Mexico This Winter Term project will begin with five to six days of on campus orientation. This will feature academic and pool training via the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) open water SCUBA diving course. Pre-departure will also begin our study of the cultural, social and ecological impact of tourism on developing nations and fragile eco-systems. Readings will be drawn from the bibliography attached below and students will participate in discussion and journaling regarding expectations and assumptions, in classroom settings prior to departure. Upon completion of classroom and pool dive training (conducted by Professor Lemon, a certified PADI Dive Instructor) we will travel Cozumel, Mexico, an island that nicely represents the competing interests of indigenous people’s and the tourist economy/sociology. We will spend ten days diving, as a means of understanding the attraction and fascination that the underwater environment holds for western tourists. Indeed, part of our cultural study will focus on the extensive efforts of the SCUBA diving industry to frame itself as “eco-friendly” with an emphasis on eco-tourism. In addition to diving, students will meet with instructors to discuss, contemplate and draw on the readings (as well as journal) the way the diving industry interacts with, influences, and rhetorically frames the island of Cozumel. After arrival in Cozumel, students will finish the PADI open water certification process by completing four training dives and demonstrating requisite skills for safe diving. Once certification is complete we will spend the remaining days diving the coral reefs; during the evenings we will spend time discussing and identifying what we have seen during the day and developing our analysis of the tourist experience. Students will be required to log their dives and journal relevant both and non-diving experiences.
516
An Ethnographic Study of Rural and Metropolitan Lifestyles in Morocco This winter term opportunity will allow more students to be exposed to many different cities, including museum visits in Rabat, visiting universities in Ifrane, Rabat, and Casablanca; while meeting local people and dignitaries throughout the trip. All of these locations provide opportunities for the students to meet the project objectives. Each of these cities provide a unique experience unto itself. Being a part of this experience will allow the students the opportunity to not only explore one of the leading tourist destinations in the world, but also to look beyond what the average traveler sees. They will benefit first hand the lifestyles of Moroccan citizens in both urban areas and in the rural setting. Thus allowing them not only the opportunity to observe, but interact with the culture.
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