UVA’s new role in the Semester at Sea program has been anything but smooth sailing for University administrators—but rough waters may be calming thanks to recent renovations to the floating classroom’s reputedly sub-par curriculum.
In January, UVA announced a five-year deal with the Institute for Shipboard Education to helm the study abroad program beginning with summer semester 2006. The news incited a storm of protest from faculty incensed they weren’t allowed input regarding the process. Others pointed to the program’s wobbly academic reputation: In the past, UVA didn’t accept transfer credits from Semester at Sea, in part due to course quality.
“The initial criticism has abated,” says David Gies, a UVA Spanish professor appointed academic dean for the June 2007 voyage. Gies spent two weeks aboard this summer’s voyage and left the cruise impressed, though ready to upgrade the curriculum. ”This is an opportunity to make Semester at Sea a better program—one that is more aligned with UVA’s goals,” he says.
As host school, the University will grant academic credit and has final approval in selecting (and rejecting) courses. UVA already has redesigned the program’s so-called Common Course, a class on “global studies,” because students reported that “it wasn’t coherent or structured well,” according to Gies. Also eliminated were the multiple-choice Scantron tests in favor of written work.
Some opponents still aren’t pleased. Anthropology Professor Fred Damon refused to help find anthropology faculty for the voyage or participate in the curriculum approval. “I thought it was a waste of my time,” Damon says. “It’s not the way a university should be spending its resources.” Damon admits he hasn’t seen the curriculum changes, but argues that connecting to cultures can’t be done on a cruise. He prefers semester-long exchanges: “It’s hard to be in another place. It’s not easy, and sometimes it’s painful. But that’s part of the experience and part of the human condition.”
Yet the interest of UVA students has increased, as 12 participated in this summer’s program—only 10 UVA students total participated since 1993, during which the University of Pittsburgh hosted the program. In recent years, almost 1,800 total students have participated annually in the program, with tuition that runs between $17,000 and $18,000 for a semester.
UVA faculty will board the ship June 2007, including music prof Judith Shatin, drama prof Robert Chapel, English prof Anna Brickhouse and retired professor of architecture and local activist Rich Collins.
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