Description

This Humanities & Social Sciences-intensive semester examines the current definition of sustainability using the isolated small islands of French Polynesia as a case study. Based in the world-renowned scientific community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Sea Education Association provides undergraduates with the opportunity to study the ocean from a multitude of academic perspectives, and do to it from the platform of a traditional sailing vessel. Our four diverse SEA Semester options are the only full-credit programs in the world that combine an engaging academic and research curriculum with the sailing adventure of a lifetime.

SEA SEMESTER: SUSTAINABILITY IN POLYNESIAN ISLAND CULTURES & ECOSYSTEMS

Like all of SEA's programs, SEA Semester: Sustainability in Polynesian Island Cultures & Ecosystems combines academic work at our campus in Woods Hole with practical application of skills & original research at sea. This Humanities & Social Sciences-intensive semester sets about to examine the current definition of sustainability (as defined by the UN in 1983) using the isolated small islands of French Polynesia as a case study. Central to the work in all courses will be the production of a web-based historical, cultural, and environmental atlas.

The islands of French Polynesia are scattered across a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, with a total landmass smaller than the state of Connecticut. The islands, environmentally and culturally distinct, have a history of demonstrated sustainability, though they have been profoundly shaped by European colonization. As we study and sail among the islands of French Polynesia, we will discover what this environment and its people can tell us about issues of environmental sustainability and cultural continuity.

Coursework includes Maritime History and Culture: Island Peoples, Marine Environmental History: Island Environments, Maritime Studies: European Perspectives of Polynesia, Nautical Science: Navigating the Marine Environment and Oceanography: The Ocean Environment for a total of 17 credits issued through Boston University.

SHORE COMPONENTS - WOODS HOLE & HONOLULU

For the first 6 weeks, students will take academic classes on our campus in Woods Hole to prepare for their voyage. We will build a foundation for the course through background research at our Woods Hole campus. This will include collaborations with nearby institutions including the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, which holds an important early collection of Polynesian artifacts. At the John Carter Brown Library in Providence and the New Bedford Whaling Museum we will work with records of Yankee voyages to the South Pacific. Additionally, relationships with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, and Woods Hole Research Center give students access to world-renowned scientists in public and classroom lectures, and to one of the worlds leading oceanographic libraries. A second shore component in Honolulu after the research voyage rounds out the program.

SEA COMPONENT - PACIFIC VOYAGE

After the Shore Component, students and faculty will travel to French Polynesia to continue their studies. SEA's sailing research vessel, Robert C. Seamans, equipped with a state-of-the-art oceanographic lab, will serve as classroom, transportation and as a powerful teaching tool. Field trips on the islands will acquaint students with historical and cultural sites, agricultural and fisheries operations, and will introduce them to local people to discuss ecological change and the impact of environmental management.

During the passages between the islands, students will become functioning crew members of the ship and will develop a first-hand perspective on the practical challenges of navigating these waters. On board research facilities will be utilized to develop an understanding of the oceanographic and marine biological systems that sustain these islands.