by Elizabeth Rodarte
Staff Writer
Come January Interterm, students will have the chance to journey to a country of their choice and enjoy the educational and social opportunities abroad.
Cuernavaca, also known as “The City of Eternal Spring,” is the capital of Morelos, Mexico, and is located one-hour from Mexico City.
Debbie Roberts, Protestant campus minister, and ex-Spanish instructor David Román, will be leading the “Mexico Study Experience” trip during Jan. 3-23.
Studies will primarily take place at the Center of Cultural and Language Studies (ICCLS) in Cuernavaca.
Those participating in the trip will be exposed to the unique experience of meeting key political figures, visiting historical sites and having the exposure to outside class lectures and discussions.
“For example, if historical sites is the topic of the day we will take students to a museum or the pyramids and conduct the lecture there,” said Román.
Students will live with a Mexican family.
Junior Georgina Negrete, a participant of last year’s trip to Mexico said, “It was difficult at the beginning living with the host family.”
Students will be able to earn semester units in either HUM 320, Service Learning and Spanish, and may contact Roberts at ext. 4320 for more information.
Leading the adventurous extravaganza to Belize in Central America will be Dr. Jeffery Burkhart, professor of biology.
Dr. Burkhart is new to the Biology Department and has goals for trip.
“I want to expose students to a different culture, to spend a couple of weeks and soak them up on some of the differences between people in other countries and ourselves,” he said.
He would also like to introduce students to tropical biology. He says the tropics are currently under a great deal of threat.
There will be a required two-week course on terrestrial and marine environments taught at ULV prior to the trip to Belize.
The trip will take place Jan. 16-31. Cost of room and some meals will be $1,950-plus airfare. There is also the possibility of extending the trip with a four-day visit to the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala, for an additional $435.
Those participating in the trip can earn units in BIOL 390: Natural History of the Tropics.
Dr. Burkhart can be reached at ext. 4599 or burkhart@ulv.edu. for further details.
Eric Bishop, associate professor of journalism, and Michael Laponis, associate professor of communications, will explore how mass media works across the nation.
Bishop and Laponis will take a group to different media related companies and networks.
The journey will begin in Hollywood, and make its way across the East Coast.
New York is where the group will first arrive via airplane, and, from there, it will sightsee and tour headquarters such as those of the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and several television networks.
After spending a few days in New York, participants will take Amtrak to Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., the group will meet with political figures like Senators Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein and Representative David Dreier. It will also tour the White House, Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, Washington Post offices and will visit monuments and memorials.
Moving south, the group will end its trip in Atlanta, Ga., where it will look behind the scenes at CNN.
The trip will be from Jan. 4-20 and the estimated cost is $2,500.
Students earn four upper division communication units.
For further information, contact Laponis at ext. 4279 or Bishop at ext. 4293.
A trip to Italy has also been organized by the English Department. Though it is scheduled for Interterm, complete details have not been confirmed. For more information contact Ken Scambray, associate professor of English, at ext. 4356.
All four trips are open to all majors.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.