On the voyage to global learning

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Michael Zoll, 46, serves as vice president of enrollment and student affairs for the Institute for Shipboard Education, known for its Semester at Sea program. More than a year ago, Zoll joined the 44-year-old institute after working as vice provost of student affairs for St. Mary’s College of California.

How do the voyages work?

We visit India, Japan and Taiwan, which are developed, and then Vietnam. We try to mix and match and compare and contrast both developed and developing countries. In the fall, we travel to the Mediterranean. We used to go to Kenya, but we had warnings from the State Department. We have itineraries to Brazil, and we used to go to Venezuela, but that’s become dicey, too. This fall, we will be going to Namibia for the first time. We make stops in roughly 10 to 12 ports over 108 days at sea. We spend half the days at sea in class and the other half in port. This summer, we’re heading to Europe and Scandinavia.

What’s the ship like?

We use the MV Explorer year-round as a floating university, and it’s an amazing vessel. It was built for a Greek cruise liner, but after Sept. 11, the travel agency went belly-up, and we bought it at bankruptcy. It’s the perfect size for roughly 700 students and 75 faculty and staff. It has nine classrooms and a large union that holds 500 people, a computer lab, library and two dining halls. It’s also extremely fast. With four engines, it can go 30 knots, so it’s one of the fastest ships on the water, which comes in handy when you have to dodge bad weather or get to shore for a health emergency.

What can students expect?

The magic of the voyage is the global perspective it provides. One student said it’s like a pu-pu platter of the world, a wonderful overview. While traveling, students study within the traditional disciplines, such as political science or art or music, but you look at them within the frame of a particular country. Then students learn how to compare and contrast with other countries.

About 20 percent of every course is field work, so for 20 percent of their grades, students need to apply what they learn in the field, whether through independent work, a class field trip to a courtroom for a political science class or a factory for an economics course. It’s a unique experiment in education, where theory meets practice in an international setting like no other. There are typically 75 to 80 courses that follow a theme, like “Russia and the West” or the sciences or “Latin America, Yesterday and Today.”

What makes this unique?

With students from 250 colleges across the nation typically represented, it’s like a United Nations of college students. The bonds made between these students are strong, and they stay in touch for years. They have the travel and discovery bug and often visit each other. Usually only one or two are from the same college, so it’s like they are freshmen again with nervous excitement. But after 100 days, most students have had a very significant, transformative experience and will go back to their home schools with a different outlook on the world.

FAST FACTS

» Alumni: 45,000

» Enrollment: 700 per fall and spring semesters, 500 in summer

» Transcript: From the University of Virginia

» Tuition: $19,000 per semester

» What students usually spend on additional travel expenses: $3,000

» Participating schools: 700 nationwide, usually 250 represented per semester

» International students: 5 to 7 percent

» Requirements: 2.75 GPA, no school disciplinary record

» Past lecturers and guests: Cuban President Fidel Castro; Egyptian President Anwar Sadat; Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev; Mother Teresa; and South African President Nelson Mandela

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

» David Al-Chokhachy, actor, “Baywatch”

» Joan Lunden, TV host

» Arthur C. Clarke, author, “2001: A Space Odyssey”

» Stephen Gaghan, screenwriter, “Traffic”

» Ray Liotta, actor, including “Field of Dreams,” “Goodfellas,” “Corrina, Corrina,” “Blow,” “Operation Dumbo Drop”

» Cynthia Nixon, actress, “Sex and the City”

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com

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