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| Established | 1963 |
|---|---|
| Mission | Study-abroad program |
| Focus | Worldwide |
| Key people | Scott Marshall (President/CEO) |
| Formerly called |
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| Location | Fort Collins, Colorado ,United States |
| Website | https://www.semesteratsea.org |
Semester at Sea (SaS) is astudy-abroad program founded in 1963 and managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE)[1] inFort Collins, Colorado.Colorado State University is the current academic sponsor[1] and the program is conducted on a cruise ship. Nearly 73,000 undergraduate students[2] from over 1,500 colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.
Each spring and fall semester, up to 600 undergraduates[3] participate in the 100- to 110-day program. During the semester, the ship often circumnavigates the globe, traveling east (across theAtlantic) or west (across thePacific) and visiting 10 to 11 countries inAsia,Africa,Europe,South America, andNorth America.[4] Although the program sometimes has voyages through theMediterranean Sea and theSuez Canal, piracy concerns in theGulf of Aden have often caused the voyage to go around the southern part of Africa.
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Founded in 1963, the program is managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE).[1] ISE had hosted a summer, 65-day Semester at Sea program that focused on one region of the world. In May 2011, SaS introduced a 26-day Maymester voyage with a curriculum based around the United Nations'Millennium Development Goals. The Maymester voyage offered students the opportunity to earn four to five transferable credits. But after the Maymester 2012 voyage, Semester at Sea canceled the short-term voyages due to low enrollment. A two-week, December–January Enrichment Voyage forcontinuing education participants was also canceled. The voyages' itineraries focused onCentral and South America, often transiting thePanama Canal or traveling up theAmazon River.
A student died in a 1993 hiking accident, and five students were killed in a bus crash during a field trip in India in spring 1996.[5] The spring 1994 voyage (on theSSUniverse) ended in Hong Kong because the ship was scheduled for dry-dock maintenance after the voyage. However, the ship was unable to adhere to its sailing schedule during the semester due to mechanical difficulties. It made several unscheduled stops, and had to anchor between ports while repairs were made. The ship was towed to theSouth China Sea and anchored overnight, guarded by crew members against piracy. A planned stop atManila was canceled, and theUniverse was rerouted to Singapore. Examinations were completed at anchor in the harbor, and the students and faculty were flown to the next two planned ports (Osaka and Shanghai). In Shanghai, theUniverse met the students for the final leg of the voyage to Hong Kong.
1997's fall voyage was rerouted due to terrorism concerns.Ramzi Yousef was convicted of masterminding the1993 World Trade Center bombing on November 12 of that year, and theU.S. State Department issued a travel warning for American citizens in the Middle East. TheLuxor massacre occurred five days later, while the ship was docked inPort Said and the students were in Egypt. Although no students were involved, fears of terrorism resulted in the removal of the next two ports (Israel andTurkey) from the itinerary and the ship was rerouted toCyprus andSpain.
Two incidents occurred during the fall 2000 semester on the SSUniverse Explorer. Entering Vietnam, the ship was struck by a barge; its hull was damaged, and student rooms were closed. TheUniverse Explorer remained an extra day in Vietnam for repairs. Preparing to head north through the Suez Canal to Egypt, Turkey, Croatia, and Spain, the ship's captain decided to reroute due to threats to ships in the Suez region; the voyage instead stopped in Kenya, South Africa, and Brazil.
After theSeptember 11 attacks, theUniverse Explorer was redirected after its stop inKobe. The planned route, fromPenang and theIndian Ocean through theSuez Canal to ports inEgypt andCroatia, was changed by the U.S. State Department to include Singapore,Seychelles, and Cape Town. On the Indian Ocean, the ship's communication with other vessels was limited to protect the American citizens on board.
On January 26, 2005, the MVExplorer weathered a combination of three storms in theNorth Pacific. A 50-foot (15 m)freak wave[6] smashed the bridge's windows, breaking one of them and briefly affecting the ship's navigation systems. TheU.S. Coast Guard dispatched aLockheed HC-130 search-and-rescue plane[7] and twocutters after receiving a distress call from the ship. Two crew members were injured during the incident.[8] While the ship was repaired inHonolulu, the students were flown to Hong Kong to continue their courses. TheExplorer rejoined them inHo Chi Minh City and completed the semester.[9][10] Later that year, the University of Pittsburgh ended its 24-year academic sponsorship of the program, citing safety concerns.[11]
2005's summer voyage was rerouted fromLondon toLe Havre due to safety concerns after theJuly 7 London bombings. During the fall 2006 voyage,Typhoon Shanshan caused the MVExplorer (en route from Japan toQingdao, China) to be rerouted to Hong Kong. The summer 2008 voyage was rerouted fromIstanbul toAlexandria due to bomb threats in Turkey. That fall, a University of Wisconsin student was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Hong Kong.[12] The spring and fall 2009 itineraries were altered to avoidSomali pirates in theGulf of Aden.
During the fall 2010 voyage, aUniversity of California, Santa Barbara student died while the ship was docked in Ho Chi Minh City.[13] The spring 2011 itinerary was changed after theTōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the MVExplorer docked inTaiwan.
During the fall 2012 voyage, aUniversity of Virginia student died in a recreational-boating accident while the ship was docked inRoseau,Dominica.[14] The fall 2014 voyage was rerouted from Senegal and Ghana to Italy and Spain due toCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Department warnings about theEbola outbreak inWest Africa, and later voyages were also rescheduled.[15] The MSWorld Odyssey's fall 2015 trip was rerouted from Turkey to Croatia to avoid terrorism and therefugee crisis.
The fall 2017 voyage was rerouted from Mauritius at the vessel owner's request, and the ship went from India to South Africa.[16] On November 7, 2017, inBagan,Myanmar, aSt. Edward's University student was fatally injured in a 20-foot (6.1 m) fall from apagoda.[17][18]
The Spring 2020 voyage avoided a number of countries (including China) due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The students, faculty, staff, and Lifelong Learners aboard the MVWorld Odyssey were rerouted to Vietnam for an extra week to make up for lost time in China. TheWorld Odyssey leftKobe as scheduled on January 28, arriving in Ho Chi Minh City on February 4. The ship left Ho Chi Minh City three hours late. The original itinerary had theWorld Odyssey stopping in Malaysia from February 19 to 24 before heading to India from February 29 to March 5. After a one-day fuel stop in Malaysia on February 19, theWorld Odyssey attempted to reroute toVictoria, Seychelles, with an expected arrival on February 27 and departure on March 1. But the evening before arrival, the Seychellois government denied the vessel entry. TheWorld Odyssey then headed south to Mauritius, and docked on February 29. The ship spent one day in port, followed by two days at sea around the island due to limited dock availability; it then returned to dock inPort Louis on March 3–7. The morning of March 6, students were informed of another itinerary change due toquarantine concerns when arriving at European ports fromNorth Africa. SAS concluded the Spring 2020 voyage, canceling all South Africa-related programming on March 12, and advised students to return home from Cape Town in light of a U.S. State Department worldwide travel advisory.[19][20] All students were required to disembark from theWorld Odyssey between March 14 and March 16, were provided with resources to help them travel home,[21] and completed the academic program remotely from March 17 to April 20.[19]
On May 12, 2020, Semester at Sea announced[22] that the Fall 2020 voyage would not be sailing as planned because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The modified itinerary was scheduled to begin with an online program and continue with a condensed voyage beginning in late October. Voyagers were scheduled to embark in Tenerife, Canary Islands, sail on to Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Colombia, Panama Canal Transit, Ecuador, and Easter Island (Chile), with final disembarkation taking place in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
Students attend classes in a number of subjects and disciplines, including humanities courses relevant to one (or more) of the countries on the itinerary, while the ship is at sea. All students are required to take an interdisciplinary, coreglobal-studies course.[23] AlthoughColorado State University is the program's academic sponsor, Semester at Sea is open to students from any university. Faculty members are drawn from colleges and universities throughout the United States and around the world.
No classes are taught in port, and students can take Semester at Sea-sponsored trips or travel independently in the port country.[24] Before arriving at a port, they are briefed on the culture and societal rules of the country they are visiting. At the port of call, guest speakers (including community leaders and American ambassadors) deliver lectures to the students and faculty. The pre-port briefing and guest lectures are intended to prepare students for their stay in the country.
Notable lecturers and guests have included:[25][26]
A lease was announced in May 2015 for the ship previously known as theMS Deutschland to be renovated, re-flagged and renamed theMV World Odyssey,[27] operated byV-Ships.
Semester at Sea has used a number of ships as its floating campus, including the MSSeven Seas (formerly theUSSLong Island), the SSRyndam (not the laterfreighter of that name), the SSUniverse (formerly theSS Atlantic), theSS Universe Explorer and theMV Explorer. TheSSSeawise University (formerly theRMSQueen Elizabeth), which SaS intended to use, burned and sank in 1972 inHong Kong Harbour during her conversion into a floating campus.[28] TheUniverse Explorer, which retired in 2005, had four main decks and a small swimming pool at the stern of the ship. TheSeawise University,Universe, andUniverse Explorer were supplied and managed byTung Chao Yung's Seawise Foundation. Concerns about the separation of the Institute for Shipboard Education and the Seawise Foundation and the safety of the MVExplorer contributed to theUniversity of Pittsburgh's severing ties to the program in 2005.[29]
The program itinerary differs each semester, and the ship typically docks at 10 or 11 ports.[30] An early-1990s spring itinerary includedNassau,Caracas,Salvador (Brazil),Cape Town,Mombasa,Chennai,Singapore,Shanghai,Osaka andHong Kong. More recent voyages have exploredHawaii,Japan,China,Vietnam,Myanmar,India,Mauritius,South Africa,Ghana,Morocco, and theNetherlands. The fall 2019 itinerary included the Netherlands,Poland, theKiel Canal,Portugal,Spain,Croatia, Morocco, Ghana,Brazil,Trinidad and Tobago, thePanama Canal,Ecuador andCosta Rica.[31] The Summer of 2012 voyage aboard the MV Explorer includedSpain,Italy,Croatia,Greece,Turkey,Morocco, andPortugal.Denmark was aport of call in summer 2008,[32]Namibia in fall 2008,Bulgaria in summer 2009 andSenegal in fall 2015 (the program's first visits to those countries).
Semester at Sea had one summer voyage in 1996. The ship left from Ensenada, Mexico and spent two months in the South Pacific, stopping in Papeete, Tahiti; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; Suva, Fiji; Apia, Western Samoa; and Hilo, Hawaii before ending the voyage in Seattle, Washington.
... Pitt's concerns, charging that ISE left unanswered repeated requests by Pitt "for detailed assurances" that the MVExplorer was seaworthy. Maher further maintained that ISE's decision to part ways with the Seawise Foundation, which for many years had supplied both SaS's previous ship, the S.S.Universe Explorer, as well as maritime management expertise, raised serious safety issues.
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