Global Studies

"The sights, sounds, tastes, smells and feelings that come from traveling the globe full circle changed me in ways that I will never be able to explain, but for which I will always remain grateful and humbled."

—Christy (Hudak) Bartley, Spring 1998

Global Studies is the cornerstone of the Semester at Sea academic experience. It is a comprehensive interdisciplinary course that complements and illuminates the voyage itinerary country by country. 

Course content is woven around a central theme that is distinct to each voyage and selected by the Academic Dean and the Global Studies Coordinator. This theme provides the framework for a comparative introduction to the cultures and regional/global issues encountered and brought vividly to life during the voyage.

Through a dynamic and varied format of lectures, debates, panel discussions, student presentations, video excerpts and role playing, Global Studies provides an intellectual forum for the exploration of commonalities and differences among areas visited.

The course also gives students a meaningful framework by which to compare and interpret data and observations, and to examine challenges, tragedies and triumphs of the countries visited. This comprehensive foundation which spans cultural, historical, economic, political, ecological and human rights issues, enables students to immediately engage with the people they encounter in significant ways.