101st Semester at Sea Voyage to Explore Sustainability and Sino-U.S. Relations

January 17, 2010: The 101st Semester at Sea voyage set sail from Ensenada, Mexico today with 584 undergraduates representing 239 colleges and universities; 23 lifelong learners; and 67 faculty and staff. The voyage will explore the academic theme Sustainability: One Earth, One Future during its 109-day voyage to 10 countries around the world. Watch the voyage's progress on the current voyage website, which includes an interactive voyage map and will soon offer blogs, photos, video clips, and slideshows.

The sustainability voyage theme coincides with efforts by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE), the 501(c)3 nonprofit that administers the Semester at Sea program, to reduce the carbon footprint of the MV Explorer. In partnership with V.Ships, ISE recently received International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001: 2004 certification, an internationally recognized standard demonstrating commitment to environmental performance.

The entire spring 2010 community will support the Pathway to Sustainability initiative by monitoring energy consumption and recommending green practices that will benefit future voyages of Semester at Sea.

The Spring 2010 voyage also marks the launch of the C.Y. Tung Program in Sino-U.S. Relations in honor of C.Y Tung, who was instrumental in the founding of Semester at Sea. The inaugural program will be led by distinguished faculty in residence and include rigorous courses on Chinese and American relations, history, culture, economics and diplomacy; visits from distinguished Chinese and American lecturers; excursions to educational and cultural sites in China; and scholarships for Chinese and American students.

Les McCabe, Institute for Shipboard Education and Semester at Sea president, said the new program underscores Semester at Sea's commitment to global understanding and international exploration.

"This program marks a new era by offering a timely and integrated study of China-one of the world's most influential global powers-and its relations with the United States," he said. "It will bring together students, scholars, and prominent figures to explore the history and cultures of China and the United States, and to consider how to ensure productive economic and diplomatic relationships between the two in the future."

Tung, a Chinese shipping magnate, founded the world's first global shipboard educational program in 1963. Initially called World Campus Afloat, and later The University of the Seven Seas, it is today recognized as Semester at Sea. Tung was a visionary global leader in the critical importance of multi-country study abroad and cross-cultural understanding among young people.

The curriculum will focus on the socio-cultural, policy and economic interactions between Chinese and Americans to prepare future leaders to better understand each other's cultures and work together for mutual benefit. The program intends to build on, and to fulfill, program founder C.Y. Tung's original vision for shipboard education.

Faculty of the Inaugural Program

John W. Israel, professor emeritus with the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia, is a widely recognized authority on Chinese history, focusing on education, politics and student movements of the 20th century. Read bio.

Shen Dingli is a professor of International Relations, the Executive Dean of the Institute of International Studies, and the Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. Read bio.

Jonathan Spence is Sterling Professor of History in the Department of History at Yale University. He is one of the world's foremost scholars in Chinese history. Read bio.

The C.Y. Tung Program on Sino-U.S. Relations at a Glance

• Includes an upper-level course team taught by U.S. and Chinese professors that will serve as a forum for constructive analysis of Chinese and American worldviews, economies, and diplomacy.
• Related courses on China and the U.S. taught by professors in disciplines including economics, history, language, religion, global commerce, and engineering.
• Two faculty-in-residence on each semester voyage (a total of four each year) will team-teach an advanced course. They will also offer specialized courses that support the C.Y. Tung Program.
• Specific field and travel programs, including in-port travel to special sites in China for the students and faculty.
• Distinguished lecturers from both China and the U.S. will join a voyage for approximately two weeks to engage students as well as the entire shipboard community of faculty and students in lectures and discussions on timely issues in contemporary Sino-U.S. relations.
• Five Chinese students will sail as C.Y. Tung Program Scholars. Program scholars receive scholarships covering the costs of tuition and room and board. The initial Chinese C.Y. Tung Scholars will be chosen from Fudan University. Two American students will be selected from the most prestigious American universities, including the University of Virginia.
• Cooperative effort between and among the finest universities in China and the United States, beginning with Fudan University and the University of Virginia.

Stay tuned to current voyage website for more information.