“My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu has remarked when translating the Bantu term Ubuntu¬≠–a treasured concept in the Semester at Sea lexicon. Ubuntu captures the essence of Semester at Sea’s multiple-country approach, one which allows participants to experience the interconnectedness of the world’s cultures and communities, and to see and be inspired by the similarities among all of humanity.
Nobel Laureate Tutu will bring his expertise and humanitarian insight to the Spring 2013 voyage of Semester at Sea when he and his wife Leah sail from the embarkation port of San Diego, Calif. to Cape Town, South Africa. Tutu, 80, will participate in the inaugural Unreasonable at Sea program as a mentor and give lectures to the entire shipboard community.
“Semester at Sea is a wonderful educational experience that can help to promote global peace and understanding around the world,” he said. “The value of seeing the world and its people firsthand, gaining a sense of its interconnectedness, helping others, seeing poverty and hardship, developing a compassion for others, this is such a valuable educational experience for our young people.”
Among his many achievements, Archbishop Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for‚Ä® his efforts to end apartheid, served as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and received the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007. Tutu received the African Lifetime Achievement Award from the Millennium Excellence Awards Foundation in 2010, an award he accepted in Ghana while sailing on Semester at Sea.
Archbishop Tutu previously sailed on the entire Fall 2010 and Spring 2007 voyages of Semester at Sea and has visited the ship in South Africa on multiple occasions. The Desmond Tutu Distinguished Chair in Global Understanding was established in his honor to promote global awareness and intercultural understanding. He serves on the ISE/SAS Board of Trustees.
