What happens when voyagers from around the world come together in the middle of the ocean and face moments of conversation susceptible to potential tension? Thanks to Semester at Sea’s new collaboration with Soliya, the answer isn’t ongoing conflict. Instead, it’s pausing and asking questions. Alternatively, it’s listening and finding common ground. And, ultimately, it’s a stronger shipboard community connection, built one constructive, empathetic conversation at a time.
Since launching on the Fall 2024 voyage, the Semester at Sea/Soliya dialogue program has improved the outcomes of potentially challenging conversations across several cohorts of voyagers. With generous ongoing donor support, this new collaboration and resource equips students, faculty, staff, voyage leadership, and Lifelong Learners with the tools to navigate complex discussions with empathy, reflection, and respect. Soliya, an internationally recognized leader in dialogue facilitation, brings to SAS over 20 years of experience and has reached more than 60,000 participants at over 280 institutions worldwide. Through this partnership, 15–20 cohort members from each voyage are selected and trained in dialogue facilitation using a UN-endorsed intercultural methodology.
“The Soliya trainings don’t erase conflicts on the ship, but they do give program participants the tools–and a mindset–to respond quickly to potential conflicts with thoughtfulness and empathy,” said Laura Strohminger, ISE’s Chief Program Officer and VP of Student Affairs.
Since launching in Fall 2024, the program has now trained two full cohorts—Fall 2024 and Spring 2025–with a new cohort for Fall 2025 completing their training this month. On the Fall 2024 voyage, 15 students, one Lifelong Learner, three faculty members, and one staff member were selected to participate in a three-day in-person training during the ship’s port stay in Lisbon. The Spring 2025 cohort completed a 20-hour virtual training before their voyage, spread over five weeks in three cohorts of about eight participants each. This group included 15 students, one lifelong learner, three faculty, and one resident director.
Across both voyages, several ship-wide and small-group dialogues were then facilitated by the program participants; these took place within club meetings, before and/or after ports, or in evening seminars. Program participants reported increased confidence, empathy, and conflict resolution skills, which they applied meaningfully throughout the voyage, helping to strengthen the shipboard community and improve inclusive dialogue and aligning well with Semester at Sea’s values and mission.
The program’s success has also been felt beyond moments of conflict; it’s also helping to shape classroom experiences and even career paths. Wheaton College student Kawehi Mark, a student voyager and Soliya-trained dialogue facilitator in Spring 2025, shared that the experience has helped her become a better listener and affirmed her current path to becoming an occupational therapist. “It’s so important to just listen and help others feel their thoughts are important,” she said. “This training really helped me get more comfortable in these areas.”
Kawehi’s facilitation skills also helped shape academic experiences across the ship. During a community dialogue, students offered feedback about the Global Studies course, which all student-voyagers currently take while on their respective voyages. Thanks to the input gathered in one such dialogue, the Global Studies faculty made real-time changes to include more small-group discussions in the course. “It was just really neat to see the impact our dialogue had immediately,” Kawehi said.
Others in staff positions have echoed the value of the Soliya program experience. Residential Director Hawk Anderson said Soliya training reminded him of the “power of silence” and affirmed his own calling in student affairs. “The whole point is these small moments of connection are so important, especially in my field of work,” he said. “I am in awe of the type of experience this training gave us.”
Dr. Fabiola Ehlers-Zavala, the Spring 2025 Academic Dean and another Soliya-trained facilitator, said the program helped her prepare for the unexpected while helping to lead the most recent voyage–an essential mindset when leading a Semester at Sea voyage. “The Soliya program empowers you with the skills and tools you need to face the unique challenges that may come up on the voyages,” she said. “As a result of this training, especially in navigating difficult conversions, the message that is being sent across the ship by supporting this program is that everyone is vested in the success of the voyage, and the more that we can support and train those who are going to be on board at different levels, the better that we are going to be equipped to deal with the unexpected.”
Among some of the strongest champions of the SAS/Soliya partnership are Liz Zavodsky and Jeremy Mohr, a couple deeply rooted in the Semester at Sea community. Liz, who currently serves on the SAS Board of Trustees and works as the Executive Director of Ecochallenge, sailed as a Resident Director in Spring 2004 and as staff in Summer 2008 and Fall 2010. Jeremy, a climate action strategist and Principal at Climate Action Development, served in the field office in Summer 2008 and sailed alongside Liz on all three of those voyages.
For Liz and Jeremy, supporting the Soliya program financially, in a program-specific donation plan, was an immediate “yes.”
“When I heard that the Soliya partnership with Semester at Sea was an opportunity for giving, we both, within five minutes, agreed: ‘we have to help fund this,’” Liz said. Why? “Because the world needs more bridges between people,” she said. “We need a stronger ability to connect with each other, to listen to one another, and to see how much we actually share in common. Soliya helps SAS voyagers do this–and more.”
Liz and Jeremy see Semester at Sea as the perfect platform to implement this kind of growth in conversational and listening skills. “The SAS shipboard community is a perfect place to initiate a program like Soliya,” she said. “We have leaders on board our ship–people from all over the U.S. and around the world–who can really engage in this, and then put all of that into practice as they go out into the world and change it. By supporting Soliya and its collaboration with Semester at Sea, we can therefore truly help strengthen the humanity in our world.”
For Liz and Jeremy, the program’s power lies in both its immediate and long-term impacts. “I believe that the Soliya program enhances and strengthens what Semester at Sea already is. It just adds to its greatness. But this program is also meeting the global moment, in which a stronger emphasis is placed on empathetic conversations. This work is not just important–it’s urgent,” she said.
Thanks to the enthusiastic work of the Soliya program participants over the past two voyages, and the support of donors like Liz and Jeremy, who have already generously given to support Semester at Sea’s collaboration with Soliya, this collaboration is transforming conversations across the ship, one voyage at a time. With ongoing support, future voyages will be even more prepared to navigate the most challenging conversations with courage, care, and connection. If you would like to help support Semester at Sea’s ongoing and future collaboration with the Soliya dialogue training program, please visit this page.
