|
Send this Newsletter to Your Friends l View Web Version
What's News
TSS Research Institute Holds Successful Workshop on Disaster Management While Ship Visits Thailand
 The Scholar Ship Research Institute and the National University of Singapore hosted an international workshop to examine regional approaches to disaster management in Southeast Asia. Titled “ASEAN Disaster Management: Enhancing Multilateral Approaches Across the Emergency Response Spectrum,” the workshop received accolades from the ASEAN Secretariat. Held on January 25th and 26th, the workshop focused on how organizations like ASEAN can enhance multilateral coordination in responding to natural and/or man-made disasters. Participants also focused on lessons learned in the wake of the 2005 Tsunami and their applicability to new security threats, including disease and forced migration.
Learn more about The Scholar Ship Research Institute >
Early-Applicant Incentive Introduced for September 2008 Voyage
If you’re trying to figure out how to pay for a voyage aboard The Scholar Ship, here’s a little news that will certainly help! We are pleased to have launched an Early Application Incentive program for our September 2008 voyage. New applicants who complete
Phase 1 of the application will qualify to receive lower program fees according to the timeline listed below:
Apply by: 29 February 31 March 30 April
Undergraduate (USD) 19256 20325 21395
Postgraduate (USD) 20610 21755 22900
Learn how to apply in 4 easy steps >
The Early-Application Incentive program also applies to those students who have already completed at least Phase 1 of the application process, but under certain conditions. Contact your regional admission advisor for details.
Students on Inaugural Voyage Produce Impressive Hardcover Book to Memorialize Their Experience
 We were impressed with the leadership and enthusiasm of our inaugural class of students from the moment they embarked the ship in Athens last September. To no surprise, they surpassed our expectations on many counts with projects they initiated and led to successful outcomes. Nearly half way through the voyage, a group of students conceived of producing a book to showcase the truly incredible photography that was being captured by students and staff alike. The complexity of such a project was overwhelming, but as all great leaders insist, ‘there must be a way.’ Were it not for their persistence, we would never have seen the breathtaking imagery and moments of inspiration that collectively comprise The Scholar Ship experience.
View slideshow of photo book >
Port
Spotlight: Lisbon, Portugal
 The
Scholar Ship calls on the port of Lisbon on both its September and January voyages. On the January
voyage, Lisbon is a break port, offering students a brief stay to explore this fantastic city. The September voyage, in contrast, calls on Lisbon for an entire week of academic field study, community service, shore excursions and independent travel in and beyond the port region.
Lisbon is the city for fado, funiculars, feasting and frolicking.
At Lisbon's heart are wide, tree-lined avenues graced by Art Nouveau
buildings, mosaic pavements and street cafes. Seen from the river
- one of the city's many great viewpoints - Lisbon is an impressionist
picture of low-rise ochre and pastel, punctuated by church towers
and domes. Its position on seven low hills beside a river once lured
traders and settlers, and it's still a stunning site. Add to that
its cultural diversity, laid-back feel and architectural time warp,
and you have one of the most enjoyable cities in Europe.
The antediluvian trams in the city are more than just a way to
get from A to B - they're an essential Lisbon experience. Similarly,
the city's three funiculars are an indispensable part of its charm.
Catholic Portugal enthusiastically celebrates festas (festivals),
feiras (fairs) and romarias (religious pilgrimages). When you add
in an almost-religious love of soccer and a vibrant arts calendar,
Lisbon is abuzz almost all year round.
Fun fact: Lisbon is one of the few capital cities that can boast
bottle-nose dolphins in its nearby waters.
Shore Excursion Profile - Lisbon 101: Street Games
Explore Lisbon through an interactive challenge with your fellow
students. Alfama derives from the Arabic word for “hot springs,” and
it is where you will start your journey in a picturesque maze of narrow
streets, cul-de-sacs, twirling steps, patios, and colorful gardens.
Students will be divided into teams, and given a list of
instructions and a camera. Your mission will take you
to the historic center of Lisbon and it’s most interesting
and important sites.
Learn
more about our experiential-based
port program >
Moments of Inspiration
From the ship's mail server:
Hello everyone,
As some of you may already know, we have started a hardship fund
for students on-board who are in need of financial assistance. This
fund will pay for such things as laundry services, shore excursions
and plane tickets home for those students who don't have a ride home.
The fund is open to anyone who is in need of assistance and is completely
confidential. Applications are available with me right now (A86)
but I am looking to have them available at reception tomorrow (I
have to check with Student Voice for the O.K.). We are looking for
donations to the fund and for people to help with a letter-writing
campaign. The goal is to send off as many letters as we can to businesses
and individuals to ask for donations. I hope to have pre-made letters
with postage so that people only have to write an address on the
envelope. There are still a lot of details that need working out,
but I hope we can all work together to make this voyage the best
it can be for everyone.
Jesse Blue Dolan
Jesse is an undergraduate student from California, USA, currently
studying in the Sustainable Development
learning circle aboard the January 2008 voyage.
What Can The Scholar Ship Offer You?
To succeed in this increasingly interdependent world, you need
more than linguistic abilities. You need the intercultural knowledge
and understanding that comes from experiences among many cultures.
Aboard The Scholar Ship, you will live and learn in a multicultural
community that simply does not exist elsewhere. View
our video library and learn what The Scholar Ship can do for you!
|
The
Scholar Ship is a recognized academic program aboard a transformed
passenger ship-hosting students on semester-long voyages around the
world. Participants from diverse cultural backgrounds come together
to co-create a transnational learning community that develops their
intercultural competence and fosters lifelong friendships. 
The Scholar Ship arrived in Chennai (formerly Madras), India on 5 February. About half the students had Academic Field Programs in India, which took them on site visits ranging from lectures at the University of Madras, to local businesses in Bangalore, to a school in Kanchipuram for children rescued from sweatshops, to Firefly, a sustainable spiritual commune a few hours outside of Chennai. 
David C. McGaffey, Ph.D.
Do you have questions you would like to ask students currently
aboard The Scholar Ship? We bet you do! We now have scheduled live
chats right from the ship to provide you with a student perspective
that is informative and interactive. 
“The Scholar Ship provides a perfect setting to question
our differences. It makes us realize how similar we are. Conflicts
all around the world are nourished by prejudices and stereotypes
saying that we are very different. However, through interaction
with the 37 nationalities that are onboard, there is a single objective
truth that emerges: No matter what our background is, we are very
similar.”
