May Term 2012 Options

This May Term there are so many fantastic trips going on.  It makes it hard to decide on just one!  To recap, May Term happens in May (obviously) and is a chance to study one topic in depth for a month.  Most May Terms venture off campus, many times overseas.  This is helpful to students in majors where off campus study isn't quite possible because they need every class on campus they can get.  I'm including below the list of the May Term options I received in a list from the Dean of Faculty on Friday.  Personally, I'm interested in the Writers Colony May Term to England's Lake District.  The Jane Austen one sounds fantastic as well, but I would love the opportunity to just write for 26 days in England!  For many of these May Terms, an application is required because the faculty who sponsor the trip can't take everyone who is interested.  So right now I'm working on my application for Writers Colony and hoping I will receive one of the eight spots (spot vary from class to class)!

• A trip to Vietnam.  This one is sponsored by Professor Buckaloo and Professor Nordman.  The focus of the trip will be on the Vietnam war.  I know Professor Buckaloo's specialty is the Vietnam War (he taught an FYS class last year on this very topic).  
• Marine Biology.  A very popular lab science May Term.  Students enjoy taking this one to satisfy their lab science requirement because it's some place warm!   
• A trip to Southern Africa.  A May Term geared more towards Biology and Nursing majors.  The group will travel to southern Africa and help with water purification as well as helping nurses with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  
• "Made in Italy": Competing in a Global Marketplace.  A business and economics orientated May Term focusing on the success of businesses and enterprises in Italy.  The classes in Italy will be taught in English but all travelers for this May Term will take some Italian prior to leaving.  
• Economics of Renewable Energies.  A class focused entirely on renewable energies, their pros, cons, and potential impacts on our society.
• Jane Austen.  At Coe, students will read four of Austen's novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion) and then they will travel to England to see some of the places Austen described in her novels.
• A trip to Spain.  This class will happen at the University of Alicante, Spain.  It's basically an abbreviated study abroad.  Students will take Spanish classes and also culture based classes.  The university is within a day's travel of major cities such as Barcelona and Madrid.  
• Human Rights and International Law: Berlin and the Hague.  Students will travel to Berlin and investigate the Holocaust and the Hague.  
• Seminar in Leadership.  This course is an on campus one, focusing on theory and practice of leadership.
• Writers Colony: Walking in England's Lake District.  Students read works written by authors who wrote in the Lake District as well as write about their own adventures.  This is a intensive writing workshop (which would be perfect for me!).     
• Lakota Culture and Communication.  This May Term occurred last year as well and the students who go on this one travel to the Lakota Indian Reservation where they are immersed in the culture.  
• A trip to London.  Sponsored by the theater department, this May Term is an arts focused class.  Students travel around London experiencing all the art that can be experienced.  My friend Anna went on this May Term the last time it was offered, when she had just finished her first year of college.  She really enjoyed it!  
• A trip to Turkey.  This class would parallel the FYS that has been taught for the past two years about Turkish culture.  The group will go to Turkey, specifically Istanbul, and explore all there is to offer.

Aren't these awesome trips?  I think so.