As the weather grows colder and the upcoming J-term approaches, Hamline students have the opportunity to travel abroad to avoid the cold in Minnesota for a few weeks while they gain a unique learning experience abroad. This year’s current faculty-led study board program is to Belize for ecology and conservation. This will be professor of biology Leif Hembre’s fourth time leading this study abroad program in Belize, which is currently the only faculty-led program.
Students who participate in this study abroad program will spend two days on campus and 15 days in Belize studying the ecology of different habitats, wildlife conservation and human impacts on these ecosystems. Some of the wildlife conservations the students will look at are on jaguars, howler monkeys and coral reef species while also experiencing life in Belize.
“Belize has a marine station on a small island called Tobacco Caye,” Hembre said. While the students are mainly studying ecology and wildlife conservation, they will also be visiting the archaeological site Xunantunich and learning about ancient Mayan civilization. This study abroad program will count as a biology elective for the Major/Minor and N1 course for the Hamline Plan for those students who attend.
“It’s a unique opportunity for students to have hands-on experience in the field,” Hembre said.Originally, there were two faculty-led study abroad programs during the J-term; one to Belize with Professor Hembre, and another to Jordan with Professor of Communications Studies Dr. Suda Ishida. The study abroad to Jordan would have focused on immigration, and the students would have been able to get hands-on experience doing interviews with migrants and refugees. In preparation for this, the students developed a research question for this program, and the trip would be an opportunity to apply their questions in the field.
“One of the student’s projects [was] on comparing immigration in Jordan to immigration here in the U.S.,” Ishida said.
Unfortunately, the Jordan study-abroad was canceled due to concerns about travel safety to Jordan during the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis and the travel advisory from the U.S. Department of State.
“Due to increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution,” the department has posted on their website (make sure this text is black/not underlined in InDesign). The U.S. Department of State has issued a level 2 travel advisory for Jordan, which instructs travelers to exercise increased caution.
As a result, students who planned to attend were notified about the cancellation of the study abroad in an Oct. 18 email.
“It’s appropriate … There will be more opportunities for students to go to Jordan,” junior Luke Snow, one of the students originally planning to study in Jordan, said.
For students who are interested in studying away in Belize, the program needs a minimum of ten students and the deadline to apply is Saturday, Nov. 5. Contact Hembre with questions about the class at lhembre@hamline.edu, and any other questions about applying and the costs of the program can be directed to the Global Engagement Center gec@hamline.edu.