Costa Rica Adventures

2023 Spring Break Study Abroad

by Haleigh Ray, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

Stetson students and professors spent a glorious week in Costa Rica. We started out in the Monteverde region which included a visit to the Monteverde Orchid Garden and afterwards, a choice of zip-lining or suspension bridge trails!

After these activities, we made our way hiking back to San Gerardo Station, a very remote biological station in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. We were the only group staying there, so everyone had a great opportunity to be fully surrounded by nature (no wifi at the station, either!)

During our time here, everyone did a lot of hiking (including a trail back to a waterfall), birdwatching (some students got up at 4:30 AM to go with our nature guide who was an Ornithologist), and small projects where the students were collecting field data. The station overlooked part of the cloud forest habitat, and had an amazing view of Arenal Volcano.

White-necked Puff bird

After three days at San Gerardo, we moved to the southwest coast of Costa Rica to a site called Hacienda Barú. Here they saw a lot more animal life, including sloths, coatis, monkeys, birds, and peccaries.

Capuchin Monkey, Coati and Red-eyed Stream Frog

While at Hacienda Barú, the lodge was located directly on the coast, so students were able to hike down to the beach and watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

By the end of the trip many students were saying that they had a new appreciation for tropical biodiversity and rainforest ecosystems, and had stronger views on conservation of these habitats. They felt that they were really able to connect with nature while in Costa Rica, and some of them even said that the experience was life-changing for them!

Stetson University

Rinker Global Scholars Study “The Waters of Venice” during Spring Break

By: Kimberly Reiter, PhD

Stetson’s 2023 Rinker Global Scholars in Venice

This past Spring Break 2023, Dr. Jason Evans (Environmental Science) and Dr. Kimberly Reiter (History) led fifteen students to Venice and north Italy to see first hand the impacts of the Venetian Lagoon on the historic city.  The trip was part of a team taught course called “The Waters of Venice”, an examination of the past and present dialogues between Venice and the waters which created the powerful ‘Stato da Mar’ which dominated Mediterranean trade and politics for centuries in the Middle Ages.  The course was made possible through the generous assistance of the Rinker Foundation, which supports and aids the fifteen Rinker Scholar students who earned a spot in the class.

Crossing one of Venice’s many canals

“The Waters of Venice” has required the faculty and students to take a journey back to the Roman period and the rise of Venice through its unique access to the salt pans of North Italy.  They studied the creation of the island state through hundreds of years of careful environmental management of the lagoons and canals that mark the dozens of islands that make up the current city.  The students have studied not only the political and economic history of Venice, but also the environmental regulations that kept the sediments from filling in the lagoon, and mandated the use of the lagoon, wetlands, rivers, forests and aquatic resources of Venice’s broad Italian territories.  They also looked at the consequences of Napoleon’s conquest of Venice on these regulations and the slow deterioration since then, as well as the modern remedies to fix the situation for now and what Venice is doing to try and save the future city.

During Spring Break the students had multiple opportunities with the help of local experts to see for themselves the various water management systems put into place to protect Venice, including the failed Vajont Dam in the Dolomites intended to regulate the lumber and agricultural needs of the Veneto, the MOSE Barrier project that has been created to keep the city from flooding and the significant waterproofing projects to protect the Piazza San Marco and other endangered historical places.  They visited Ravenna, an equally ancient town which had once been like Venice, but which allowed the sediments to fill in their wetlands and now lies several kilometers inland, and Cervia, where perhaps the purest salt in the Mediterranean continues to be created as it has been for centuries.  It is fair to say that the salt shop at the visitor center was effectively cleared of stock after the visit!  The students also learned about the political and economic impediments to the water projects, including the impacts of corruption, over tourism, cruise ships and wetlands loss.

Looking for Flamingos in the Cervia Salt Pans
Dolomite Mountains

In sum, the course has been eye-opening and the visit to Venice, ‘La Serenissima’ was nothing short of amazing.  In their free time students sampled the incredible foods of the region, ate a lot of gelato, visited museums and wandered the streets of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, while learning about the genuine threats to its existence as the very waters that built the Venetian Empire now seem likely to destroy the city itself.

First Annual Lessons from Abroad Conference

WORLD is excited to host our upcoming Lessons from Abroad Conference on Friday, March 31, 2023 from 11am-3pm in Brown Hall. During this inaugural conference, study abroad and international students will reflect on the impact of learning abroad and global citizenship experiences through engagement with new cultures. Students will present their reflections and invite discussion. We welcome you to join us!

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Savoring Global Flavors And Other Delights: International Students Share Their Cultures at The International Festival

Students visit an international festival culture table.

Did you know that Stetson has almost 200 international students from 52 different countries? At this year’s International Festival, more than 15 tables were presented by multiple students sharing food, music and culture with American students and staff.  Students received cultural credit if they learned 3 things they didn’t previously know about another country.

Table items ranged from food, candies, drinks, clothing items, games, jewelry, information boards and more. As people meandered through Palm Court and Libby Lawn, they were able to chat with the table hosts and ask questions about their country and customs. For those who were 21 and older, sample flights of beer (Mexico and Belgium), Japanese sake (Rice wine) and a USA honey wine mead were available for an international happy hour.

Peace Corps representatives were also present to answer questions about their exciting international opportunities and program benefits.

The evening ended with live performances – 2 students performed an Arabic “stick dance” that Stetson’s Egyptian Fulbright Scholar taught them – members of APAC performed a K-Pop dance. Afterwards, an Hispanic musical duo serenaded the crowd, and topping off the evening, a belly dancer performed dances from around Middle East and Asia.

Over 250 students attended this year’s event.

Global is what we do!

On February 15th, the WORLD Center for International Learning rebooted its “Lunch and Learn” faculty information series. Director Paula Hentz gave a presentation to 13 faculty on how to apply for WORLD awards. These awards support work done by faculty to internationalize the campus and curricula, and support individual faculty and teams to explore emerging opportunities in different parts of the world that have broad impact on student and organizational learning.

Faculty participated in discussion with WORLD staff and other faculty who have experience in developing and implementing international experiences into courses and programs. Some other topics covered were:

  • How international research impacts teacher-scholar development
  • How teachers can parlay their research into high-quality learning abroad programs
  • Walking through the proposal process and how WORLD will support them every step of the way

Stetson University is committed to preparing professors and students to be informed, active, and engaged citizens of both local communities and the world. All faculty are encouraged to consider the benefits of internationalizing their courses (Application here). If you’re not sure how to get started, be sure to meet with any member of WORLD staff as they are ready to help you bring the world to your classroom.

Introducing Brown Visiting Teacher-Scholar, Dr. Olena Kolupayeva

I did my PhD in Linguistics at Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University, Ukraine. I completed a professional internship as a professor of journalism on the basis of a European broadcaster (“BVBM as the representative of citizen media interests in Germany”, the Federal Republic of Germany, 2019-2020). Also, I participated in the Erasmus+ International Academic Mobility Program at the Catholic University of Ružomberok (the Slovak Republic, 2019).

Currently I’m working as a Brown Visiting Teacher-Scholar Fellow in Communication and Media Studies at Stetson University. My research is aimed at recognizing false and misleading information distributed by Russian government-controlled media, pro-Russia websites, social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok. My attention is also focused on refuting fake news in the media covering war in Ukraine.

Being a facilitator of Media Literacy project, my objective is for students to develop critical thinking skills while accessing, analyzing, and evaluating media messages in a variety of forms.

As a graduate of the “Human Rights Academy for Journalism Professors”, I try to increase students’ awareness in the field of equality and non-discrimination, recognize, analyze and break down stereotypes in media.

Meet Stetson’s Fulbright Scholar, Alaa Alafify

Alaa Alafify is a highly educated and accomplished English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educator with a strong background in language instruction, curriculum development, and instructional technology. She holds a Master of Arts in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from a co-supervision program between Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University in Egypt, and Limerick University in Ireland. She also holds a Teaching English as a Foreign Language Diploma (MTD) from Ministry of Defense Language Institute (MODLI) in Cairo, Egypt, and Special and Professional Diplomas in EFL Curriculum and Instruction from Ain Shams University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Language (For Preparatory and Secondary Education) from Ain Shams University Faculty of Education, Egypt with a GPA of 4.0 and a General Grade of Very Good- the Second with Honor. She has publications in multiple international and national instructional journals.

Throughout her career, Alaa has gained extensive experience in teaching and training EFL students of all ages and levels. She has served as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at Stetson University, where she taught Arabic as a foreign language and developed course materials for undergraduate students, including PowerPoints, handouts, workshops, and assessments, to enhance learning and enable students to master concepts. Additionally, she has served as a Teaching Assistant at Ain Shams University, where she educated student-teachers on the methods and techniques of teaching English as a second and foreign language.

Alaa is also a skilled curriculum developer and has experience in participating in developing Curricula for the EFL Curriculum and Instruction Department. She also has experience in conducting workshops on Instructional Technology and soft skills for EFL pre-service teachers. Alaa has also demonstrated her expertise as a teacher trainer, where she has designed and conducted teacher training sessions for teachers who sought a Diploma in TEFL.

Alaa is an active member of the academic community and has presented at conferences and workshops, such as FLTA Speaker with La Casa Cultural Latina Center, where she gave a cultural presentation about “Why Egypt is she the of mother of the World?” with the goal of introducing American students to the Arabic culture. She was also the only Egyptian who got selected out of over 200 applicants to represent Egypt at Fulbright FLTA Mid-Year Conference in Washington, D.C. She successfully delivered a presentation on using Infographics in Teaching Foreign Languages. In addition, she served as a Cultural Fair presenter responsible for hosting a booth to share experiences and engage attendees to encourage participates to learn more about the Egyptian culture.