GLOBAL: Higher education sails around the world

Sitting in class while slowly rocking back and forth, Robyn Chazen was amazed when her professor stopped a lecture to let students watch dolphins swimming, writes Ryan Miller for the Daily Bruin. Chazen, a third-year sociology student, was taken aback by this spectacle and knew she had made the right decision to attend the Semester at Sea programme.

Semester at Sea is a global, comparative study abroad programme offered by the non-profit Institute for Shipboard Education. The programme is run through the University of Virginia but accepts students from all areas across the United States as well as internationally.

The programme is fast-paced, as the ship circumnavigates the globe in about 100 to 110 days, and the itineraries typically include 10 to 11 countries. The curriculum provides students with a snapshot of world cultures, people and geography. Depending on the itinerary of the voyage, the faculty onboard - who come from many different universities - will lead various group projects while in particular countries. The program also offers transferable courses for people of all majors.
Full report on the Daily Bruin site