With the generous funding from the Luis and Linda Nieves Family Foundation, Learning Cluster students traveled nationally and internationally to study and understand crucial issues and to make a positive difference during their stay. Co-learning experiences combined with adventurous exploration and meaningful discovery, as students ventured to New Orleans, Guatemala, Panama, South Korea, Japan, China, Peru, and Brazil.
Micro-financing and Community Efforts to Rebuild New Orleans
Gail Thomas and 12 students traveled to New Orleans to learn about micro-finance and micro-credit and the extent to which these community uplift strategies, along with others, were being employed in New Orleans post-Katrina. The group focused largely on New Orleans East, the area that is most economically depressed and the most severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. They examined community, economic, educational, and health status of this area. They met with local organizations, community activists, and educators to gain greater insight on the condition of New Orleans before and after the devastating hurricane. The students visited Our School at Blair, an alternative school, making new friends there and performing community service work. They were also warmly received at three universities: Tulane, University of New Orleans, and Dillard University. In addition, they visited a few micro-financing and micro-credit agencies. One of the most memorable moments of the trip revolved around experiencing the local events that included watching a colorful and festive cultural parade that celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday and attending a youth rally for education. Students directly witnessed the resilience of the people and returned to SUA carrying New Orleans as a special place in their hearts.
Ethnic Minorities in Yunnan China: Tradition, Identity, and Modernization
Xiaoxing Liu and 12 students immersed themselves in the culture of Yunnan Province of China to study ethnic minorities in the region. They observed schools in both urban and rural areas in Yunnan Province; interviewed with scholars who specialized in ethnic history, languages, arts, literature, and religions; toured ethnic minority villages, both authentic and reconstructed for tourism; and visited museums and historical sites with ethnic significance. They lodged mostly in youth hostels where many people shared a room. The group took public transportation and experienced waiting in line, squeezing onto buses, and sharing crowded space with Chinese students and local people. The students learned much about ethnic minorities in China and became more aware of what it means to be a global citizen in reality. They kept daily journals and shared their experiences, feelings, and thoughts. Through their travels, the students realized the value of being in the country to meet its people and experience their way of life in order to better understand the complexity and cultural diversity in China.
Japanese-Brazilian Transculturation: Documenting the Experience of Multiple Generations in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tomas Crowder-Taraborrelli traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil with 12 students to explore the history of Japanese immigrants in Brazil. They studied terms such as "diaspora," "immigration," "emigration," "transculturation," "assimilation," and "relocation" in an attempt to determine why, where, and when Japanese people came to Brazil, making Brazil the host country to the largest community of Japanese exiles in the Americas. The students discovered that Japanese-Brazilians view their identity as being Brazilian, although second- and third-generation Japanese-Brazilians struggle to maintain their ancestral roots. Learning Cluster students visited successful Japanese-Brazilian businesses, such as a mushroom farm that supplies mushrooms to the booming Japanese restaurant industry in Sao Paulo, a fish farm, the Japanese immigration museum in Liberdade (the traditional Japanese neighborhood) which was funded in part by Daisaku Ikeda. The students created a 30-minute documentary based on their experiences that featured interviews and archival photographs.
Empowerment for Poverty Alleviation Through Microfinance, Vocational and Literacy Training, and Other Measures - Panama
Nancy Hodes and her 12 Learning Cluster students traveled to Panama in what many of the LC students called a "life-changing experience." Students had never witnessed the degree of poverty up close and returned from their trip with a renewed interest in and determination to devote their efforts in the future to improving the lives of others. The primary objectives of the Learning Cluster were to read and do research on the issue of poverty worldwide, observe first-hand the living conditions of the rural poor in a developing country, investigate and analyze the application of microfinance "on the ground" in Panama and to make a monetary donation to a specific group doing such work there. Another important goal of the curriculum as a whole was for students to experience the opportunity to practice team work, dialogue, and collaborative techniques in order to complete group projects and achieve shared goals.
War Without Warfare: Korean-Japanese Conflicts Over Territory and History
Dongyoun Hwang and 12 students visited both South Korea and Tsushima in Japan to complete their two main Learning Cluster objectives: to understand the complex role of history and nationalism in the ongoing conflicts between Japan and South Korea over territory and history and to understand the interactive aspects of the past, which have been usually neglected or, at best, marginalized in the national historiography of the two countries. The group visited historical sites and museums in the cities of Buyeo, Busan, and Gimhae in South Korea, where the interactions of the two peoples (Koreans and Japanese) mostly took place in the ancient time. They also visited Tsushima Island of Japan, an island that is located between the city of Busan and Kyushu Island of Japan to examine how the interactions in the past there between the two peoples were being interpreted and displayed in the Japanese local museum and historical sites. The visit to Tsushima was crucial for the students to be able to uncover with their own eyes the differences, if any, between the Korean and Japanese in translating the past. In Busan, the students had a small seminar on the related issues with the students at the Department of East Asian Studies at Korea Maritime University in Busan. In Seoul, they visited the Northeast Asia History Foundation to meet with and hear from the scholars there about their positions on the disputes. The trip allowed students to understand the past cannot be monopolized by one nation, when in particular the history was a shared history of two countries. The students also learned how closely the reconciliation in history and the resolution of the territorial disputes between the two countries are related with the construction of a mutually acceptable/agreeable version of history, that is, the "communicative" history that underlines the interactive, transnational aspects in the past.
From State Terror to Transnational Gangs: The History of Human Rights in Guatemala
Sarah England and her 12 students traveled to Guatemala to learn about the struggle of human rights in Guatemala from a first-hand experience. The students spoke to numerous human rights workers in Guatemala City and visited several indigenous communities. Through their travels in Guatemala, the students learned that Guatemala endured a 36-year-long civil war from 1960-1996 during which time many human rights were violated by the Guatemalan state and military that included forced disappearances, torture, genocide, and a lack of basic political and civil freedoms. Since the 1996 Peace Accords were signed, the concept of human rights has expanded to include the rights of children, women, and indigenous peoples, as well as sexual diversity. Even with advances in human rights legislation, perpetrators continue to be largely free of prosecution due to a lack of political will and corruption in the government and the military. Despite the bleak outlook, students were inspired by the determination and courage of those who continue to speak out against human rights violations even at the serious risk to themselves and their families and for those activists dedicated to continue to work to defend the most vulnerable sectors of the population against such abuses. Upon their return, each of the students gave an on-campus presentation of their experiences and insights, which was filmed for future SUA classes.
The Implementation of Aquaculture in the Developing World: Peru as a Case Study
Anthony Mazeroll and his 12 students ventured to Peru to investigate the main issues and concerns of economic growth and issues of sustainability, as they relate to aquaculture. The group visited aquaculture research facilities, in and around Iquitos, Peru, to determine what type of research is being conducted to increase the amount of and diversity of fishes being produced in the area. In addition, they worked on a research facility that is dedicated to sustainable breeding practices of ornamental fishes. The students enjoyed their unique opportunity to expand beyond the classroom to actively engage in meaningful environmental efforts in Peru.