Study in Asia
IDIS W10 -- Glaciers, the Outback, and the Great Barrier Reef
Prof. Curt Blankespoor, Prof. Scott Vander Linde, and Prof. Amber Warners
This course takes students to Australia and New Zealand to experience local indigenous populations, explore the natural world, and discover the interdependence and interconnectedness between human populations in different places and the non-human natural world. Specifically, students will witness the relationship between the people of the South Pacific and their natural environment, and process how life in North America is interrelated with this life. The classroom is Australia—the home to the Outback and Aboriginal communities, lush tropical rainforests, golden beaches, and the marine diversity of the magnificent and stunning Great Barrier Reef—and New Zealand, an island nation with a unique population and natural heritage, that contains geological formations, flora and fauna unknown elsewhere in the world. The course focuses on learning through guided action. Students spend about 70% of their time traveling the national parks, forests, wildlife reserves, and coastlines of South Queensland, Australia and the South Island of New Zealand. Students take classes and local field trips with program faculty and local experts. Highlights will include snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, experiencing Aboriginal bush life, and hiking in a tropical forest, swimming with dolphins at Kaikoura, a guided kayak of Abel Tasman National Park, a guided hike on Fox Glacier, a visit to a Maori marae (meeting house of the New Zealand indigenous people), and a whale-watching boat cruise on Milford Sound. Students will gain an understanding of the natural history, biogeography, ecological diversity, and related economic, social and cultural contexts of Australia and New Zealand. As well as be able to address relationships between human societies and their natural environments. Evaluation will be based on a daily journal, active participation in course activities, and two exams. This course will fulfill the CCE requirement. Course dates: January 4-24.
IDIS W11 -- Indian Business and Christianity
Prof. Leonard Van Drunen
It has become important for business persons to understand India. It is also important for Christians to understand God’s intended role for business in society. Explore both by engaging with business people in India, many of whom are Christian. Travel to India (Delhi, Agra,Jaipur and Hyderabad) and explore the history and culture of India as well as engage in a ten-day unpaid internship in Hyderabad at either a non-profit or for-profit organization, many of which are operated by Christians with a business as mission model. The course includes twelvedistinct internships for twelve students. All internships are in a specific area of business, accounting, economics or development studies, and students are matched according to expertise and interest. The internships allow students to experience business in India and work alongside their Indian peers. The course includes readings on Indian culture, business as mission and cross-cultural understanding. Evaluation is based on engagement in the internship, an internship presentation and a reflective essay. Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors of any major. Preference will be given to juniors and seniors majoring in business, accounting, economics or international development studies. The course will fulfill the CCE requirement. Course dates: January 4-25.
IDIS W40 -- Transforming Cambodia
Prof. David Dornbos, Jr., Prof. Leonard De Rooy, and Prof. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim
The goal of this class is to identify and understand the root causes of abject poverty in Cambodia. Issues to be engaged include food production capacity, land use trends, availability of adequate water or reasonable quality, availability of education and human health care. We plan to engage a variety of non-governmental organizations involved in supporting the holistic transformation of communities; CRWRC village projects enabling people to produce greater quantities of healthful food, water filtration and pumping methods, orphanages, Kindergarten classes, hospitals, and several Christian churches. Students will have opportunity to contribute service-learning hours by working with several of these organizations. The class will start by engaging the historic and cultural underpinnings that created the current situation in Cambodia. A visit of the Angkor Wat temples will lay an ancient historical foundation of Cambodian culture, followed by the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng prison to underscore the recent impact of the Khmer Rouge. Students will gain a clear understanding of what current living conditions are in Cambodia for an average ambodian citizen, how they have come to be as they are, what the impediments to change are, what can and is being done to make a positive and sustainable change, how to be agents of redemption in a deeply troubled society. This class is a cooperative learning adventure with Calvin College and Handong Global University (South Korea). Student evaluation will be based on participation with local culture, group discussion, individual journaling, and in a final report describing key features of their learning experience. This course may fulfill an elective in the International Development Studies major and minor. It also qualifies toward the requirements of the Engineering Department’s International Designation program. This course will fulfill the CCErequirement. Course dates: January 4-24.
IDIS W43 -- Economic and Environmental Planning in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta
Prof. Jan Curry
This course explores the economy, environment, and culture of the region of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China, including Hong Kong, the adjacent industrial regions of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as the city of Macao. The course focuses on the themes of cross-cultural understanding, globalization, social justice, and social and environmental sustainability. Through this course students will be able to see issues from the perspective of people from another culture and region, to articulate the issues related to understanding the Christian faith within another cultural context, to consider the interplay of economics, environmental stewardship and social equity in building a sustainable future and to be able to understand the conceptual and theoretical concept of sustainability at various scales of application. Student evaluation will be based on class participation and active engagement; completion of a reflective journal which will form the basis for final essay ; preparation for being assigned and carrying out being lead person for particular site and a final essay. This course may fulfill an elective in the Geography and Environmental Studies majors and minors. This course will fulfill the CCE requirement.
IDIS W62 -- Partnering to Improve Health in Rural India
Prof. Debra Bossenbroek and Prof. Mary Doornbos
In this course students learn how a community-based primary health care (CBPHC) approach to health and development enables and empowers people and communities to take health in their own hands, particularly in a developing country. Sustainable community-based health and development are discussed as students learn about the multi-tier approach to community health that is practiced in the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) villages with village health workers providing the majority of primary health care and health education at the grassroots level. The objective of CRHP is to work with poor and arginalized people and enable them to achieve an acceptable level of health through the primary health care approach. Through this approach people are enabled to improve their health and lives in a holistic sense. The emphasis is on building capacity, empowering people and working towards achieving equity and integration of all health services. The overall success of this project has prompted CRHP to focus increasing attention on its role as a model project for both government and non-government organizations throughout the world. The model is used by the World Health Organization. Students have classroom sessions aimed at practical application of concepts and take part in field visits and discussion sessions with village health workers and members of farmers clubs, adolescent girls clubs and the mobile health team. Topics addressed include the principles of community-based health and development and understanding primary health care and its implementation. The course also includes sessions on leadership and personal development. Students are personally challenged by issues of justice, compassion and faith as they interact with Indian people in a rural setting. Evaluation is based on reflective journals, a presentation, and participation. This course will fulfill the CCE requirement. Prerequisite: Junior standing or above. Course dates: January 3-24.
IDIS W80 -- Performing Asian Choral Music
Prof. Joel Navarro
This course will examine the study and performance of Southeast Asian choral music in their local contexts and social setting. For this interim course, students will travel to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Manila, Jakarta, and Singapore to perform among others, selected Asian choral repertoire. The class, as a choir, will have frequent interaction with local choirs and churches through workshops, rehearsals, performances, and home stays. Students will gain a contextual understanding of Asian choral music, competency in performing music from other cultures and cross-cultural engagement of God’s creation. Student evaluation will be based on a reflection paper performances and daily engagement in the local culture. This course may fulfill an elective in the Music majors and minors. This course will fulfill the CCE requirement. Prerequisite: Enrollment in MUSC 141. Course dates: January 3-25.
Ecology of the Indian Tropics (Biol 427)
Run through the Au Sable Institute
Dates: December 27-January 17
Tropical ecology of South India is an introduction to and comparative analysis of coastal ecosystems, plainlands, and montane tropical ecosystems of the Western Ghats. The course will be taught on-site at a variety of ecosystem preserves and national parks. Topics include tropical ecosystem structure and function, adaptations of flora and fauna, biodiversity surveys, past and present human interaction with the landscape, and autecology (how an organism interacts with its biotic and abiotic surroundings) of selected plants and animal species.Students from North America and India (Bishop Heber College) will interact in this cross-cultural course. Mini-buses will transport the group to each site with extensive hiking at each location. Food and lodging will be provided at nearby hostels and hotels. The North American faculty member is Dr. Orin Gelderloos, Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The Indian faculty member includes Dr. A. Relton, Lecturer in Sociology of Bishop Heber College, with guest experts in natural and cultural history also participating. For more information, visit www.ausable.org/. (4 credits)
