Jan Term offers rich menu of uncommon studies on campus and off

Registration begins Sept. 26 for Jan Term, McDaniel's three-week session which offers students a chance to explore a vast variety of interests in classes on campus, across the South, in the Everglades or abroad in Israel, Africa or tropical Belize.

The concentrated classes are so popular among McDaniel students they often take two, three or even four Jan Terms when they are required to participate only in one.

Among this year's offerings, students can learn how to read an EKG, study American Military History, or become certified as a personal fitness trainer.

If travel is their passion, there are opportunities to study in other states as well as abroad:

• Participants in "Hawaii Through the Lens" (ART-1193-01) will explore the culture, history, and geography of the Hawaiian Islands through photography.
  Cost: $2,600-$2,700 with a deposit of $1,000 due Oct. 4. Participants must bring their own digital or film camera.
  Open to: students, alumni, and community members
  Contact: Susan Bloom at sbloom@mcdaniel.edu

• In "Tropical Marine Biology," (BIO-1172-01) Professor Samuel Alspach will take participants to a remote Bahamian island to study complex ecosystems and diverse life in beaches, tidal zones, grass beds, fringe reefs and mangrove swamps. Participants will study the small isolated island's geological history along with its ecological and economic problems.
  Cost: $1,800
  Open to: Students, alumni
  Contact: Samuel Alspach at salspach@mcdaniel.edu

• Explore the Florida Everglades in "Everglades Experience" (ENG-1164-01). Participants will travel by canoe, swim with the manatees, snorkel along living coral reefs, and embark on a swamp safari eco-tour, courtesy of the Seminoles of the Big Cypress Reservation. The trip also includes beach excursion to the Florida Keys. Some elements of the course are physically demanding.
  Cost: approximately $1,600
  Open to: students, alumni, and community members
  Contact Jennie Wollenweber at jwollenw@mcdaniel.edu

• "Fishing and Diving Belize" (IDS-1144-01) is a course on the history, politics, culture, and saltwater recreational opportunities of Belize. Students will explore the second largest barrier reef in the world, visit a manatee preserve, and tour Mayan ruins.
  Cost: approximately $2,200-2,300
  Open to: students
  Contact: Herb Smith at hsmith@mcdaniel.edu

• Spend two weeks in the sunny, beautiful African country of Cameroon, learning about it's culture, people, and politics. Participants in "Culture and Politics of Camaroon" (PSI-1140-01) will conduct individual mini-research projects to develop their cross-cultural communication skills as they travel throughout the country.
  Cost: approximately $2,700
  Open to: Students and a limited number of alumni and community members
  Contact: Debora Johnson-Ross at djohnson@mcdaniel.edu

• In "Religion and Cultural Divide in Rural India" (REL-1138-01), participants will tour areas where India 's development agency is working. Participants will focus on culture, literature, and religious beliefs. As time, distance, and finances permit, students will also visit sites of traditional cultural significance, such as Elephante Island (Mumbai), the cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora, the Gandhi asram in Ahmedabad, and the Jain temples at Mt. Abu.
  Cost: approximately $2,000
  Open to: Students and a limited number of alumni and community members
  Contact: Gregory Alles at galles@mcdaniel.edu

• Study Spanish and Mexican culture in "Viva Mexico" (SPA-1139-01). Participants will live with Mexican families and take intense language courses with Mexican professors for three hours each day. The tour will take participants to Queretaro and Mexico City.
  Cost: $1,900
  Open to: students, alumni, and community members
  Contact: Thomas Deveny at tdeveny@mcdaniel.edu

• The Interpreters' Forum is planning a study journey to Poland, Hungary and Israel. "Landscapes of Memory/Routes of Hope" will give participants a glimpse into the searing memories of the Holocaust and the rays of hope for the future in the Middle East. Participants will tour three concentration camps in Poland, the McDaniel College Budapest campus in Hungary, and Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel .
  Cost: $2,500 with a $1,000 scholarship available for students
  Open to: students
  Contact: Emmanuel Goldman at egoldman@interpretersforum.com

• Tour the south with the Ira and Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education. Participants in "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around!: Retracing the American Civil Rights Movement" will travel through two states by bus, spending time with people who are on the front lines in the fight for civil rights.
  Cost: Approximately $495. Grants are available to those in need of some assistance with costs.
  Open to: students, alumni, community members
  Contact: Pamela Zappardino at paxwarthog@aol.com.

A sampling of campus-based Jan Term courses include "Robots, Cyborgs and Humans: Exploring the Philosophy of Technology," "Managing in a Global Environment," and "The Chronicles of Narnia."

For a complete list of Jan Term courses, visit The Archway (select January Term 2006 in the Term box and click Submit).

Contact Michele Cohen Leiberman, associate director of media relations, at 410-857-2294 or mleiberman@mcdaniel.edu.

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