AUIP Antarctica: The Fragile Continent (6 credits)

Description

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the coldest, windiest, driest, highest, quietest, most remote, and least understood continent on Earth. This 6-credit experiential program explores contemporary issues in Antarctica and the adjacent sub-Antarctic region, including Tierra del Fuego and the Southern Ocean. Students attend weekly lectures during the fall semester, prepare a research essay in their area of primary interest, and then participate in a 2-week field study in Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego during winter break.

Objectives:

1. Develop, through lectures and assigned readings, an holistic, inter-disciplinary understanding of the physical and social history and current issues in the Antarctic region, including their inter-relationships.
2. Develop specialized understanding, through independent research, of the issues in one specific area of Antarctic enquiry related to their major (e.g., history of science/exploration, environmental ethics, geology and global climate change, marine bird or southern forest conservation, etc.).
3. Through field-based studies, students will develop a nuanced understanding of issues in exploration, exploitation, conservation, and sustainable use of the Antarctic region.

Highlights

* Few people have had the chance to visit the remote and beautiful White Continent. For those of you seeking an adventure - this is your ultimate chance.
* Where else would you have the chance to see huge glaciers rolling into the sea, vast penguin colonies, whales, seals, orcas, icebergs, and more?
* Antarctica has the world's greatest concentration of wildlife in the world. It is perhaps the last true wilderness left on our planet.
* Our expedition ship has a fleet of Zodiac landing crafts, which allow us to take daily excursions ashore onto the continent for spectacular scenery and close encounters with wildlife.
* Experience 24 hours of daylight - take stunning photos at midnight and spot wildlife at all hours of day and night!
* AUIP is one of the only study abroad organizations in the world to offer programs in Antarctica. All AUIP programs offer the highest quality academics at the lowest costs available.