By Leah Thompson
l-thompson.1@onu.edu
While most ONU students and faculty will be battling wind, rain, and snow in March, professors Terry Maris and Terry Keiser, and up to ten students, will be staying warm in sunny Havana, Cuba for eleven weeks during spring quarter.
Maris, professor of economics, and Keiser, chairman of the biology department, coordinate ONU's Cuba Center. They are currently in the process of selecting students to study abroad in Cuba this spring.
"This program is not tailored to any particular major; it's eclectic," Maris said.
Students will study four courses taught in English by Cuban professors. These courses include marine ecology, scientific diving, Spanish, and Cuban history, society, and politics. The courses will be the equivalent of 15 quarter hours, and students "will be able to take an additional four hours through Ohio Northern by distance learning," Maris said.
The last Cuba trip took place in fall 2006.
The trip will last from March 8 to May 17. Students pay regular university tuition, fees, room and board, and maintain enrollment at ONU during their time abroad. Maris considers this "a significant advantage to our students."
"It's study abroad, but they're not going abroad, getting credits, then reapplying-they are actually enrolled here," Maris said. "Any loans, school aid, or other financial arrangements remain untouched. They don't lose any, they don't have to go to the bottom of the queue, anything like that."
Students will be graded by their Cuban professors, and the grades will transfer as pass/fail credits to their ONU transcript.
"Learning [in Cuba] was not out of a book or done by copying down copious amounts of notes, but by having students fully participate in their own learning," Heather Stamper, P3 and 2006 Cuba study abroad participant, said.
In marine biology classes, students learned how much government impacts scientific research, Stamper said. She said the Cubans killed shark specimens to research, an activity that is illegal in America.
"This experience provided a good example of how a different government and culture can shape science," Stamper said.
Maris and Keiser limit the trip to ten students in order to maximize the trip's educational value.
"We took nine students last time, that was a viable number," Maris said. "It's just a better program if you have fewer students. We've been down there concurrent with other universities, and I've seen groups of 20 plus; inevitably they have problems."
Requirements for the trip include good health and the ability to swim, due to the marine nature of some of the courses. Students must also be familiar with Spanish, although fluency is not required. Students also need to have a passport in order to apply and their passport must be valid for six months from the date they return from the program.
Maris, who has travelled to over 70 countries, believes that studying in Cuba is an invaluable opportunity.
"Travelling in Cuba is unlike any experience I've had anywhere else in the world. One reason is because Cuba is so isolated. The Cuban people are isolated from the outside world, and the outside world is likewise isolated from Cuba," Maris said.
Both professors said they find Cubans to be very friendly.
"The Cubans like Americans; they don't like our government, but they like Americans," Keiser said. "I have what I consider some very good friends down there. We don't talk politics... They live in a society where they can't speak out, a very controlled society."
For Stamper, being an American in Cuba was an eye-opening experience.
"For a young middle-class American, the Cuban way of life puts perspective on the comfort and luxury of home in the United States," Stamper said. "For Cubans, life is not easy, but they always make do with what they have available to them."
Spaces are still available and the course is open to all ONU students. Applications are due January 15 and available from Maris in his office, Dicke 12.