Travel Chapter 17 A day on MV Explorer

Travel chapter 17
Life on board the MV Explorer

This piece is to give a sense of what goes on when the Explorer is at sea. The voyage we are on carries 730 students, mostly juniors and seniors from over 100 colleges in the US. There are very few international students on this voyage, perhaps only 4. Some 70% of the students are girls. This gender split is a constant, and tipping even to higher female student participation. It seems there are many explanations for this gender imbalance but no one seems to have a definitive answer. It is a concern to the managers of this program as boys will come in even less numbers if the student population shifts to too many girls.

Life of board the ship is a new environment for the vast majority of the students. Quite a number of the students have travelled outside the US but for the vast majority this is their first trip outside of their country. What is interesting on this trip, compared to our first voyage in 2004 is that the students are once again proud to be Americans due to the arrival of Barack Obama as president. Everywhere they have been so far, they are welcomed with good words because of the election of Obama. Prior to this, many Americans traveling abroad tried to downplay their citizenship, some even going to the extreme of declaring themselves Canadians to avoid being the butt of comments, not always friendly.

The faculty is made up of some 30 professors teaching subjects such as business, sciences, linguistics, history, psychology, literature, comparative religion, art and music.
The professors are mostly senior or recently retired full professors, all with their PhD’s in their fields. The largest group is US Profs, mainly from the University of Virginia which sponsors the program now. There are 3 Profs from Canada. Again a very weak international presence. All the courses are credit courses which can be recognized by the home universities of the students. UVA is responsible for course content to ensure that it meets their own academic standards. to ensure that course results can be accepted in the home universities of the students.

The ship has some 10 classrooms either cut out of larger spaces or of room formerly used for other things on this former cruise ship. In addition there is the Union which sits some 500 persons. The ship is well equipped with technical equipment to pipe presentations in the main Union into outlaying classrooms and/or cabins to ensure that everybody gets a chance to follow Union events.

Classes are held each day the ship is at sea, including Sundays and holidays except on a few days when things like the Equator crossing or Olympics are held. As a rule the ship is in port about the same number of days as it is at sea. Students are required to carry 3 classes in addition to the daily Global Studies class held each day at sea in the Union. Classes start at 7:55am and continue all day until the last classes start at 4.15pm Classes are scheduled for 75 minutes but rarely go for more than 65 minutes, including role call at each class. Class sizes are at the most 35 so are small compared to many campuses. This allows the profs to get to know their students. This is in fact, one one of the great features of this program because not only are the classes small, but professors are available in corridors, at meetings, at meals and on shore trips. Students and profs can get to know each other much more than on a traditional campus where a Professor gives a class and then is not be seen until the next class. They say that on a ship there is no place to hide, which in this case is a good thing. I have seen many students and profs who become friends and the profs can spend more time counseling their students.

The workload for the profs can be overwhelming as each teaches at least 3 classes so they are teaching one course every day and two on the other day while on board. This means they have about 100 students but they do not have any assistants as would be the case on land. This means that not only do most have to develop a particular syllabus to fit the voyage theme (in our case it is supposed to be migration) but they also have to prepare tests, administer and then grade all these papers. Given that there are courses every day sometimes for 5 to 6 days in a stretch, the pace is fairly quick and students have to attend classes in order to keep up. They then also have to spend time doing the readings required for each subject and write term papers as well as prepare for periodic exams and tests which happen several times during the semester.

So for all involved it is a pretty hectic pace. One thing that disturbs the pattern is the fact that each 6 or 7 days, we are in a port often for 5 days. Kids and profs go off for land excursions and have a hard time regaining the momentum of where the course left off.

During sea days, the ship is a bundle of activity with classes going on, seminars being planned and studying going on at all times in all parts of the ship. As the students are housed in double and triple cabins, most studying must be done somewhere outside the cabin. The ship carries a fairly extensive library with 10,000 books as well as a couple of professional librarians. There are some 20 computers in the lab which allow free access to a number of academic websites. The ship provides each person with a free email for communications and there are limited internet connections via satellite which can be very expensive. Profs and staff have unlimited internet access and students can buy time, albeit at a high expense.

Each morning all professors, students and we the adult passengers (known as Life Long Learners) are required to attend. At Global Studies general subjects are usually covered. Up to now, this course has been very sketchy as it has consisted of one prof after the other getting up and summarizing his or her subject in one hour. Boring! Perhaps things will improve.

As LLL’s, we are allowed to attend any class we wish as long as there is enough room in the class for students. We are attending the following classes:
Brigitte: Zoology and tropical ecology
Emmett: Marine Biology, Language policy reform and zoology
I: Linguistics, Medieval travelers and History of China, Qin and Han dynasties.

So are our days at sea are spent. They also include discussions with students and professors at meals and on the decks which are always interesting and lively. This is such a difference from the days on cruise ships with strange people. I do not miss that kind of travel. I can heartily recommend such a voyage.

Tomorrow we arrive in Mauritius for one day. Emm and I intend to Flic en Flac to find a beach to do some snorkeling. We leave for India in the evening,
Cheers