Comparative Environment and Culture

Example Syllabus

May Term destination - Kenya, Africa

 

Texts:

Environmental Science, G. Tyler, Miller, Jr., Wadsworth Publishing Co., N.Y., 6th ed., 1997

Man on Earth, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1988

Teaching Multiple Intelligence, New City School, Inc., St. Louis, 1994

The Rough guide to Kenya, R. Trillo, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London, England, 1987

The Africans, D. Lamb, Random House, N.Y., 1982

Note: You are not expected to purchase texts. They will be available during the the trip.

Course rational: This travel course will examine environmental resources and issues by comparing our local area to communities in Kenya, Africa. Students will focus on the following areas:

 

The goal of this course is to develop a deeper awareness of environmental issues facing society by engaging students in a comparative study that has a focus on sustainablity. School children in the area will study a community in Kenya where we will travel. We will bring back stories, pictures, and articles that will be interesting and fun to share with the school children. You will develop an activity that shares your experiences with the students and helps tie together the program and the concept of a sustainable society. We will come to learn the similarities and comparative challenges between our community and the Kenyan community. The Kenyan community will learn about us through your interaction with them.


Grading: You will be required to keep a journal. We will have weekly journal sessions where we will discuss topics related to assigned readings and/or experiences. Your journals will be collected after the capstone activity and graded on the following criteria: Completeness, discussion of reading assignments, description of capstone activity. The capstone activity of the course will be an activity that you create to teach school kids about the community that you visited. You will have four short exams during the course. They will focus on specific topics that we identify during the trip.

Final Grade:


Program Information - click here!

Links to valuable information:

See the Roanoke College students who went to Kenya in 1998!

See a web chronical of the 1998 program


Some valuable information and contacts:

Kenya Embassy

2249 R. St. N.W.

Washington D.C.

202.387.6101

hours: M-F

9:30-1:00

2:00-3:30

U.S. Dept. of State, Kenya office

202.647.6479

recorded information

202.647.5225


CDC Summary of Recommendations for East Afrcia

Travelers should:

  1. take Mefloquine (or equivalent) for malaria prevention,
  2. follow precautions to prevent insect bites,
  3. pay attention to the quality of their drinking water and food,
  4. have a dose of Immune Globulin (IG) or Hepatitis A vaccine, and
  5. consider booster doses of tetanus (Td) and polio (EIPV) vaccines.
  6. Depending on the locations to be visited, planned activities, and health of the traveler, the following vaccines should be considered:
  7. Finally, the normal "childhood" vaccines should be up-to-date:

Details for these recommendations are found in the CDC document. Refer to "Vaccine Recommendations" for additional information on vaccines. For further information on food and water precautions refer to "Traveler's Diarrhea & Food and Water Precautions". Pregnant travelers or travelers with children should check the Travel Directory for additional information

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