Students to trek through Amazon during two-week trip

Filip Panovski/Contributing Writer

During the 2012 summer B semester that begins on June 25, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of Biological Sciences will be offering an interdisciplinary, unique experience for students of all majors: a course sporting a two-week trip to the Amazon rain forest.

Students will be able to gain first-hand experience with exotic animals and plant life and learn about Brazilian culture in Belém, one of the largest cities in the Amazon region.

The course, Science and Environmental Communication in the Brazilian Amazon, will focus on science and environmental communication with an emphasis on multimedia. The course will be taught by Raul Reis, the Dean of SJMC and Richard Brinn, professor in the department of Biological Sciences.

The first week of the course will feature discussions and lectures, as well as selected scientific readings aimed at preparing students for the two-week trip to the Amazon River estuary.

“I created the course as a joint opportunity for students to find out about Brazil and Brazilian culture and open their horizons,” said Reis, who had been teaching the course since 2002 at California State University, Long Beach.

“Technology made it easier for students to get more reporting experience, so the course became a little more hands-on toward the end,” said Reis, referring to the inclusion of video blogs and reports which students are required to submit by the end.

Reis invited Brinn to take part in teaching the course and add a more scientific approach. Student interested in the past has been steady: an average of 10-12 students accompanied Reis each year.

While general student input on the class is positive, the price for the trip can be a setback for some. The overall expenses come out to near $4,000 to cover the round-trip plane ticket, which students must buy themselves. There will also be miscellaneous expenses including potential boat trips and research center visits.

“It seems worth it,” said Kleopatra Markou freshman Biology major. “Biology students get hands-on experience with indigenous species and the journalism majors can report it.”

Tariq Darwish, a freshman majoring in Computer Science, doesn’t find price to be a deterrent either.

“Price is an issue for everything anyway, so it’s not that big a hindrance,” said Darwish, noting that the course would likely be a great opportunity to explore the world in a place aside from the classroom.

Alisson Ho, a sophomore Business Management management major, feels the price is “not a turn off, but a setback.”

Others, however, seem less enthusiastic after hearing the accompanying expenses.

“It sounds like an extended field trip, honestly. It may be a good experience, but if you need your own plane ticket, you could just go on your own,” said Samantha Meteyer, freshman Public Relations major.

Reis hopes that the number of University students that will be interested will remain around the average of the past.

“Students have gained much experience and insight from the course in the past,“ Reis said.