January Block Travel and Excursion Opportunities
Liberal Studies
Searching for the Holy Grail
LS 204.005 - We will explore the wide diversity of religious movements that have arisen in the South of France around the veiled narratives of the Holy Grail. Our trip will begin in Paris and then head through Chartres, the Loire Valley, Carcassonne, the Dordogne, Avignon and end in Barcelona.
Vietnam: History and Culture
LS 402.005 - This course will examine Vietnam as a country rather than as a war. As part of the January block, we will spend approximately two weeks in Vietnam, mostly in the north, but including Hue and Danang. Our itinerary will include scenic, cultural, and historical venues, as well as offer opportunities to meet Vietnamese college students and humanitarian projects. Trip participants will include all ages, including American veterans, and the trip cost will be somewhere in the $2,000 - 2,500 range.
Outdoor Studies
Introduction to Winter Wilderness
OS 110 - Introduction to winter travel and camping skills, avalanche evaluation, and backcountry skiing. The course will cover fundamentals of equipment, food, ski and snowshoe travel, cold injuries, avalanche awareness and rescue, and basic winter natural history. The course consists of and Avi level 1 seminar, a backcountry ski/camping shake down, and a 10-12 day backcountry travel section. Prerequisites: OS 102 and Beginning Cross Country Skiing. Lab Fee.
Recreation, Culture, and Environment: Sport Climbing
OS 216 - This course examines recreation in the context of culture and environment. Students will explore the dynamic relationship between how we recreate, where we recreate, and who our recreation impacts. In addition to mastering the skills associated with a particular form of recreation, students might study the local language, or interpret the area's cultural history, or compile a list of the region's flora and fauna. Prerequisite: OS 102 and instructor permission.
Environmental Science
Oceanography
SC 350 - This course studies the geological, physical, chemical, and biological factors that influence the marine environment. In Hawaii, we will pursue the study of marine resources and the role of the oceans to provide for global sustainability.
Tropical Ecology
SC440 - Tropical Ecology is an upper division course that travels to Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. It includes one week preparatory time in Alaska, then two weeks travel time studying several tropical ecosystem types, both natural and anthropogenic. A $750 course fee plus approximately $1500 air travel are required of the student.
Winter Ecology
SC 202 - This course examines how organisms deal with seasonally freezing temperatures, snow cover, and the desiccation of winter months. Class trips to Turnagain Pass, Portage, the Chugach Mountains and the Talkeetna Mountains are planned. Students should be prepared for overnight trips to APU's Kellogg station, from which some of the field trips will be conducted.
