Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Writer: Page McCorkle, 706/542-0010, pageme@uga.eduContact: Quint Newcomer, 706/583-0303, quintn@uga.edu

Students return from UGA in Costa Rica

Athens, Ga. – Students in Maymester study abroad programs who traveled to the San Luis Research Station, UGA’s 153-acre campus in Costa Rica, recently returned to the U.S.  Participants in the insect natural history, UGA Costa Rica English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), advanced creative writing, art and culture in Latin America and ecology programs spent about three weeks at the station.

The Department of Entomology's teaching and service-learning program launched a new international program, offering a course in insect natural history. Seven students participated in the course designed to enable science majors to obtain a meaningful field biology experience while enhancing their awareness of global, environmental and cultural issues.

Public outreach experiences for the entomology course included providing insect collections to local Costa Rican schools and participating in the Athfest Kidsfest, where students in the course displayed the exotic insects they collected in Costa Rica.

The Department of Language and Literacy’s Paula Mellom led the UGA Costa Rica ESOL program which offered an undergraduate course with a focus on the concept of language and its relationship to culture.  Students learned how cultural understanding impacts teaching English to non-native speakers in a school setting and worked in local schools in Costa Rica.

 “I have been to other countries, but Costa Rica was the best yet.  It doesn’t matter what program you go with, just go,” said Rachel Block, a senior studying Spanish.

Dorine Preston directed the advanced creative writing program which offered a course in poetry and reflective writing.  Elizabeth Fields, a 30 year-old undergraduate student, who helped develop this program said, “This was the first time I have been out of the country and the experience was like a dream come true.” 

Joe Norman, director of the drawing and painting program at the Lamar Dodd School of Art, led a new art and culture in Latin America program. Norman’s students honed their painting, drawing and photography skills by focusing on the lush living landscape of the Monteverde Cloud Forest region.  They attended workshops with local artists and gave the Costa Rican campus some beautiful new artwork.

Diana Lieberman led the sixth conservative tropical ecology Maymester program touring Costa Rica and immersing students in multiple forest types as they learned about ecosystem processes in the tropics.

Service-learning and study-abroad opportunities create an environment of active academic engagement for students.  Students and faculty in the fourteen programs traveling to the UGA Costa Rica campus throughout the year find a unique setting in the mountains of Costa Rica and a full service facility that supports their programs. 

For more information about participating in UGA Costa Rica programs either as a student or as an instructor, please contact Quint Newcomer at 706/583-0303 or quintn@uga.edu.

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Note to editors: Photos from the Maymester in Costa Rica are available by contacting Wendy Jones at 706/542-6927 or wfjones@uga.edu.