SUNY Oneonta

Five SUNY Oneonta students flew to England recently to perform in a choir in Durham, UK. The students rehearsed about 25 hours, during which they learned 18 short choral works for performance at the English Choral Experience course held at Durham Castle, part of Durham University. The English Choral Experience was led and directed by prominent English choral conductor, Paul Spicer, who serves as choral conductor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatory. Durham Castle is a Norman castle that has been occupied since 1840 by University College, Durham. It is open to the general public to visit, but only through guided tours, since it is in use as a working building and is home to over 100 students. Oneonta students rehearsed and stayed in the 16th century Great Hall. In order to be selected for the trip, SUNY Oneonta students had to audition. They were required to prepare one song of their choosing and complete several sight-reading exercises. The students were able to do some sightseeing, as well, visiting the cathedral where segments of two Harry Potter movies, the latest Avengers film and "Elizabeth I" were filmed. The trip was conceived through a Faculty Center grant for Applied Learning. The D'Antonio Student Travel for Excellence Fund, the Fund for Oneonta, the Dean of Humanities and the Music Department all supported the trip.

17 SUNY Oneonta students recently traveled to Peru to study tropical biology. The group spent one week in the Andes Mountains learning about ecosystems in the highlands, as well as agricultural practices and culture. Students also learned first-hand the effects of high elevation on the human body! A highlight of their time in the mountains was the visit to the ancient Incan town of Machu Picchu, considered to be one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

From May 14-18, assistant professor of music Dr. Adam Kent led a mini-course on Colombian music in Cartagena, Colombia with three SUNY Oneonta music majors, Misaki Kobayashi, Taylor Stone and Catrin Miskewicz. The program was an outgrowth of a COIL collaboration organized by Dr. Kent with a colleague from the Universidad de Cartagena last fall. With a grant from the O.I.E. and funding provided by the Sociedad de Mejoras Publicas in Cartagena, Dr. Kent partnered with Patricia Ojeda, founder and director of the Escuela de Musica Patricia Ojeda, for a series of presentations on musical nationalism in the South American country. Guest speakers and performers included local percussionists, jazz musicians and experts on Cumbia, the best known indigenous musical form. In addition, the students studied and performed works by such Colombian composers as Jaime Leon, Carlos Luis Figueroa, Adolfo Mejia, Juan Guillermo Villarreal Solar and Guillermo Uribe Holguin. The students plan to offer a concert of the music studied on this trip in the fall semester at SUNY Oneonta. When not busy practicing or attending presentations, the students were able to do some sight-seeing, enjoying an excursion to the Islas del Rosario keys off the Cartagena coast, participating in a workshop on chocolate making, and visiting the local Museo del Oro.

In a whirlwind, multi-country trip, students enrolled in a European History course called The Norman Conquest spent spring break in Norway, England and Scotland visiting countless historic sites. They listened to lectures, examined artifacts in museums including viking ships and the Rosetta Stone, took long train rides through beautiful countryside, saw medieval walls and churches, and visited the White Cliffs of Dover and Westminster Abbey, to name a few popular sites. They were accompanied by their professor, Dr. April Harper.

Seven Spanish students spent spring break completing service learning projects in colorful Colombia, where the temperature was 78 degrees and higher. They toured La Universidad del North, enjoyed the lush vegetation, visited museums, hit the beach, and spent time at Sofia Camargo - an all-girls' school, grades first through eleventh - teaching lessons in English.

On a service-learning trip to Ghana, five SUNY Oneonta students and their professor, Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics Janet Antwi, collaborated with dietetics faculty and students at the University of Ghana to conduct nutrition assessments and teach children in an area elementary school about health and nutrition using games, activities and visual aids. Students also completed a clinical experience in the capital city of Accra, observing and evaluating clients at the Diet Therapy Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. They were able to put into practice knowledge and skills from their Nutrition Assessment and Community Nutrition courses.

Sixteen students explored canyons and hot springs and camped under the stars during winter break as part of their Field Geology of Plate Boundaries course, led by Les Hasbargen, geology professor in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences. This course partially satisfies a capstone requirement for Geology majors and allows them to utilize everything they have learned in geoscience in an applied field setting, identifying rocks, fossils, faults, geomorphic features, folds and sedimentary structures in their natural settings. Students were able to visit some extraordinary places right on the plate boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. They were able to see evidence of recent fault movement and the results of rock deformation along the plate boundary. The students made many field observations and recorded them in a field book. They collected data along this boundary, from which they will create maps and diagrams that reveal how the Earth is tearing apart, shearing and colliding in this region. Most of the diagrams and data analysis will take place back at Oneonta during the spring semester. Assisted by Dr. Chris Karmosky and Dr. Kathryn Metcalf, Hasbargen and his class hiked for several hours a day in desert environments. Temperatures were in the 70s. In the evening, students prepared meals together and slept in tents at private, county and state park campgrounds. Russell Carpenter, a meteorology major, said the trip was beneficial both academically and socially. "This trip was a great hands-on opportunity to learn new information while sightseeing in a region of the U.S. that is new to me," Carpenter said. "In addition, it was great meeting people outside of my major."

Seven SUNY Oneonta students took the trip of a lifetime during winter break, traveling to the beautiful Islands of The Bahamas for the first offering of immersion course BIOL 394: Tropical Flora of The Bahamas. Stationed at Forfar Field Station on Andros Island, students explored plant communities on the islands and learned about the botanical diversity across habitats. They also visited national parks, heritage preserves and several museums to learn about the unique culture and history of The Bahamas. In their downtime, students visited nearby beaches and blue holes, snorkeled in mangroves and learned how to make traditional baskets. Faculty members Tami LaPilusa and Sean Robinson accompanied students on the trip, which lasted from Dec. 28 until Jan. 12. LaPilusa said she was inspired to create the course by a class she took in her undergraduate years.

Eleven SUNY Oneonta art students traveled over spring break to the far-away island-country of Singapore - a contemporary art destination in Asia - to further their studies and experience new cultures. While on the faculty-led trip, the students attended lectures at LASALLE College of the Arts, visited renowned museums and photographed the city. They also tried exotic new food, enjoyed the tropical climate, and met people of diverse ethnicities, including Chinese, Malay and Indian.

A total of 32 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this fall through semester-long and academic-year programs in 13 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers study abroad and exchange programs in Finland, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom through the Office of International Education, plus international internship opportunities and short-term, faculty-led field courses abroad. Oneonta students also have access to more than 600 study abroad and exchange programs through the SUNY network.

It's one thing to read about water resource problems and environmental issues in the developing world. It's an entirely different experience to see these issues - and the people they affect - first-hand and work toward solutions. Sixteen environmental sustainability students from SUNY Oneonta recently returned from a summer international field course where they did just that. In its fourth year, the field course, called "Water and Environment of Guatemala," brought students to Guatemala for two weeks, where they took water samples and analyzed water quality data from Lake Atitlan and the surrounding drainage basin. The course is led by Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Sciences Tracy Allen. Based on their observations, interactions with local residents, and data collection, students worked to identify sustainable solutions to the area's water resources problems. Students were also able to learn about agriculture while touring a coffee plantation and, later, take in the area's natural wonders, including the Pacaya volcano, which is active. The students went into a Guatemalan elementary school to teach fifth and sixth graders about the lake and water quality, and they also installed water filtration systems into some of the area homes. Students said these interactions were particularly meaningful and rewarding, and the trip was eye-opening.

Six students enrolled in Biology 296, a Directed Research course called CCRABSS: Creating Collaboration in Research Among Bahamian and SUNY Oneonta Students, spent a month in the Bahamas learning about fishery management issues. The data they collected will aid in determining land crab fishery stock abundance on North Andros Island as a means of enabling long-term, sustainable harvests of this economically and culturally important species. The students surveyed 5,000 square meters of land crab habitat, counted and measured hundreds of land crab burrows, explored a handful of Blue Holes, enjoyed 28 sunrises from Forfar Beach, and learned how challenging field work can be, even in a tropical paradise.

Seventeen students studied tropical biology in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet during a 22-day summer field course in the Peruvian rainforest.

A total of 60 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this spring through semester-long and academic-year programs in 15 countries.

A total of 39 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this spring through semester-long and academic-year programs in 13 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers study abroad and exchange programs in Finland, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom through the Office of International Education, plus international internship opportunities and short-term, faculty-led field courses abroad.

Twenty-two SUNY Oneonta students are spending part of their summer volunteering in Bolivian schools through a unique faculty-led field course in collaboration with Save the Children International. Accompanied by Brett Heindl, associate professor of political science, and Alejandra Escudero, lecturer in Spanish, the students will spend two weeks immersing themselves in Bolivian culture and doing service-learning projects in elementary schools, high schools and in the Save the Children offices.

A total of 53 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this spring through semester-long and academic-year programs in 12 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers study abroad and exchange programs in Finland, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan through the Office of International Education, plus a variety of short-term, faculty-led programs throughout the year.

Four SUNY Oneonta students and recent graduates have won prizes for photos they took while studying abroad. The college's Office of International Education holds a Study Abroad Photo Contest every year with two categories: Culture and Society, for photos where the focal point of attention is on the customs, objects and historical sites; and Nature, where the focal point of the photo is a landscape or vista.

A total of 47 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this fall through semester-long and academic-year programs in 14 countries.

A total of 48 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this spring through semester-long and academic-year programs in 13 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers exchange programs in Ghana, Ecuador, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan through the Office of International Education, plus a variety of short-term, faculty-led programs. Oneonta students also have access to more than 600 study abroad and exchange programs through the SUNY network.

A summer course in Guatemala combined field research, problem-solving and service learning—plus a chance to climb an 8,000-foot active volcano. A total of 21 Oneonta students traveled to Guatemala with Dr. Tracy Allen, associate professor of geography and environmental sciences, and Dr. Devin Castendyk, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, for a an interdisciplinary field course called Water and the Environment of Guatemala.

A total of 34 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this fall through semester-long and academic-year programs in 11 countries. SUNY Oneonta offers exchange programs in Ghana, Ecuador, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan through the Office of International Education, plus a variety of short-term, faculty-led programs. Oneonta students also have access to more than 600 study abroad programs through the SUNY network.

A total of 38 SUNY Oneonta students are studying abroad this spring through semester-long and academic-year programs in 12 countries.