Sweet Power: Study Abroad in the Caribbean

Curaçao Barbados

Sweet Power: Sugar, Empires, and Slaves in the Caribbean
18 May - 7 June 2008
Curaçao, Barbados
Sponsored by the Center for International Education Abroad, Truman State University

Course Description
Sweet Power is a three-week, six-credit, Study Abroad course. The class will take place in Curaçao (Dutch slave trade), and Barbados (English sugar plantation system). The Caribbean is an amalgam of five continents: Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. It is an archipelago of the world’s cultures, mixed and remixed by time, economics, and power. Studying the historic and contemporary Caribbean is a route toward greater understanding of world history. Course leaders are Dr. Steven Reschly, associate professor of history at Truman State University.

If you would like information about this program, please contact sdr@truman.edu. Students from other campuses are welcome to take our courses--we will happily send information to you. We have worked with students to transfer credit to a number of institutions, even graduate schools. Course members will select a topic using this list, in consultation with Dr. Reschly.

Below is a brief overview of the course. We are also posting a longer SYLLABUS WITH ITINERARY, which will be updated as needed, and links for travel information.

Sweet Power: Sugar, Empires, and Slaves in the Caribbean
Overview of Course

·       Study abroad course worth six credits
·        No prerequisites
·        Course is taught in English
·        All majors and levels welcome and encouraged

Sites We Will Visit
·        The Kura Hulanda Museum on Curaçao (photo at right)
·        Willemstad, capital city of Curaçao (UNESCO World Heritage City)
·        Jewish Synagogue and Museum on Curaçao
·        Bridgetown, capital city of Barbados
·        Sunbury Plantation House on Barbados
·        Folkestone Marine Park & Museum on Barbados (snorkeling)
·        George Washington House on Barbados

…and more

Cost and Payments for the 2008 Course
Past students have found a variety of ways to pay for the course, from applying their scholarships to negotiating with their parents and other relatives, to charging the amount on a credit card (we don't recommend the latter!). Ideas for financing the course can be found at the Truman Study Abroad website, with links to a number of potential sources. TSU has an excellent Cultural Loan program (at the bottom of the linked page), with loans up to $5,000 at a low interest rate, repayable after you graduate. Other students have used Stafford loans. Small grants may become available from the Study Abroad Office; we will notify you when we learn about grant availability. If you are a Pershing scholar, you can apply the entire Study Abroad allowance to this course. Other external sources for financing include the Study Abroad Loan Program and the International Education Finance Corporation.

Do stop by the Financial Aid office and ask them what is available to you for Study Abroad. They are knowledgeable and helpful.

The cost of the course is $5,500 (travel $3,949; tuition $1,551, or $258.50 x 6 hours). The course is nonprofit, and all unspent funds are returned to students. The price includes:
·        Six undergraduate credits of TSU tuition at the in-state rate. You must take the course for credit; the in-state rate also applies to out-of-state students.
·        Round-trip group airfare from Miami to Curaçao and Barbados.
·        All accommodations. A representative hotel is the Ocean 11 Apartments in St. Lawrence Gap, Barbados. There will be two or three to a room, occasional quads. Bathrooms in rooms.
·        Three meals a day including non-alcoholic beverages beginning with the first day in Curaçao.
·        All transportation on both islands.
·        All admissions and tours (sites, museums, etc.).
·        Study Abroad medical insurance from CISI (Cultural Insurance Services International).
·        Your International Student ID card, issued by CIEA.
·        All tips.

The fee does not include:
·        Passport fees.
·        Snacks, bottles of water outside mealtime, etc.
·        Alcoholic beverages, even when a meal is paid for with group funds.
·        Personal purchases and expenses (souvenirs, postcards, stamps).
·        Reading materials for course work (less than $100).
·        Transportation to and from the departure airport in the U.S.

Comments from previous study abroad students

This class is a great experience that is well worth the time, effort, and money involved. Don’t stress out too much about what to pack or how you’re going to manage living in another culture--just enjoy the trip and keep an open mind. You’ll be surprised by how much you learn.

Worth every penny plus some.

You cannot be a truly educated person until you are aware of other cultures and the only way to attempt to understand another culture is to immerse yourself in it.

This has been, above all things, an experience of a lifetime. Not everyone gets the opportunity to study abroad and it is an abundance of new worldly knowledge that one can't find just studying at home.

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