PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000--At 8:00 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2000 more than 620 undergraduate college students from across the United States will arrive in Havana, Cuba on board the SS Universe Explorer. This historic visit to Cuba marks the first stop on a 100-day academic voyage with
the Semester at Sea program and the second semester in which Cuba has been included as part of the Latin American component. Following the four-day Cuba visit the program will travel around the world to Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan, covering
approximately 25,000 miles before returning to Seattle on May 1, 2000.
In keeping with the academic focus of the Semester at Sea program, students are exposed to a variety of worldviews provided by faculty, U.S. diplomats, interport lecturers, briefings and host national officials. Students are often confronted with conflicting values, political positions and
ideologies as they travel the world while participating in the program. In order to better understand the political relationship between the U.S. and Cuba over the past few decades, the Institute for Shipboard Education has invited senior U.S. and Cuban government officials to meet with students
during their visit to Cuba.
Members of the press are invited to attend a briefing on the Semester at Sea visit to Cuba, to be held (pending permission) at the cruise ship terminal Sierra Maestra San Francisco on Calle San Pedro No. 1 in Havana at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 24, 2000. Those wishing to cover the event should be sure to
obtain the necessary clearance in advance at the Centro Internacional de Prensa (tel 537-32-0526).
Semester at Sea is administered by the Institute for Shipboard Education and is academically sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh. This comparative global education program uses the 23,500 ton SS Universe Explorer as a "floating campus" complete with classrooms, 12,000-volume
library and computer lab, to take students from over 230 colleges and universities around the world each fall, spring, and summer semester. Over 30,000 students have participated in Semester at Sea since the program began in 1964.
For additional information contact:
Julian Asenjo Institute for Shipboard Education 811 William Pitt Union University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 412/648-7490 (telephone) 412/648-2298 (fax) Jasenjo@sas.ise.pitt.edu (email)
CONTACT:
Institute for Shipboard Education, Pittsburgh
Julian Asenjo, 412/648-7490
KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA
BW1402 JAN 18,2000
6:54 PACIFIC
9:54 EASTERN |