Program Overview
Together the island state of Tasmania, Australia and the 300-island
nation of Fiji offer students a unique view of how two very different
places have dealt with their remoteness from the rest of the world. When
Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania and Fiji during his search for lands
appropriate for European colonization and exploitation, he found striking
contrasts. Compared to Tasmania's ruggedly beautiful natural environment
of mountains and forests, Fiji was a serene tropical paradise. Or so it
seemed....
In this study abroad will look at how the native populations of
Tasmania and Fiji interacted with their natural environments and fared
once Europeans arrived with their ideas about how these places should
look and be used. We will compare the economic, social and political
geographies of Tasmania and Fiji to gain an understanding of why life for
the average Tasmanian today is much the same as it is for a Delawarean;
whereas life for the average Fijian is "third-world". Finally, we
will look at how the governments in both places are protecting their
incredibly unique and still largely undeveloped natural environments and
promoting ecotourism as a way to integrate these places into the global
economy.
Students on this study abroad will have the added benefit of experiencing
Tasmania and Fiji with instructors who know these places well. Professor
Veness has lived in Tasmania and visited there multiple times; Professor
Kriwoken teaches at the University of Tasmania; and your TA, Lusi
Browning, is a native Fijian. We will introduce you to places each of
us holds dear and link you up with colleagues, friends, and family who
will teach us all a lot about life in their home-land.
While in Tasmania, during the first half of January, we will visit: a
wildlife park to see koalas, wallabies and the Tasmanian Devil; Port
Arthur historic convict settlement; a World Heritage Wilderness Area;
hydro-electric, mining and forestry operations; "Windgrove" ecological
artists' retreat. We will talk with scientists at the Antarctic Division
and Marine Studies research centers; leaders in the active Green
Political Party; and enterprising businesspeople in the tourist industry.
Students can attend the lively annual summer festival that will be in
full swing when we arrive.
In Fiji, for the second half of the program, we will visit world-class
and tourist-packaged coastal resorts, travel by ferry or plane to some
of the remoter islands to see villages where we may be the first
"outsiders" locals have met, and experience the ethnically diverse
capital city of Suva. Students will have the chance to snorkle, swim, and
learn about Fiji from Fijians.
In Tasmania, most of the time students will attend classes and be
housed on the campus of the University of Tasmania, in Hobart (pop.
150,000). In Fiji, students will attend classes "in-the-field" and be
housed in dormitory hotels/guest houses.
UD students pay all program fee deposits by direct bank transfer via this website: http://www.udel.edu/studyabroadpayments. Non-UD students should send a check, payable to the University of Delaware, to CFIS, Elliott Hall, 26 East Main Street, Newark, DE 19716. Credit card payments are not accepted.
