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Academics : International Education Study Abroad

Study Abroad, New Zealand

2008-09 Study abroad program, New Zealand

New Zealand

Spring semester 2009

Leaders: Meg Donnelly and Glenn Minshall
Travel dates: February/March 2009

Country
New Zealand/Aotearoa is located in the South Pacific Ocean about 1800 miles east of Australia. The country consists of three islands; North, South and Stewart Islands which are collectively about the size of Colorado. The country has a population of just over 4 million people, and the capital city, Wellington, is located at the southern end of the North Island. The official languages of the country are English and Maori, and the nation is ruled by a parliamentary democracy with members elected by proportional representation. The country is noted for its political stability, safety, friendly people, stunning scenery and its efforts to protect natural resources and the environment.

Academic Program
New Zealand/Aotearoa was first settled in the thirteenth century by seafaring explorers from Eastern Polynesia. These people have identified as Maori and are indigenous to New Zealand/Aotearoa. The first European to set foot ashore was James Cook in 1770. He visited three times and his maps, reports, drawings and botanical samples precipitated a rapid movement of European peoples to the country. Inside of 100 years European or ‘Pakeha’ immigrants outnumbered indigenous Maori. European colonization and the associated exploitation of resources and alienation from their land had devastating consequences for the Maori; population decline and loss of tribal and cultural identity being pre-eminent. As pressure on land and resources increased in the nineteenth century a treaty was signed between colonizing Europeans and indigenous Maori. The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi implied partnership, not subjugation of the native culture by numerically stronger ‘Pakeha.’
As the twenty first century unfolds, the implications of the partnership acknowledged by treaty in 1840 continues to be explored. The study of this partnership between Maori and European is the heartbeat of the travel program to New Zealand/Aotearoa; a complex amalgam of academic study, community service, outdoor/recreational opportunity and an introduction to Maoritanga, the indigenous culture.

Travel Program
Students spend their first six weeks on campus in intensive classroom study of history, literature, cultural and science topics/texts. The travel component is during February/March and will likely be 6 – 7 weeks abroad. Travel throughout the North and South Islands of the country is mostly in vans driven by the program leaders. Accommodations include youth hostels, marae, a convent and a home stay in either Wellington or Hamilton. Outdoor activities such as the hike through the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park are provided, while other activities such as dolphin swimming and blackwater rafting are at the discretion and expense of the student. While traveling, students are expected to help with shopping, cooking and cleaning up from meals and with packing the van/trailer. On return, students resume classroom studies to prepare and present meaningful final projects in all three academic classes. For more detail on the in-country program see the sample itinerary at the end of this description.

Requirements
The program is by application from eligible juniors and seniors. The application process takes account of a student’s academic, community service and disciplinary history, and includes an interview with the program leaders Meg Donnelly and Glenn Minshall.

Credits
Successful completion of the program earns students three credits: English, History and Environmental Studies. Seniors earn their required senior English credit as well as History and Science elective credits. Juniors earn English, History and Science elective credits, and may take American Literature or AP English in their senior year to meet their American Literature requirement. Environmental Studies (ENV415) is a non-lab credit. In addition, while on campus students participate in a required orientation, Intercultural Communications, to examine some specific cross-cultural issues they will encounter while studying abroad.

Application:
The application form is available in Student Announcements on SWIS*, or at the Center for International Education in Beveridge Hall, Room 030, or x3251. The completed application including all supporting materials and the $300 application fee is due in the Center for International Education on Monday, March 31, 2008. No late applications will be accepted.

*Student Announcements --> International Education --> Study Abroad ’08-‘09 --> Application

Fee:
In addition to the regular cost of tuition, room, and board, students pay a program fee of $1850.00 plus airfare and other major transportation costs.  NMH partially subsidizes its study abroad programs in order to keep costs affordable for families. Very limited need-based financial aid may be available but is not guaranteed.

  What former students have to say about NMH Study Abroad in New Zealand:

Tons of really great memories that I’ll have forever!

The culture there was amazing. I got very close to my host family, the nicest people I have ever met!

I learned more about myself hiking the Milford Track than I had in a long time.

The most memorable? Too many for words...

 

NMH Study Abroad: NEW ZEALAND
Sample Itinerary *
*This itinerary is only a sample taken from previous NMH study abroad programs to New Zealand, and is to be used for promotional purposes only. The actual itinerary for 2008-09 may vary significantly from this.

Week 1 South West South Island

• Visit & stay Te Koawa Turoa o Takitimu reserve for an introduction to Maori culture & community service project.
• Stay in the Fiordland National Park. Hike the Kepler Track & community service.
• Stay at Te Rau Aroha Marae for cultural experience & education.
• Visit beautiful Queenstown. Optional activities here include lugeing on Bob’s Peak & jet boating in Skippers Canyon.

Week 2 West Coast South Island

• Stay at Te Tauraka Waka A Maui Marae at Bruce Bay for cultural experience and education.
• Stay at Okarito, home to author Keri Hulme
• Visit Hokitika most famous for greenstone (jade) carvings & jewelry.
• Visit & stay at the pancake rocks at Paparoa National Park, Punakaiki.
• Hike to Franz Josef Glacier.

Week 3 Kaikoura and Wellington

• Stay at Takahanga Marae, Kaikoura, for cultural education & experience.
• Optional activities at Kaikoura include dolphin swimming and whale watch.
• Travel across Cook Strait by ferry to the capital city of Wellington.
• Visit Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum, Wellington City.
• Wellington City scavenger hunt.
• Visit author Katherine Mansfield’s Birthplace.
• Home stay with students from Scots College (this is a private high school).
• Visit classes at Queen Margaret College for girls.

Week 4 Central North Island

• Stay at Waiokura Marae for cultural experience & education.
• Bicycle ride in the Taranaki (volcano) National Park.
• Hike the Tongariro Crossing with views of Mounts Ruapehu, Tongariro & Ngauruhoe (all volcanoes).
• Stay at St Josephs Convent at Jerusalem, last resting place for poet James K Baxter.
• Travel by jet boat to the Bridge to Nowhere.

Week 5 Thermal North Island & Hamilton

• View geysers and boiling mud at thermal reserves in Taupo and Rotorua.
• Optional activities in Rotorua include Zorbing (roll downhill in a giant water bubble)
• Stay at Waitomo for glow worm cave visit and optional Blackwater Rafting experience.
• Stay at Hukanui Marae for cultural education & experience.
• Home stay with students from St Paul’s Collegiate (private high school) in Hamilton.

Week 6 Auckland and North

• Visit the Waitangi Treaty grounds in the beautiful Bay of Islands.
• Visit the magnificent Kauri forests of North Auckland including a walk to Tane Mahuta, one of the world’s largest trees.
• Sand surf on the dunes at Hokianga Harbour.
• Explore Auckland City, New Zealand’s largest city.
• Stay at Hoani Waititi Marae for cultural experience and education.
• Go to Eden Park to watch a rugby match.