ODU Study Abroad to offer study abroad program during Spring 2020 Semester

By Marcus Lawrence

During this upcoming Spring 2020 semester, Old Dominion University's Study Abroad office will offer students the opportunity to embark on a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience to Costa Rica to, amongst other thrilling activities, experience life on the Nicoya Peninsula.

The main theme and focus of the class and the trip will be wellness, per faculty leaders, Thomas Socha (Communications) and Michael Allen (Geography). One facet of the course will be for students to observe and analyze different aspects such as the biodiversity found in a region like Costa Rica. During class time, students will receive lectures on these aspects which include, but are not limited to, learning about the natural environment, mobility, interpersonal communication strategies and nutrition. The highlight of the trip will be the blue zone on the Nicoya Peninsula where wellness is what makes it so special, so it's a very important aspect for students to learn before going on the trip.

A blue zone, a term coined by National Geographic fellow Dan Buettner, describes a region in the world where people live much longer than the average lifespan. There only five currently defined blue zones in the world, and Costa Rica is one of them. One of the unique parts of this trip, according to Allen, is the opportunity to speak to centenarians, people who lived to be 100 years old while still both healthy and mobile. Socha is equally enthusiastic about this as well, saying "The field of communications has not yet focused on the blue zones, that is, communication in areas of the world where people live to be age-100 and healthy."

Socha considers another distinctive part of this trip as the opportunity to observe and focus on the social network in a blue zone, specifically how everyone interacts as part of a system. In addition to experiencing centenarians firsthand, students can also expect to learn about sustainable agricultural practices, climb a volcano, eat at local restaurants, tour national parks and even go zip lining in the upper canopy of a bid reserve, something Socha is personally looking forward to. At the end of the trip, both Socha and Allen hope students walk away with a better understanding of hollistic wellness and just how many pieces there are to it. In obtaining more knowledge on different cultures, Allen notes this experience will "inform students to be better global citizens."

This course will be offered in the spring as GEOG 496/596 and COMM 495/595. The application deadline for the trip is Nov. 8 with rolling admissions, but you must be registered in the course to be considered. The trip will be during spring break from March 8, 2020 to March 14, 2020. The entire trip will cost students $3,990, but there are Dean's Education Abroad awards for the first qualified applicants.