This year, I’ll be spending my spring semester studying global environmental issues at the University of Cape Town as a part of a group of students from American liberal arts colleges and South Africa. This blog is a tool to share my experiences abroad with friends and family at home.
Ever since I’ve been attending Macalester College in St. Paul, I knew I would want to take advantage of the ease of studying abroad. I decided on this program because of the long stay (half a year!) and the opportunity to study both global and regional environmental issues in an urban context. For an Environmental Studies and Geography double major with a concentration in Urban Studies and an interest in racial issues, it seems like a great fit. I also intend to share stories I report in Cape Town for Round Earth Media, a non-profit dedicated to supporting and promoting international journalism by young independent journalists.
Those are the serious reasons: there’s also the lifestyle reasons. Beautiful weather during a Southern Hemisphere summer, cheap food and (legal!) drink, housing in a colonial mansion, complete with pool, along with other program participants and UCT students, and the setting in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I feel so lucky to have the chance to do this, and I hope this blog keeps everyone updated about both my activities and helps inform about some of the issues I’ll be studying.
I’ll be posting pictures to my Flickr account. I’ll update as much as I can – I won’t have unlimited Internet, and my first priority will obviously be taking in my surroundings rather than writing home about them. Also, because of the time crunch, these posts aren’t going to be especially carefully written. But I’m happy about the ease of sharing what I’m doing with all of you, and would love to hear feedback! Please comment or email me if you have any questions!
