India
Sustainable Tourism
Dates
January 3-15 2025
Location
Kodi Bengre / Kovalam
Course
Sustainable Tourism
Price
$3450
India, the land of wonders, will be your classroom for this colorful program that paints a vivid, dynamic portrait of sustainable tourism. Immerse yourself in one enchanting fishing village’s perspective and explore emergent strategies for development while surfing the Arabian Sea’s gentle waves along an empty stretch of white sandy coastline in magical Southern India. Learn the art of coconut chutney, step lightly into mystical temples, and dive into this educational adventure of a lifetime.
Included
- Pre Departure Information
- In Country Orientation
- Course Materials
- In Country transportation
- Most meals
- Acommodations
- Activities
- Surf Board Rental
Not Included
- Airfare
- Baggage Fees
- International Travel Insurance
- Some meals
- Unit fees
Emi Koch
Professor
A former professional surfer, Emi is a social ecologist, Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow (Vietnam, 2019-2020; Greece, 2022-2023), and National Geographic Explorer. Emi utilizes community-based participatory research approaches to understand the impacts of fisheries scarcity on small-scale fishing communities’ well-being and resilience, focusing on youth and the role rural education plays in developing sustainable fisheries and optimistic futures. Emi is the founder of Beyond the Surface International, a nonprofit that collaborates with rural students from small-scale fishing villages using surfing, storytelling, and mindfulness as Positive Youth Development tools for young learners to grow up resilient and embody social-ecological wellbeing for flourishing oceans, lakes, rivers, and people. Emi earned her BA in Psychology with dual concentrations in Anthropology and Justice & Peace Studies from Georgetown University and her graduate degree in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Course Objectives:
This colorful, dynamic two-week study abroad course welcomes students to experience a kaleidoscopic India most foreigners rarely encounter. Together with local community members, learning from their integrated, cross-generational perspectives, students will explore sustainable tourism in the context of a small-scale fishing village nestled between an enchanting freshwater lagoon and a breathtaking stretch of white sandy coastline along the Arabian Sea in Southern India. As India grapples with a rapidly changing climate and industrializing society, sustainable tourism offers opportunities for resilience-building and inclusive, just growth. Guided by Ishita Malaviya, India’s first professional female surfer, and taught by National Geographic Explorer, Emi Koch, students will live and learn at the Shaka Surf Club, a surf school that combines humanitarian work to provide underprivileged youth with an opportunity to experience the joy of surfing. Through emergent strategies and community-based participatory research approaches, students will have the opportunity to investigate sustainable tourism, building upon principles and perspectives in social ecology, secure tenure rights, responsible resource management, community development, natural-cultural heritage, climate justice, and positive youth development.