Analysis of field program
-- Fred Hansen, April 6, 2005

It has been my impression that the tours are really screwed up. In this first section, I review the full set of offerings in three cities. After the analysis it will come out that the trips are not as bad as my own experiences might indicate. I happen to have a talent for choosing the wrong tours. (I opted mostly for touristy tours.)

A recent epiphany: I had thought that tours were carefully arranged to explore a particular topic of importance. In fact, it turns out, tours are a mishmash of stuff glommed together in order to fill a specified amount of time.

Cape Town

The Cape Town field program can be organized in four categories:
race and poverty in South Africa
CAP02 ROBBEN ISLAND 
CAP03 RACES AND RACE CLASSIFICATION: BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER APARTHEID [FDP: WINKLER]
CAP04 KHAYELITSHA TOWNSHIP VISIT 
CAP06 TOWNSHIP VISIT & DISTRICT SIX MUSEUM
CAP07 TOWNSHIP MUSIC 
CAP12 OPERATION HUNGER [FDP A: CURTIN] [FDP C: SUHOZA]
CAP20 FREE AT LAST TOWNSHIP TOUR
CAP22 AMY BIEHL FOUNDATION TRUST
course related
CAP11 CAPE PENINSULA GEOLOGICAL EXCURSION & HOUT BAY [FDP: R. DEHON]
CAP23 PARLIAMENT VISIT [FDP: BAOFU & HANSEN] (CANCELLED)
CAP27 ART AND SOCIETY IN SOUTH AFRICA [FDP: CROZIER]
CAP32 TORTOISE BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION [FDP: YEOMANS]
active tours
CAP09 CYCLING IN THE WINELANDS [FDP: NARWOLD]  (not the advertised itinerary)
CAP13 BREEDE RIVER RAFTING & OVERNIGHT
CAP16 HIKING TABLE MOUNTAIN WITH THE FORMER MAYOR 
CAP25 BREEDE RIVER RAFTING
touristy tours
CAP01 CITY ORIENTATION
CAP05 TABLE MOUNTAIN
CAP08 CAPE PENINSULA AND CAPE POINT [FDP: FISHER & MAGOULICK]
CAP10 NATURE TOUR: KIRSTENBOSCH/GROOT CONSTANTIA/SEAL ISLAND [FDP: F. SERIO]
CAP15 A NIGHT OF THEATRE [FDP: J. DEHON, FENNEMA & J. SERIO] (not as advertised)
CAP17 CAPE AGULHAS: THE MOST SOUTHERNLY TIP OF AFRICA (decidedly not as advertised)
CAP18 KAGGA KAMMA
CAP26 CAPE WINELANDS
First, let's look at "FDP"s, or Faculty Directed Practicums. For the first two categories it is clear how the activities of the tour relate to coursework. And the particular professors listed are qualified in the respective disciplines. It is not clear to me how these professors make the connection between tour and class; professors are forbidden from demanding that students take a particular tour. In the FDP tours I took, there was no effort by the accompanying faculty to discuss or initiate dicussion of course related topics. Perhaps they did so in classes aboard ship, but not all students in the class would have been on the tour. For the other two categories of trip I see little relation between course work and tour.

Second, let's look at itinerary compliance. It is remarkable that the three tours I took (CAP09, CAP15, and CAP17) all had itineraries that differed substantially from the prospectus. Perhaps that is because I signed up for "portmanteau" tours, those featuring more than one destination. Many tours had single destinations and visited them. For the others, I did not hear complaints of the sort of wholesale deviations I experienced.

Third, let's look at meals. Again, my  three tours may have been unique. Lunches were at 2:30 and 1:30. Dinner was at 7:30 in one case and converted from "a picnic meal" to a bunch of unhealthy hors d’oeuvres in the other.

Summary: The field program selection available for Cape Town wasn't reaally too bad. There was plenty of opportunity to observe the underclass. There were academic, active, and traditional tours. The worst that can be said is that the tours might have been more academic and active and a bit less touristy. And of course, to keep me happy, meals should be on time.

Let's consider the Cape Agulhas itinerary in more detail. Here it is as presented in the "Final Field Program:" http://www.semesteratsea.com/voyages/spring2005/S05-FinalCape Town.pdf  (I've added the line numbers for reference, otherwise the text is verbatim. All field program descriptions are written in this breathless ad-speak--dense, discursive, and full of hyperbole. The author(s) seem not to understand the difference between an advertisement and a simple, comprhensi{bl/v}e list of where the tour goes. Almost never is there a map.)
Day 1:
1a
 Depart by motorcoach and travel towards the mountains of the Western Cape, stopping for a visit at Mamre, former home of the Khoi Khoi tribe and the second oldest mission station in South Africa.
1b
 Continue through Stellenbosch and 
1c
 Gordon’s Bay towards Hermanus.
1d
 Have lunch at a unique restaurant, Bientang’s Cave, which is built into the rocky sea cliffs. While listening to the sounds of the ocean, guests are treated to a feast of fresh seafood.
1e
 After lunch, proceed on the dirt road to Elim, the only town in South Africa with a monument to commemorate the freedom of the slaves. In fact, the entire town has been declared a National Monument. Visit the Elim Home, the Old Watermill, and the Moravian Church.
1f
 Continue through Struis Bay to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost town in Africa. (L,D; Die Herberg Resort)
Day 2:
2a
 After breakfast, visit the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse, the country's second oldest lighthouse. Built in 1848 in Pharos style, it has been restored and now houses the only lighthouse museum in South Africa. The southern tip territory is known as the Graveyard of Ships, and the lighthouse was constructed as a result of the many ships that ran aground during the last century.
2b
 Drive to Bredasdorp for a visit to the Shipwreck Museum.
2c
 After lunch, continue to Genadendal, the oldest mission station in South Africa where you will meet Dr. Isaac Balie who will discuss the Genandendal culture.
2d
 Continue through apple country and visit a farm stall en route. (B, L)

When the tour guide and driver looked over the itinerary they were given, it bore only passing resemblance to the above. It dropped Elim and added two stops in Hermanus. (Both revisions were good ideas.) The guide and driver immediately recognized that the new schedule could not be met, so they revised it some more.  I am convinced their revisions were appropriate and beneficial. The final revised scehdule that we followed was this:
Notice the profound change. No longer is this a tour to Cape Agulhas. Now we are on a jaunt through the country east of Cape Town, concentrating on Hermanus. The Cape appears as a brief side stop. Moreover, we were not told that the lighthouse, where the bus stopped, was not itself at the very southern tip of Africa. An additional walk of 15-20 minutes was needed to get there. Some went on that walk and others did not. (I skipped it to stay out of the sun. Being exactly at the tip was not important to me anyway. And there were no penguins to be seen.) About a third of the students were so disappointed that they hired a driver to take them back the 50 km to the Cape the next morning. They got what they wanted from the tour, but it cost them the nature walk. They should not have had to make that sacrifice. (Their loss was NOT the fault of our tour guide. She gave a great tour, making the best of the schedule she was handed. Nor can any blame be attached to the field office staff on the ship, Adriene, Joseph, and Summer. They have done outstanding work on this and all other ocassions, except on those ocassions when their work has been so far beyond outstanding as to demonstrate the poverty of our language.)
 
Mamre, Elim, and Genadendal were all early Moravian settlements. I have no idea why they were all included in the original plan of the tour, to the exclusion of other religions. TheMoravians did good missionary work, but were hardly the dominant religion. 

Chennai

The Chennai field program can be divided thus:
culture (& course related)
CHE03 THERU KOOTHU THEATER PERFORMANCE [FDP: FENNEMA]
CHE04 MAKING MOVIE ART  [FDP: CURTIN]
CHE06 WOMEN WRITERS OF INDIA  [FDP: J. SERIO]
CHE20 POONA LODGE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY'S WORLD HEADQUARTERS [FDP: J. DEHON]
CHE42 TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN INDIA [FDP: WINKLER]
course related
CHE02 POLITICS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA  [FDP: NARWALD & YEOMANS]
CHE05 COPING WITH POPULATION DENSITY  [FDP: GRINDSTAFF]
CHE44 SOCIOECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN CHENNAI [FDP: BAOFU]
CHE38 USAID VISIT [FDP: WINKLER]
meet the poor indians
CHE08 SERVICE PROJECT: DALIT WORK PROJECT
CHE16 DALIT VILLAGE & DALIT DELTA CENTER
CHE34 DALIT VILLAGE OVERNIGHT
CHE30 CHILD LABOR IN RURAL INDIA: OVERNIGHT VILLAGE STAY
CHE10 SERVICE VISIT: MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY ORPHANAGE  [FDP: SUHOZA]
CHE37 SERVICE PROJECT: DISABLED CHILDREN'S HOME
CHE39 SERVICE VISIT: BALA MANDIR ORPHANAGE
meet not-so-poor indians
CHE12 WELCOME RECEPTION
CHE35 COLLEGE DAY VISIT ONLY
CHE36 COLLEGE VISIT WITH HOMESTAY
CHE31 AN EVENING IN AN INDIAN HOME
CHE46 RURAL VILLAGE & FARM VISIT [FDP: NARWOLD]
CHE13 VILLAGE HOMESTAY: ERODE
CHE07 ART OF LIVING AND DAKSHINACHITRA HERITAGE VILLAGE STAY
CHE17 ROTARIAN HOMESTAY
CHE18 MAMALLAPURAM & VILLAGE HOMESTAY
touristy tours
CHE09 CHENNAI CITY ORIENTATION
CHE11 NAGARKOIL: VILLAGE, FARM AND PLANTATION VISIT
CHE14 DELHI/VARANASI/AGRA
CHE15 KANCHEEPURAM/MAMALLAPURAM 
CHE19 CULTURAL EXPLORATION OF SOUTH INDIA 
CHExx DELHI/AGRA/TAJ MAHAL
CHE22 JAIPUR/AGRA/DELHI
CHE23 TODA TRIBAL VILLAGE
CHE24 COCHIN/PERIYAR/MADURAI
CHE28 DELHI/VARANASI/AGRA
CHE29 OVERNIGHT TO KANCHEEPURAM/MAMALLAPURAM
CHE32 KANCHEEPURAM/MAMALLAPURAM
CHE33 CULTURAL EXPLORATION OF SOUTH INDIA
CHE40 RURAL INDIA & DAKSHINACHITRA HERITAGE VILLAGE
CHE41 KANCHEEPURAM/MAMALLAPURAM
CHE45 HISTORIC MADRAS  [FDP: CAMPBELL]
The general description claims, "In addition to visiting the Taj Mahal and the sites of Agra, you will have an orientation to Old and New Delhi." My tour had no visit to Old Delhi. The description also says, "Some of the following sites will be included," and lists eleven sites. But no tour actually includes more than  four.
These four were on my tour:
  • a drive along the ceremonial avenue, Rajpath, past India Gate (the War Memorial), Parliament House, the Secretariat Buildings and  the official residence of the President of India
  • a Sikh Gurdwara
  • a Baha'i House of Worship
  • Gandhi Museum and Memorial Hall
These are listed as being on other tours:
  • Birla Temple
  • Chadni Chowk, the colorful market
  • Qutub Minar, a 71-meters-high fluted minaret of the 13th century
The following were listed for none of the tours:
  • Humayun's Tomb, a forerunner of the ornate Mughal style of architecture later perfected in the Taj Mahal
  • the Red Fort in Old Delhi, once the most opulent fort and palace of the Mughal Empire
  • Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, built by Emperor Shahjahan in the 17th century
  • Palika Bazaar.

I took one of the Delhi/Agra/Taj Mahal tours. It was mostly okay. I was disappointed to have had only an hour or so at the Taj Mahal itself; but I really had nothing left that I wanted to do there. It was disappointing that two afternoons were devoted to sitting around in hotels waiting to move on to the next city. The tour operators refused even to drive the students to bazaars for shopping. There was one shopping stop where the tour operator clearly got a cut. Meals were at appropriate times. I was disappointed to not have seen old Delhi, but I suspect that Chennai was a suitable stand-in. In short, I knowingly took a touristy tour and got pretty much that.

Analysis of Chennai tours: The slate of tours differs markedly from Cape Town in having NO active tours. What there are, however, are plenty of opportunity to undertake course related material or to meet Indians and see Indian culture.

Shanghai

The Shanghai program is a little different because the ship stays in harbor for only two days. The long trips all leave the ship in Shanghai and reboard it in Hong Kong.
course-related
SHA04 FAMILY PLANNING NEIGHBORHOOD COMMITTEE [FDP: CURTIN & HANSEN]  CANCELLED
SHA17 THE CONTEMPORARY SHANGHAI ART SCENE: NEW CHINA THROUGH ITS A [FDP: CROZIER]
meet people
SHA02 HANGZHOU - HOSTED BY SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY
SHA05 WELCOME RECEPTION AT SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY
SHA00 BEIJING: UNIVERSITY-HOSTED TRIP
SHA14 TASTING THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF A SHANGHAI CITIZEN
SHA16 INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE: SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY
touristy tours
SHA03 SHANGHAI CITY ORIENTATION
SHA06 SUNRISE TAI CHI
SHA10 BEIJING
SHA12 BEIJING/XI'AN
SHA13 SUZHOU
SHA15 EXPLORE ZHOU ZHUANG
SHA18 GUILIN
Here there are only two course related tours, and one of those was cancelled. Most of the tours are to meet local people or to just visit the tourist highlights. In almost all cases, I believe, the the operator drives the sheep to several "factories" where they get a quickee demo and a long shopping time. This begins to grate on a tourist after a day or two.

Lack of Interesting Tours

For me, I looked forward to Semester at Sea as an opportunity to really see countries: not the touristy stuff, but how they generate enough money to stay alive. I was not interested in meeting people. I wanted to see inside industries; to get inside the political system; to see the goods shipments system. And what did I get. Almost nada, el zippo, zero. There was to be a tour of an automobile factory in Busan, but we did not go there. There was to be a tour of the South African Parliament, but it was cancelled. And that was it. No industrial, political, or infrastructure tours. I might as well have been on a plain old cruise ship.

Obfuscation

One of the easiest to fix and most annoying aspects of the field program is the complete lack of thought as to how recipients of information might like to see it. Examples:

Obfuscation 1: The options for each port in the field program. Tour times overlap: there are multiple tours at any given time and some tours take more than one day. The field program makes no attempt to lay out the schedule so that one can plan which tours exclude going on which others. I had to draw grids showing the tours so I could pick out a feasible set. It would be much preferable if some sort of grid were already drawn up and presented as part of the planning packet.

Obfuscation 2: There are different purposes for tours, as I have indicated with the categories above. It would be helpful to have some such classification scheme so the type of a tour could be known at a glance rather than  reading through the turgid hype.

Obfuscation 3: Turgid hype. The tour descriptions are written in ad-speak set to high hype mode. It is difficult to extract from all the prose exactly where one is going and when. Why can't there be a simple list of places to be visited? There is plenty of room for the description before or after the list.

Obfuscation 4: Purchase options. Purchasing tours is needlessly complex. At differenet times I was supposed to make different sorts of purchases. Why cannot one purchase all the tours for a city at once? This is especially annoying because I have to figure out all the tours for a city in order to choose any one tour.  See Obfuscation 1.

Obfuscation 5: Billing. The bill for tours is all mixed up. Tours from different cities are intermixed. It is hard to figure out which of the tours I asked for has been granted. And then hard to figure out the alternatives. See obfuscation 4.

Obfuscation 6: Personal schedule. Given the previous two obfuscations and the fact that I get tickets for some tours and nothing for others, there is no good way to find out what I am doing when. The "green sheet" is mildly useful, but lists a whole bunch of tours I am not interested in.

Veniality

If I sign up at the bus for a tour,  I may be getting on it solely because a student has failed to show up. So the field office collects twice for one seat on the bus: once from the no-show student, and once from me. This is just plain greedy.

Exceedingly long periods in which one cannot cancel a tour for a refund are also greedy. Two weeks before my Amazon tour I wanted to cancel, but was told the penalty would be 100%. So why would I cancel? I'll just be a no-show and let the tour operator figure it out.

The notion that professors cannot require particular tours deserves consideration. On the one hand this may be because Semester at Sea wants students to be available for the more lucrative touristy tours. On the other hand, if requirements were allowed there would be inevitable scheduling conflicts between tours for different courses. There is an unresolved conflict between SAS as education and SAS as a world cruise.

Summary of analysis:


The field program isn't as bad as I thought. It does give opportunities to be a tourist or to interact with the culture. It does not need to be scrapped. Although the field office is sure to be continually revising the field program, they should adopt a crash plan to reinvent the program over the next few years.

RECOMMENDATIONS to the Field Office:

  • Prepare a set of guidelines describing what sorts of tours are offered by Semester at Sea and how much educational content should be in each. Go over these carefully with tour operators proposing to handle SAS business.
  • Require that students participate in some number of blatently educational tours in addition to touristy, diversionary, or adrenaline tours.
  • Make efforts to include hands-on experiences directed by knowledgeable local experts and professors.
  • Include industrial and political tours. Get inside the workings of the system, not just the plight of the very poor. (From conversation, I hear that students don't sign up for such tours. A pity. There were very few tours I really wanted  to go on: the automobile factory and the South African parliament being two.)
  • Adopt an itinerary format that is a simple list of points visited and the travel times between them. Review these listings to identify and prevent over- and under-scheduling.
  • Reconsider all paper systems related to the field program. Reduce the Obfuscations noted above.