Nicaragua

GEOG 400 Geography of Coffee

January 3, 2007 - January 15, 2007

Visit Dr. Hayes-Bohanan's website to learn more about this trip: http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/RESOURCE/CoffeeGeog.htm

See photos from last year's trip!!!

BSC students spent last year's winter break in Nicaragua, hiking to waterfalls and visiting an active volcano while studying the geography of coffee. The trip was so successful that Dr. Hayes-Bohanan decided to lead it again this winter break! During the study tour this year, participants will have a chance to learn where coffee comes from, compare fair-trade and conventional coffee farms, enjoy traditional Nicaraguan foods, and visit post earthquake, post-revolution Managua. Students will also meet workers from both fair-trade and mainstream coffee farms and participate in a "cupping", where exporters assign grades to coffee. Participants will have the opportunity to examine the spatial arrangement of the global coffee industry, which requires a synthesis of physical and human geography. Through readings, class meetings, and an intensive field experience in Nicaragua, this course examines the growing, processing, transportation, and consumption, of coffee, together with the environmental and social consequences of these activities.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Students will learn what geographic factors influence the flavor of coffee.
  • Participants will discover the difference between shade-grown and sun-grown coffee.
  • Spend two nights on a coffee farm.
  • Visit the historic, seaside city of Grenada.
  • Experience the harvest of shade -  grown coffee in one of Central America's most important growing regions!

Faculty Leader: Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan

Dr. James Hayes-Bohanan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography and Coordinator of the Latin American & Caribbean Studies program and has taught at BSC since 1997. He has infused almost all of his teaching with discussions of geographic aspects of coffee, including both its physical setting and the ways in which it represents patterns of post-colonial globalization. He is currently working on a textbook that uses globalization as an organizing theme for understanding the geography of Latin America. Dr. Hayes-Bohanan led the study tour to Nicaragua last January and has also led various student groups in the past to other locations.

Additional Information

  • Travel Package Cost: $2,100.00 (Costs are subject to change due to the increase in airfare rates and the changing exchange rates that are beyond our control.)
  • Tuition and fees are not included in the travel package cost (Undergraduate: $723.75)
  • Application Deadline: September 29, 2006
  • Application Fee: $50.00 (Check or Credit Card only)

Cost Includes

  • BSC faculty leader
  • Round-trip flights from Logan International Airport in Boston
  • Hotel/ Home-stay accommodations
  • Most meals
  • Taxes, tips and entrance fees to museums and cultural sites
  • Ground transportation according to the itinerary
  • Pre and  post departure sessions on the BSC campus

Download Study Tour Application Here!

Download Scholarship Application Here!

 

*Please note, the information above is subject to change.

 

Last Modified: September 14, 2006