Coursing along: Semester at Sea

Everyone would have dreamt of going on a world tour once free of responsibilities like studies and acquiring a well-paid job. Also none of us would ever have had an academic experience other than classrooms and boring lectures. What if you get a chance to learn when you are on tour? However, the one mentioned here is not a study tour. It is one where you get to take a voyage across the world and at the same time finish your semester. The credits you get after successful completion of the same definitely needs a special mention.

This is what The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) based in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been doing for the past 50 years. The institute administers a Semester at Sea study abroad programme in conjunction with the Colorado State University to educate individuals with the global understanding necessary to address the challenges of our interdependent world. A Voyage Around the World consists of 105 Days on a shipboard campus where students are offered a wide variety of coursework from 20-25 fields of study that are integrated with relevant field classes across 11 countries and 12 cities in the four continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.

The students have arrived in Cochin and the voyagers have six days to explore the city, along with other historical and enriching destinations in India. CIMAR, Kerala's leading infertility Centre, hosted a group of over 30 undergraduate students, learning Medical Ethics at its Kochi facility along with their professor Dr. Mary Ann Cutter. Explaining the motive behind their visit, Mary said, "Our primary agenda is to understand the medical ethics involved in Medical Tourism, Abortion and Surrogacy. We have had a detailed discussion on the similarities of laws regarding surrogacy and abortion in India and US and the viability of commercial surrogacy."

One of her students Nicole added that people in US are still intimidated when talking about surrogacy and abortion and that the concerns raised by the students about the possibility of a parallel illegal market for surrogacy once the new Surrogacy Act has been passed, which will have a potential negative impact on society and will lead to discussions at an international level.

Dr. Parasuram Gopinath, Consultant and Scientific Director of CIMAR, facilitated the programme and provided the delegates a comprehensive picture about both medical and legal dimensions of surrogacy and abortion in India.