The New Program Is No Vacation

While social interaction is an integral part of the experience, Vélez emphasizes that the curriculum to be established at the center’s semester-long program will include course work for students in all of Ithaca’s schools. "For example, I’m a sociologist, so if I’m there for a semester I’ll be teaching sociology courses. Students who need sociology as a part of their distribution or major can meet part of their requirements there," he says. "Sociology, language, political science, economics, international business, health sciences — so many subjects can be studied from a new perspective. Hopefully there will be faculty interest, so some of them will want to teach there for a semester."

This year Vélez is taking assistant professor of occupational therapy Carole Dennis and associate professor of exercise and sports sciences Stephen Mosher with him to the Dominican Republic to generate such interest — and to help manage the 40 students making the trip, his largest group yet.

As in the College’s London Center, most students and seminars will be housed in a single building, probably either in the capital of Santo Domingo or the city of Santiago. The Caribbean studies center will offer a semester abroad for, initially, 20 students with the possibility of expansion. The Dominican powers that be have been quite receptive, Vélez says

Students must meet certain academic requirements and are told in no uncertain terms by Vélez that they are not taking a Caribbean vacation. "The idea of tourism is foreign to my sociological way of looking at other societies," he says. "They are there as travelers. Tourists travel within their own cultural balloon; they are protected. When they leave they know nothing about the country they just visited. As travelers my students do not have that type of protection. They are going to work with these people." Some students will do internships, he adds, working in the poor communities in any number of capacities.

Beyond his familiarity with the country and the contacts he has developed there, Vélez cites a couple of good reasons why the Dominican Republic, as opposed to other Central American, South American, or Caribbean countries, is an ideal choice for an Ithaca academic center. "The Dominican Republic is considered the gateway to the Americas. That’s where Columbus arrived; that’s where the first ‘New World’ city was built — the first sidewalk is still there, the first street, the first cathedral, the first university," he says. "You would assume that many people would want to get some kind of an idea how and where [the colonization of the Americas] started."

Also, Vélez points out, one of the reasons he takes students to the Dominican Republic rather than other countries has to do with security issues. "It’s a democracy. There is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and it still has not caught up with other countries in the region in terms of its crime rate. It’s a safer place for students, who walk down the street without fear," he says. "There are many American companies doing business there. It’s a typical American enclave in terms of its exports and imports."