Costa Rica Summer 2007

	Castleton Home > Academics > Costa Rica Costa Rica Summer 2007 at 802-468-1244

Spanish Home Page

Geology Home Page (Natural Sciences)

Faculty

Helen Mango - 468-1478

Ana María Alfaro-Alexander - 468-1268

Here are comments made by students in the past:

"Castleton’s Costa Rica program is great! A good mix of language and culture as well as great geology. I would recommend it to others without a question."

"This trip has been amazing….I loved stopping at the little towns, and I loved going to the beach…..You accommodated everyone’s needs."

"I enjoyed almost every moment of it and would recommend it to anyone. I had so much fun I am, well, greatly disappointed that I actually have to leave….Thanks for a great experience that I will never forget."

"I loved every minute of the trip. It was so much fun. I got a chance to experience things that are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities."

"This trip was one of the most memorable two weeks of my life. It is an awesome thing to see the power of the earth at close range….I would recommend [this trip] to any student regardless of their course of study."

¡Experience Costa Rica!

Join Castleton State College’s sixth journey to Costa Rica! We will visit active volcanoes, the tropical cloud forest, and the beautiful beaches of the Pacific Coast. Earn four Science credits (GEY 2310) while learning about the geology of Costa Rica. We will visit Poas volcano, with its acidic (pH = 0.5!) green crater lake and smoking fumaroles (steam vents). Irazu volcano rises over 11,000 feet, and we can walk around in the crater made by a massive eruption in 1963. Arenal is the most active of Costa Rica’s volcanoes, erupting ash and red-hot rocks almost daily, and surrounded by lava flows from eruptions of the past few decades. Rincon de la Vieja volcano has amazing fumaroles and craters of boiling water and mud. We will learn about the geologic setting of Costa Rica’s volcanoes, and compare and contrast those we visit and observe. We will go to the famous Monteverde cloud forest, and then down to the Pacific Coast to study beach processes, comparing sandy and rocky beaches and learning how they relate to Costa Rica’s plate tectonics. We will look at soil formation in different parts of the country, and discuss how this affects agriculture. And throughout the trip we will study the environmental aspects of geology, such as geologic hazards (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, mud slides, etc.), air quality, ecotourism, and climate change.

You can also take advantage of Castleton’s Spanish language study abroad program, and earn six credits while studying for four weeks at the excellent Academia de Lenguaje in San José, Costa Rica’s capital. Intensive language study in small classes at exactly your level will greatly improve your language proficiency, no matter what level you begin at. And there is plenty of time on weekends to travel around the country. You will stay with carefully chosen host families in San José.

Schedule
The geology portion of the trip will leave Monday, May 14, 2007 and return Monday, May 28. Students staying for the Spanish language experience will have an additional four more weeks in Costa Rica, returning on June 24, 2007.

Prerequisite
There is a prerequisite of one 1000-level (i.e. introductory-level) geology course. Castleton courses, which qualify, are GEY 1030 (Physical Geology), GEY 1040 (Environmental Geology) and GEY 1050 (Historical Geology). Equivalent courses transferred from another college are acceptable with the approval of Geology professor Helen Mango.

Costs
Vermont Student: Tuition (4 crs. Geo.) - $3,808
Out-of-State Student: Tuition (4 crs. Geo.) - $4,364
Vermont Student: Total (10 crs. Geology/Spanish) - $5,492
Out-of-State Student: Total (10 crs. Geology / Spanish) - $6,048
Regardless of Vermont or Out-of-State: Spanish, 6 credits, 6 weeks- $4,384

How to Apply
Application to the program can be made any time through February 28, 2007. Students will be notified if they are accepted into the program by March 9, 2007. By March 19, 2007, students must send a non-refundable deposit of $500.

Write a letter stating why you want to take part in Castleton's 2007 Costa Rica program. Include in your letter your full name, your social security number, your local address, telephone number and email address, your home address and telephone number, your academic major, and your anticipated year of graduation.

Also include in your application packet a letter of recommendation from someone who knows you well in either an academic or a work-related setting.

If you have participated in a study abroad program, please tell us who the group leader was and how do we contact that person.

Address the application packet to Dr. Joseph Mark, Academic Dean, and mail it or deliver it to the Office of the Dean in Woodruff by the February 2, 2007 deadline.