Negril, Jamaica will be the backdrop for a three week, international service learning/ anthropological field trip course titled "Jamaica: Our World, Our Stories" (Anth 440, Anthropological Field Trip in Jamaica, 6 Credit Hours, May 10--May 31, 2008).  This course is designed to teach students about Jamaican culture and about collaborative ethnographic methods in the classroom and the field.  An anthropological perspective will guide instruction.
    Students enrolled in the course will spend a total of three weeks in Jamaica.  Students will then spend 2 weeks working/volunteering with a local community organization (i.e health clinic, school, social service organization, ecotourism, etc.).  Student placement will be determined on an individual basis, depending on the interests of each student enrolled.  The primary placement for Ball State students will be at the Theodora Project, a USAID funded non-governmental organization and the motivating factor around which all other placements will be centered.  
    The Theodora Project aims to provide alternatives to uneducated young men and women who are at risk of entering the tourist-based sex trade in Negril.  Theodora works to accomplish its mission by focusing on adult literacy and basic math skills to prepare them (academically and economically) to learn a trade that will provide them with the necessary job skills needed for their survival. 
    Students participating in this program will receive a total of 6 credit hours by enrolling in Anth 440, Anthropological Field Trip.  For additional information contact BSU anthropology instructors Mr. Dustin Cantrell wdcantrell@bsu.edu or Ms. Elizabeth J. Pfeiffer ejpfeiffer@bsu.edu (765-285-1575).