Students stand in front of Beijing's Temple of Heaven during a J-Term trip to China in 2008.Professor Wenjie Sun joined students on a bike tour of Moon Mountain in Yangshuo, China.Students traveled to Iceland in June 2008 for a summer J-Term trip.In Iceland, students explored diverse landscapes, from glaciers to geysers.Students also stopped at a hot spring in Iceland.A rainbow arches over an Icelandic waterfall.Students see the Twelve Apostles, located along Great Ocean Road in Australia.Prof. Jane Livingston points out the geology of Kings Canyon in Australia.Students attend the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in northeast China during a J-Term trip in 2008.The 2009 study tour to Beijing brought students to the city's Bird's Nest Olympic stadium.

Geography and Earth Science

Geography J-Term

Students travel to Nicaragua every January and June.

Students studying geography at Carthage have ample opportunity to study outside the United States during J-Term or for a semester. Students receive geography credit for many of these off-campus activities.

Students have studied in the Himalayas, Belize, Iceland, India, the Galapagos Islands, Nicaragua, Hawaii and China.

Here is a look at some of the J-Term courses recently offered by the Department of Geography and Earth Science:

  • Politics and Ecology of the American Southwest: Arizona — Geography professor Matt Zorn teamed up with political science professor Jerald C. Mast for this Carthage Symposium J-Term course, offered in summer 2010. Students explored the Colorado Plateau, including the San Francisco Peaks and cinder cones of Sunset Crater; and went rafting down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. They studied the geology, biology, ecology, politics and philosophy of wilderness generally, and of the southwestern United States in particular.

  • The Ecology of Belize — Geography professors Joy Nystrom Mast and Tracy Gartner joined biology professor Deanna Byrnes for this J-Term trip. Students went canoeing, hiking and snorkeling. They also saw a baboon sanctuary, Hummingbird Highway and a Blue Creek Mennonite Community.

  • Ometepe, Nicaragua, and Carthage — This annual J-Term course is so popular, it's now offered in January and June. Students travel to the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua, where they study the geography of the area and also volunteer in the Nicaraguan community, usually as medical assistants in Ometepe medical clinics. Students are required to engage in significant research about the varied landscape and history of Nicaragua before leaving the campus. Other service projects have included the construction of simple freshwater facilities, or building and repair of classrooms for local schools and medical clinics.

Academics at Carthage

Prospective Students

Faculty Spotlight

Carthage students and recent graduates joined geography professor Joy Mast on a field study in an Arizona forest. Read more.

Focusing on Nature

image

Student Work. See photographs taken by Carthage students during a J-Term trip to Tucson, Ariz.

Student Voices

"The professors I’ve had are amazing. They welcome questions with open arms. They love to be challenged as well as challenge their students."

— Sarah Geise, '11, Waukesha, Wis.

Hear what students have to say about studying geography and earth science at Carthage.