Program Links - 1 2213
Contact Us
Phone:
888.272.7881 (toll-free in US)
802.258.3212
TTY:
802.258.3388
Fax:
802.258.3296
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA
Contact us by email.
Fiji: Multiculturalism and Social Change
Program Excursions
Field excursions are designed to complement and reinforce class work and readings. Village stays, visits to archaeological sites, museums, and local institutions, and a longer excursion to Vanua Levu are some of the excursions students undertake throughout the program.
Vanua Levu
One of the lengthier excursions during the semester is a trip to the island of Vanua Levu. Students will visit one of Fiji’s main towns, Savusavu, located on the island of Vanua Levu. This trip also includes a visit to the predominantly Indo-Fijian town of Labasa where some of Fiji’s main sugarcane planting and milling take place. In Labasa students visit the sugar mill, an Indian settlement, and a Hindu temple. Labasa has been devastated by mass emigration due to the expiry of land leases and the 2000 coup, and by a recent hurricane in which flooding killed several people.
Sigatoka
Students will spend time visiting archaeological sites during an excursion near the town of Sigatoka. The sites visited include the Sigatoka Sand Dunes (a site containing archaeological artifacts), Bourewa (the earliest known human settlement in Fiji), the Volivoli caves which house bones of pre-settlement fauna (crocodiles, megapodes), and a Tongan hill fort complete with evidence of past fortification. The group stays overnight in a nearby village. This excursion provides students with the opportunity to compare and contrast Fiji’s past with the present, and to touch with their own hands evidence of early settlement.
Silana village stay
To complement Fijian language instruction, students stay for four days in the northeastern Viti Levu village of Silana. At the village, students add to their knowledge of Fijian through observation and participation in weaving, gardening, fishing, and traditional medicine activities. Cultural activities such as participation in sevusevu ceremonies, performance of indigenous dance and music, church attendance, and a visit to a nearby reef to view dolphins are also included.