Early this summer, three CPASS undergraduate students and one faculty member joined 27 other students and faculty on a 10-day trip to Canada. This was the fifth version of the state-sponsored trip to L’Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada.
>Established in 2009, the program, sponsored by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, is a joint initiative of three major state universities: West Virginia University, Marshall University, and West Virginia State University, and one Canadian university – L’Université Laval. The program provides students with an inexpensive opportunity to engage in a firsthand experience of a foreign culture and language.
For the first time, the 2013 program included visits and lectures related to sport. Gonzalo Bravo, associate professor, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences sport management program, coordinated the trip on behalf of the College. “This was an excellent opportunity to take CPASS students out of the country to experience sport in a different culture,” he said.
“As someone who teaches courses in international sport, this was an excellent opportunity to show our students the way sports in other countries are organized,” he added. “For those who have never been out of the country, Quebec City, Montreal and L’Université Laval campus provide numerous opportunities to experience the best of what foreign culture has to offer from language, food, music to sports,” Bravo explained.
Two sport management students, Tomas Semeraro, senior, and Jonathan Riseberg, freshman, along with Princeston Copeland, freshman in exercise, sport psychology, participated in the summer trip.
During the ten-day trip, students visited Niagara Falls, Quebec City, and Montreal. In Quebec City they attended lectures on history, the indigenous populations, politics of Quebec, and U.S.-Canada relations. In addition, they visited historical sites and toured Le Colisé, the home of the former National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, the Quebec Nordiques. They also toured the 30,000 seat hockey arena under construction in Quebec City.
CPASS students joined a guided tour of sports facilities at L’Universté Laval. In Montreal, they visited the Bell Centre, home of the NHL franchise Montreal Canadiens. Included in the cost of the Quebec Program, which in 2013 was $650 per person, students received a one credit course in Foreign Culture (FCLT 293: An Introduction to the Political and Cultural Identity of Canada and Quebec), transportation to Quebec City, all accommodations, including an overnight stay in Niagara Falls, two nights in Montreal, and six nights in Quebec City, tour sites, lectures, and most of the meals.
Bravo’s goal for 2014 is to take ten students on this trip. If you are interested to learn more about the Quebec Program, you can contact Dr. Gonzalo Bravo, gonzalo.bravo@mail.wvu.edu or by phone at 304-293-0862