Undergraduate TLO Awards Round 6

This TLO will support  for the UNF Model UN team to attend three conferences/competitions throughout 2011-2012: Atlanta, GA (Southern Regional Conference), Washington, D.C. (national- and international-level competition), and New York, NY (major, culminating national-level competition).  
 

Model UN is an intercollegiate simulation of the United Nations, intended to educate students about the operations and goals of the UN.  In conferences, students study different perspectives of international politics and worldwide problems such as ethnic conflict, hunger, disease, and climate change.  The national conference in New York will host nearly 5,000 students, with more than half of the attendees coming from outside of the United States.  Attendance at this conference will also allow the UNF team to take an in-depth tour of the United Nations, meet with distinguished diplomats, meet with representatives of their assigned countries’ embassies, and meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

Students within the UNF undergraduate Athletic Training Education Program will be given a unique opportunity to travel to Chile and teach undergraduate students and interact with faculty in the physical trainer and sport physiotherapist specializations at DuocUC Vina Del Mar, Chile.  DuocUC Vina Del mar serves approximately 8,000 students from Chile who are looking to advance their technical and professional skills with higher vocational education. 

UNF students will teach the Chilean students and interact with DuocUC faculty in the following subject areas: anatomy, orthopedic evaluation, and injury rehabilitation.  The TLO will occur over 7 days, with 5 days dedicated to instruction.  The first day will focus on anatomy, the following two days will be used to provide an overview of orthopedic evaluation skills for common athletic injuries, and the last two days will be used to provide foundations in rehabilitation of common athletic injuries.  UNF students will prepare a lecture that they will present to the Chilean students along with a hands-on clinical lab section to accompany the lecture.  DuocUC faculty will be present for these presentations.  UNF students traveling to Chile will be paired to complete this task and all lectures and labs will be evaluated by the TLO leaders prior to leaving Chile to determine quality and validity of the instructional materials.  This opportunity will immerse students in a diverse population, while developing their teaching and communication skills.

Through this TLO project, students will learn a variety of techniques for capturing, handling, measuring and marking gopher tortoises and diamondback terrapins. Additionally, they will learn why these species are so important in their own habitats and how their continued existence has become so threatened by the activities of humans.
 

Tortoise students will learn the components of tortoise habitat which are necessary for their food and shelter and how their environment has long been influenced by natural fires. They will learn a variety of techniques for assessing tortoise habitat, particularly soil and vegetative analysis. This will entail learning to identify various plants used by tortoises. They will learn habitat management techniques such as controlled burning and subsequent habitat assessment to determine its effects.
 

Terrapin students starting this project with little or no knowledge about diamondback terrapins or field work will finish having transformed into field biologists with an in-depth appreciation for the needs of this and other species, an understanding of the complications involved in management of habitats, and an appreciation for anthropogenic effects on habitats.

This TLO project is designed to give students hands-on experience with biomedical research, focused on the issues of preventing, controlling, and treating antibiotic-resistant infections.  Students will complete a comparative biochemical analysis of outer membrane proteins produced by the bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia and Acenitbacter baumanni.  Both of these species of bacteria are major causes in nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections in immunocompromised patients.  Students will isolate, identify and quantify relative levels of outer membrane proteins in each of these strains.  
 

This program will provide students experience with clinically-relevant medical research using state-of-the art equipment at UNF, and interaction with clinical professionals at the Mayo Clinic.  It is designed to help students prepare for and more fully explore career options in medicine, clinical science, and biomedical research.  Students will be expected to commit a minimum of six hours per week to this project in 3-hour blocks throughout the 2011-2012 school year.  The project will culminate with students travelling to the American Society for Microbiology Florida branch annual meeting to present their findings to the scientific community.   

Dr. Gabbard’s LIT 4931 course on Disability Studies will focus on the nature, meaning, and consequences of what it is to be defined as disabled, and explore the historical and cultural dynamics of disability.  It will primarily address the stereotypes associated with and the experiential aspects of disability as these are deployed in literature, film, television, the Arts, and other cultural media.  It also will address disability rights, legal issues, and public policy as ancillary topics.  
 

In addition to attending biweekly class sessions, students will volunteer two hours per day, one day per week, over a ten-week period at one of three sites: The Mt. Herman Exceptional Student Center, Alden Road Exceptional Student Center, and Hope Haven Children’s Clinic and Family Center.

This course will provide students with a unique opportunity to use knowledge that they obtain in formal class sessions to address an ongoing, real-world problem in the field of Shark Biology, that is, the need to identify and protect nursery grounds for overexploited shark species. This is a timely research topic that builds on preliminary work conducted by the UNF Shark Biology program, which has demonstrated the importance of the Tolomato River as critical habitat for the scalloped hammerhead and other shark species. The scalloped hammerhead is currently listed as an endangered species in U.S. Atlantic waters by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to overfishing. Therefore, we anticipate that the direct participation of students in actual research geared towards obtaining data necessary for conserving this species will instill a sense of real-world relevance into this course and a strong sense of personal investment on the part of students.

Students will enroll in a 3-credit-hour, upper-level undergraduate course focused on the biology and ecology of sharks during Summer B, 2011.  In addition to providing an overview of the basic biology of sharks, this course will emphasize the interactions that occur between humans and sharks, such as shark attacks on beachgoers, and the impacts of human exploitation on shark populations, using both classroom- and field-based forms of instruction.

This TLO will involve a credit-bearing undergraduate anthropology course at the 4000 level designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration with “The Ghana Project” offered through the UNF Honors Program. The course, Gullah/Geechee Culture of the Southeastern U.S., introduces students to the population increasingly recognized as 'the root of Africa in the New World.' In 2006, the Gullah/Geechee communities spanning the coastal regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northern Florida became the first cultural group of African descent to

be recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior with a Cultural Heritage Corridor, thereby acknowledging their national importance to “American” culture. The course material and experiences of the proposed TLO draw upon more than a decade of the leader’s ongoing anthropological research experiences among the Gullah/Geechee in an effort to illustrate how West African cultural lifeways have been and continue to be translated, interpreted and sustained in this New World Diasporic context.

Students participating in the TLO course in Fall 2011 would subsequently enroll in a related-content course for Spring 2012 and participate in “The Ghana Project” in early Summer 2012 (accompanied by both TLO leader and Spring honors professor). This cumulative experience would foster a deeper understanding of the connections between Africa and the African Diaspora by allowing students to see and experience the cultural connections first-hand.

The purpose of this TLO is to facilitate the transformation of students into scientists and/or practitioners through reflection on experiences in a community organization.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in research while simultaneously participating in a practicum as a trained peer counselor.  In doing so, students will be better prepared and informed about making important, life-altering decisions about their futures.  
 

The highlight of this TLO experience will be students’ engagement with clients as professionally trained peer counselors (under the supervision of agency staff and UNF faculty) and their engagement with clients as trained researchers in psychology (under the supervision of UNF faculty) in an agency serving the needs of women – the Divine Mercy House, a maternity home. Students will work collaboratively with agency officials and faculty mentors to develop shared academic and agency descriptions of problems to be addressed, solutions to be applied, and activities that constitute success. Students will enroll in one practicum course and one DIS. They will be expected to be actively engaged in research and/or counseling for a minimum of 10 hours each week for which they are registered: approximately half in counseling and half in research. By participating in this TLO, students will clarify their educational and career goals and begin their transformations from student to professional.

There is a well-documented contrast between how outsiders, especially those from Europe and the U.S., view the country and people of Greece vs. how Greek culture is viewed by natives.  This TLO will use this inside/outside idea to allow students to experience and study how Greece's history has shaped its modern identity, and how contrast with Greek identity allows them (for perhaps the first time) to see their own identity in sharp relief.

The students' experience of Greek culture and identity will be truly immersive.  They will live and study for five weeks at the American College of Greece, a NEASC-accredited college in suburban Athens.  The college, a modern and well-equipped campus, has a student body that is 90% Greek.  At the most basic level of immersion, the students will live in college housing with full kitchens (and no cafeteria) so that they have to procure their own food and other daily needs in local stores.

The students will take six credits of courses, three taught by UNF faculty and three at ACG.  The class at ACG will be a course of their choice at either the upper or lower division.  By individually choosing their own ACG class, each one will likely end up alone in a class of Greek students, pushing them out of their "American bubble" and into closer contact with Greek students, providing a deeper level of immersion.

The goal of the “Diving for Drugs” TLO is to provide students with training in the scientific inquiry process, as applied toward discovery of new antibiotics from marine microorganisms and including significant field experience.  Student participants will gain broad training in marine biology, microbiology, and chemistry fieldwork and laboratory skills, and develop interpersonal interaction, teamwork, leadership, and oral and written communication skills.  
 

This unique combined field and laboratory experience will guide students through on-campus and local training exercises in microbiology, marine biology and chemistry, in preparation for a July 2011 field expedition to the Florida Keys.  During the 7-day research cruise in the Keys, students will live entirely aboard the R/V Bellows Research Ship, and will collect and culture marine microbes from Keys habitats for drug discovery studies.  Upon returning to UNF with samples from the expedition, the team of student scientists will pursue chemical and microbiological studies to discover antibiotic molecules produced by the organisms they collected.   

A group of 15 student-volunteers will gather data about the health behaviors of the UNF student body, including physical activity, illicit drug use, nutrition and mental health.  They plan to host a State of the Student Health address for UNF stakeholders, administrators, faculty, staff and students in Spring 2011, based on the findings of their study.  
 

Students also plan to present their  findings at the American School Health Association (ASHA) annual meeting .  They will have the opportunity to participate in scientific research, and be recognized in the field of health education and grow their national network of contacts.

This study abroad course is an excellent opportunity to experience the history and culture of one of the most interesting and important countries in Central America. The trip includes visits to the north of the country (Tikal and Flores), Antigua and the Western Highlands including Panajachel and Huehuetenango. This study abroad is unique in that its focus is on freshman and  that it creates a study abroad environment that immerses students in service learning. Students will interact with Guatemalan indigenous communities and attend lectures/presentations addressing current economic and social issues in Guatemala. This course is aimed at students with interests in service learning, social entrepreneurship, socio-political and economic development, clean water availability and educational access with Latin America. This trip includes a service learning component and students will participate in several projects sponsored by Rotary International for the benefit of the indigenous communities in Guatemala.

Through this trip and the project students will have the opportunity to experience the richness of Guatemala’s culture and history. This course provides students the opportunity to think critically regarding economic development, hygiene, education and sustainability issues in a developing country, demonstrate the ability to present information and write reports, and understand the historic, social and economic
background of business in international markets.

Students will prepare for a spring immersion experience on the St. Johns River by working with faculty mentors in their respective major disciplines during the spring semester.  Each student will design a project to be executed on the river during Spring Break, 2012.  The faculty mentor will be responsible for guiding the development of a project worthy of one academic credit (to be awarded at the conclusion of the Spring 2012 term) and will hold the student mentee accountable for completion of the project.  A final “deliverable” will be required as appropriate for the discipline, for example a scientific report, a completed series of paintings, a term paper, etc.  The students will be on a houseboat for 8 continuous days primarily in the middle portion of the St. Johns River.  They will visit state parks, springs, tributaries, and other points of natural significance and interact with authors, historians, scientists, engineers, artists, and musicians about the river and its people. An important feature of the student-designed projects is that they must be shared with the other students on the trip, a Project-Based Educational (PBE) approach.

In this month-long TLO, students will take two UNF faculty-led art or art history courses at the campus of St. John's University, located on Via Marcantonio Colonna in the Prati section of Rome.  Students will become more independent and confident in a major urban center where most will not speak the language.  All students keep journals and sketchbooks and reflective assignments are given and discussed regularly.  Students become more aware of their own American culture as they learn about Italian life. 

At the very core of the UNF Rome Program is the emphasis on experiential learning on site. Lectures, student reports, studio classes and  drawing and painting lessons will be conducted in the Vatican Museums, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, etc. Students will be assigned research projects that require them to navigate the fabric of the city in its multilayered contexts ranging from antiquity to the present. They will learn rudimentary Italian and Italian customs.

This TLO describes a 2-credit, direct independent study course that will offer undergraduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with coral reef biology and physiology. Due to the recent Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster, there is now a pressing concern for the fate of corals of the Florida Reef Tract, and the coral reef environments that they maintain. Most corals have two life history stages, larvae and adult, both of which may be subject to a variety of environmental stressors (e.g. exposure to contaminants, changes in salinity and temperature). Surmounting evidence has shown that these stressors result in adult coral stress and/or mortality. What are less well studied are the effects of environmental stressors on the vital larvae phase. If larvae do not survive and recruit to a site, adult populations will undergo a drastic reduction. The basis for this research opportunity is to work with the understudied, yet extremely important, larval phase using the coral Porites astreoides as a model system. 

Based upon previous research by the principle investigator, it has been determined that P. astreoides releases its larvae on the new moon of every May. This narrow window (May 20, 2012 ±3 days) dictates the timely offering of this proposed TLO (Total: 2 week duration). Days 1-10 will be designated for the field component of this project (sample collection and experimental set up). Days 11-14 will be used for laboratory analysis of the specimens at UNF (laboratory of Cliff Ross). The field component of this research will take place at Mote Marine Tropical Laboratory, a fully-equipped marine science facility dedicated to marine research, education and conservation. The facility is located within easy access to a variety of coral reef habitats. UNF students will be involved in all aspects of this project including adult coral collection, larvae maintenance, experimental setup, and data collection and analysis. 

Salvador, Bahia was founded in 1549 on the northeast coast of Brazil and is considered one of the oldest cities in the New World. It was also the first colonial capital of Brazil and was the most populous city in the New World for over 200 years. Named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985, Salvador’s mixture of ethnic groups including Amer-Indian, African, and European makes it a cultural melting-pot.

 
The funds for this TLO will support a study abroad program in Salvador, Bahia focusing on the arts, design, history and social sustainability. While experience the culture, students will visit and work closely with local non-profit organizations. First the program will visit historical sites, museums, business centers, and organizations that are sucessfully working with the community. Secondly, the program will visit non-profit organizations that are in need of support for their community outreach activities.

 
The course will be offered in July 2011 with a total duration of two weeks. Students will also be required to meet 3 times before departure and 2 times after the trip.  Some activities will focus on the design and development of programs and promotions for the selected non-profit organizations. Students will work under the guidance of Brazilian designers, and advertising agencies while engaging in a range of professional development activities, for example, client interview techniques and portfolio development, to enhance their professional skills.

The Strasbourg French language and culture study abroad program has been in existence for twelve years, and is a true immersion experience for students.  The program consists of five weeks in France during which the UNF students have French classes 15 hours a week (total 60 contact hours) in which native speaker instructors teach entirely in French and their classmates come from all over the world. They live with French families with whom they take two meals a day, so their immersion experience continues outside the classroom, and real cultural contact fills the greater part of most days as they navigate the city independently on foot and on public transportation (and most travel outside the city is by train).

Dr. Schwam- Baird teaches a culture class (Faces of France) three afternoons a week and conducts their many excursions—short afternoon visits to places of interest in the city, full-day Saturday excursions in the region around Strasbourg, and a long weekend in Paris (total about 80 contact hours including the excursions).

This TLO allows degree-seeking undergraduate students of American Sign Language / English Interpreting to accompany graduate students in a study abroad for 13 days at two universities in Austria and Slovenia that have translation/interpretation programs: The Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria (signed and spoken language programs) and the University of Ljubijana, Slovenia (conference interpreting program/spoken only).  Students will be enrolled in Applied Research in Interpreting at the time of the TLO and will be in the midst of designing research projects and writing literature reviews when they travel.

Given that signed language interpreting students are typically isolated from the larger world of spoken language translation and interpretation, it is unique that UNF students have the opportunity to see how the pedagogy of educating interpreters is similar, regardless of mode.  The TLO leaders plan to expose students to a broader world view of their chosen career while instilling in them an enthusiasm for research in second language acquisition, interpretation theory and process, and the larger field of translation/interpretation learning.

The University of North Florida Chamber Singers will be traveling to South Africa for a 12-day tour of the country as well as the chance to be part of a culturally diversifying experience for students, other tourists and locals. Students will encounter the culture of South Africa first-hand with Jacksonville's sister-city Nelson Mandela Bay, Capetown and Johannesburg while performing repertoire from regions around the world including North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.

 
Students will travel through both the large cities and smaller towns of South Africa in order to provide a well-rounded perspective on South African culture. The touring ensemble membership will span multiple age brackets, ethnic backgrounds and majors. The transformational aspect of the tour will come through both the act of touring the country as a performing ensemble and also through representing a diverse group of students working together to create music. As with the TLO-sponsored 2007 Portugal Tour and the fundraised 2010 Italy Tour, a focal point of the trip will have students performing alongside collegiate choral ensembles based in South Africa, providing UNF singers with the opportunity to interact with peers of another country. Rather than merely visiting landmarks, our students will experience another culture and its languages from within, heightening their cultural transformational learning. Another facet of the experience will be performing in underserved parts of various cities, providing the South African communities a vocal as well as physical model of success in diversity.

The goal of this project is to determine if HDAC4, a gene expressed in muscle and “turned on” when skeletal muscle loses its connection to the nervous system, is important in the aging process at the molecular level.  Students will analyze DNA from skeletal muscle of young and old mice, and these DNA samples will be characterized using state-of-the-art techniques in genome analysis.  This TLO proposes to investigate the molecular and genetic controls of longevity using the mouse as a model organism, along with cell culture and molecular genetic techniques.  
 

The techniques utilized in this project will provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to learn and understand new and exciting methods currently being used in biomedical research.  This TLO will provide students the opportunity to learn cell culture coupled with molecular genetic techniques that they might not learn in the classroom.  Furthermore, students will use these skills to address important questions in muscle aging.  Then during the summer of 2012, in collaboration with Dr. David Furlow, the final phase of the project will be conducted during a two week trip to U.C. Davis. Dr. Furlow is a broadly trained molecular biologist and has generously offered space in his laboratory for UNF students to learn the techniques required to do whole genome studies. 

This TLO will support  for the UNF Model UN team to attend three conferences/competitions throughout 2011-2012: Atlanta, GA (Southern Regional Conference), Washington, D.C. (national- and international-level competition), and New York, NY (major, culminating national-level competition).  
 

Model UN is an intercollegiate simulation of the United Nations, intended to educate students about the operations and goals of the UN.  In conferences, students study different perspectives of international politics and worldwide problems such as ethnic conflict, hunger, disease, and climate change.  The national conference in New York will host nearly 5,000 students, with more than half of the attendees coming from outside of the United States.  Attendance at this conference will also allow the UNF team to take an in-depth tour of the United Nations, meet with distinguished diplomats, meet with representatives of their assigned countries’ embassies, and meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

A group of 15 student-volunteers will gather data about the health behaviors of the UNF student body, including physical activity, illicit drug use, nutrition and mental health.  They plan to host a State of the Student Health address for UNF stakeholders, administrators, faculty, staff and students in Spring 2011, based on the findings of their study.  
 

Students also plan to present their  findings at the American School Health Association (ASHA) annual meeting .  They will have the opportunity to participate in scientific research, and be recognized in the field of health education and grow their national network of contacts.

Students within the UNF undergraduate Athletic Training Education Program will be given a unique opportunity to travel to Chile and teach undergraduate students and interact with faculty in the physical trainer and sport physiotherapist specializations at DuocUC Vina Del Mar, Chile.  DuocUC Vina Del mar serves approximately 8,000 students from Chile who are looking to advance their technical and professional skills with higher vocational education. 

UNF students will teach the Chilean students and interact with DuocUC faculty in the following subject areas: anatomy, orthopedic evaluation, and injury rehabilitation.  The TLO will occur over 7 days, with 5 days dedicated to instruction.  The first day will focus on anatomy, the following two days will be used to provide an overview of orthopedic evaluation skills for common athletic injuries, and the last two days will be used to provide foundations in rehabilitation of common athletic injuries.  UNF students will prepare a lecture that they will present to the Chilean students along with a hands-on clinical lab section to accompany the lecture.  DuocUC faculty will be present for these presentations.  UNF students traveling to Chile will be paired to complete this task and all lectures and labs will be evaluated by the TLO leaders prior to leaving Chile to determine quality and validity of the instructional materials.  This opportunity will immerse students in a diverse population, while developing their teaching and communication skills.

This TLO project is designed to give students hands-on experience with biomedical research, focused on the issues of preventing, controlling, and treating antibiotic-resistant infections.  Students will complete a comparative biochemical analysis of outer membrane proteins produced by the bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia and Acenitbacter baumanni.  Both of these species of bacteria are major causes in nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections in immunocompromised patients.  Students will isolate, identify and quantify relative levels of outer membrane proteins in each of these strains.  
 

This program will provide students experience with clinically-relevant medical research using state-of-the art equipment at UNF, and interaction with clinical professionals at the Mayo Clinic.  It is designed to help students prepare for and more fully explore career options in medicine, clinical science, and biomedical research.  Students will be expected to commit a minimum of six hours per week to this project in 3-hour blocks throughout the 2011-2012 school year.  The project will culminate with students travelling to the American Society for Microbiology Florida branch annual meeting to present their findings to the scientific community.   

This course will provide students with a unique opportunity to use knowledge that they obtain in formal class sessions to address an ongoing, real-world problem in the field of Shark Biology, that is, the need to identify and protect nursery grounds for overexploited shark species. This is a timely research topic that builds on preliminary work conducted by the UNF Shark Biology program, which has demonstrated the importance of the Tolomato River as critical habitat for the scalloped hammerhead and other shark species. The scalloped hammerhead is currently listed as an endangered species in U.S. Atlantic waters by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to overfishing. Therefore, we anticipate that the direct participation of students in actual research geared towards obtaining data necessary for conserving this species will instill a sense of real-world relevance into this course and a strong sense of personal investment on the part of students.

Students will enroll in a 3-credit-hour, upper-level undergraduate course focused on the biology and ecology of sharks during Summer B, 2011.  In addition to providing an overview of the basic biology of sharks, this course will emphasize the interactions that occur between humans and sharks, such as shark attacks on beachgoers, and the impacts of human exploitation on shark populations, using both classroom- and field-based forms of instruction.

This TLO will involve a credit-bearing undergraduate anthropology course at the 4000 level designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration with “The Ghana Project” offered through the UNF Honors Program. The course, Gullah/Geechee Culture of the Southeastern U.S., introduces students to the population increasingly recognized as 'the root of Africa in the New World.' In 2006, the Gullah/Geechee communities spanning the coastal regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northern Florida became the first cultural group of African descent to

be recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior with a Cultural Heritage Corridor, thereby acknowledging their national importance to “American” culture. The course material and experiences of the proposed TLO draw upon more than a decade of the leader’s ongoing anthropological research experiences among the Gullah/Geechee in an effort to illustrate how West African cultural lifeways have been and continue to be translated, interpreted and sustained in this New World Diasporic context.

Students participating in the TLO course in Fall 2011 would subsequently enroll in a related-content course for Spring 2012 and participate in “The Ghana Project” in early Summer 2012 (accompanied by both TLO leader and Spring honors professor). This cumulative experience would foster a deeper understanding of the connections between Africa and the African Diaspora by allowing students to see and experience the cultural connections first-hand.

The goal of the “Diving for Drugs” TLO is to provide students with training in the scientific inquiry process, as applied toward discovery of new antibiotics from marine microorganisms and including significant field experience.  Student participants will gain broad training in marine biology, microbiology, and chemistry fieldwork and laboratory skills, and develop interpersonal interaction, teamwork, leadership, and oral and written communication skills.  
 

This unique combined field and laboratory experience will guide students through on-campus and local training exercises in microbiology, marine biology and chemistry, in preparation for a July 2011 field expedition to the Florida Keys.  During the 7-day research cruise in the Keys, students will live entirely aboard the R/V Bellows Research Ship, and will collect and culture marine microbes from Keys habitats for drug discovery studies.  Upon returning to UNF with samples from the expedition, the team of student scientists will pursue chemical and microbiological studies to discover antibiotic molecules produced by the organisms they collected.   

Students will prepare for a spring immersion experience on the St. Johns River by working with faculty mentors in their respective major disciplines during the spring semester.  Each student will design a project to be executed on the river during Spring Break, 2012.  The faculty mentor will be responsible for guiding the development of a project worthy of one academic credit (to be awarded at the conclusion of the Spring 2012 term) and will hold the student mentee accountable for completion of the project.  A final “deliverable” will be required as appropriate for the discipline, for example a scientific report, a completed series of paintings, a term paper, etc.  The students will be on a houseboat for 8 continuous days primarily in the middle portion of the St. Johns River.  They will visit state parks, springs, tributaries, and other points of natural significance and interact with authors, historians, scientists, engineers, artists, and musicians about the river and its people. An important feature of the student-designed projects is that they must be shared with the other students on the trip, a Project-Based Educational (PBE) approach.

This TLO describes a 2-credit, direct independent study course that will offer undergraduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with coral reef biology and physiology. Due to the recent Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster, there is now a pressing concern for the fate of corals of the Florida Reef Tract, and the coral reef environments that they maintain. Most corals have two life history stages, larvae and adult, both of which may be subject to a variety of environmental stressors (e.g. exposure to contaminants, changes in salinity and temperature). Surmounting evidence has shown that these stressors result in adult coral stress and/or mortality. What are less well studied are the effects of environmental stressors on the vital larvae phase. If larvae do not survive and recruit to a site, adult populations will undergo a drastic reduction. The basis for this research opportunity is to work with the understudied, yet extremely important, larval phase using the coral Porites astreoides as a model system. 

Based upon previous research by the principle investigator, it has been determined that P. astreoides releases its larvae on the new moon of every May. This narrow window (May 20, 2012 ±3 days) dictates the timely offering of this proposed TLO (Total: 2 week duration). Days 1-10 will be designated for the field component of this project (sample collection and experimental set up). Days 11-14 will be used for laboratory analysis of the specimens at UNF (laboratory of Cliff Ross). The field component of this research will take place at Mote Marine Tropical Laboratory, a fully-equipped marine science facility dedicated to marine research, education and conservation. The facility is located within easy access to a variety of coral reef habitats. UNF students will be involved in all aspects of this project including adult coral collection, larvae maintenance, experimental setup, and data collection and analysis. 

The University of North Florida Chamber Singers will be traveling to South Africa for a 12-day tour of the country as well as the chance to be part of a culturally diversifying experience for students, other tourists and locals. Students will encounter the culture of South Africa first-hand with Jacksonville's sister-city Nelson Mandela Bay, Capetown and Johannesburg while performing repertoire from regions around the world including North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.

 
Students will travel through both the large cities and smaller towns of South Africa in order to provide a well-rounded perspective on South African culture. The touring ensemble membership will span multiple age brackets, ethnic backgrounds and majors. The transformational aspect of the tour will come through both the act of touring the country as a performing ensemble and also through representing a diverse group of students working together to create music. As with the TLO-sponsored 2007 Portugal Tour and the fundraised 2010 Italy Tour, a focal point of the trip will have students performing alongside collegiate choral ensembles based in South Africa, providing UNF singers with the opportunity to interact with peers of another country. Rather than merely visiting landmarks, our students will experience another culture and its languages from within, heightening their cultural transformational learning. Another facet of the experience will be performing in underserved parts of various cities, providing the South African communities a vocal as well as physical model of success in diversity.

The goal of this project is to determine if HDAC4, a gene expressed in muscle and “turned on” when skeletal muscle loses its connection to the nervous system, is important in the aging process at the molecular level.  Students will analyze DNA from skeletal muscle of young and old mice, and these DNA samples will be characterized using state-of-the-art techniques in genome analysis.  This TLO proposes to investigate the molecular and genetic controls of longevity using the mouse as a model organism, along with cell culture and molecular genetic techniques.  
 

The techniques utilized in this project will provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to learn and understand new and exciting methods currently being used in biomedical research.  This TLO will provide students the opportunity to learn cell culture coupled with molecular genetic techniques that they might not learn in the classroom.  Furthermore, students will use these skills to address important questions in muscle aging.  Then during the summer of 2012, in collaboration with Dr. David Furlow, the final phase of the project will be conducted during a two week trip to U.C. Davis. Dr. Furlow is a broadly trained molecular biologist and has generously offered space in his laboratory for UNF students to learn the techniques required to do whole genome studies. 

Students within the UNF undergraduate Athletic Training Education Program will be given a unique opportunity to travel to Chile and teach undergraduate students and interact with faculty in the physical trainer and sport physiotherapist specializations at DuocUC Vina Del Mar, Chile.  DuocUC Vina Del mar serves approximately 8,000 students from Chile who are looking to advance their technical and professional skills with higher vocational education. 

UNF students will teach the Chilean students and interact with DuocUC faculty in the following subject areas: anatomy, orthopedic evaluation, and injury rehabilitation.  The TLO will occur over 7 days, with 5 days dedicated to instruction.  The first day will focus on anatomy, the following two days will be used to provide an overview of orthopedic evaluation skills for common athletic injuries, and the last two days will be used to provide foundations in rehabilitation of common athletic injuries.  UNF students will prepare a lecture that they will present to the Chilean students along with a hands-on clinical lab section to accompany the lecture.  DuocUC faculty will be present for these presentations.  UNF students traveling to Chile will be paired to complete this task and all lectures and labs will be evaluated by the TLO leaders prior to leaving Chile to determine quality and validity of the instructional materials.  This opportunity will immerse students in a diverse population, while developing their teaching and communication skills.

There is a well-documented contrast between how outsiders, especially those from Europe and the U.S., view the country and people of Greece vs. how Greek culture is viewed by natives.  This TLO will use this inside/outside idea to allow students to experience and study how Greece's history has shaped its modern identity, and how contrast with Greek identity allows them (for perhaps the first time) to see their own identity in sharp relief.

The students' experience of Greek culture and identity will be truly immersive.  They will live and study for five weeks at the American College of Greece, a NEASC-accredited college in suburban Athens.  The college, a modern and well-equipped campus, has a student body that is 90% Greek.  At the most basic level of immersion, the students will live in college housing with full kitchens (and no cafeteria) so that they have to procure their own food and other daily needs in local stores.

The students will take six credits of courses, three taught by UNF faculty and three at ACG.  The class at ACG will be a course of their choice at either the upper or lower division.  By individually choosing their own ACG class, each one will likely end up alone in a class of Greek students, pushing them out of their "American bubble" and into closer contact with Greek students, providing a deeper level of immersion.

This study abroad course is an excellent opportunity to experience the history and culture of one of the most interesting and important countries in Central America. The trip includes visits to the north of the country (Tikal and Flores), Antigua and the Western Highlands including Panajachel and Huehuetenango. This study abroad is unique in that its focus is on freshman and  that it creates a study abroad environment that immerses students in service learning. Students will interact with Guatemalan indigenous communities and attend lectures/presentations addressing current economic and social issues in Guatemala. This course is aimed at students with interests in service learning, social entrepreneurship, socio-political and economic development, clean water availability and educational access with Latin America. This trip includes a service learning component and students will participate in several projects sponsored by Rotary International for the benefit of the indigenous communities in Guatemala.

Through this trip and the project students will have the opportunity to experience the richness of Guatemala’s culture and history. This course provides students the opportunity to think critically regarding economic development, hygiene, education and sustainability issues in a developing country, demonstrate the ability to present information and write reports, and understand the historic, social and economic
background of business in international markets.

In this month-long TLO, students will take two UNF faculty-led art or art history courses at the campus of St. John's University, located on Via Marcantonio Colonna in the Prati section of Rome.  Students will become more independent and confident in a major urban center where most will not speak the language.  All students keep journals and sketchbooks and reflective assignments are given and discussed regularly.  Students become more aware of their own American culture as they learn about Italian life. 

At the very core of the UNF Rome Program is the emphasis on experiential learning on site. Lectures, student reports, studio classes and  drawing and painting lessons will be conducted in the Vatican Museums, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, etc. Students will be assigned research projects that require them to navigate the fabric of the city in its multilayered contexts ranging from antiquity to the present. They will learn rudimentary Italian and Italian customs.

Salvador, Bahia was founded in 1549 on the northeast coast of Brazil and is considered one of the oldest cities in the New World. It was also the first colonial capital of Brazil and was the most populous city in the New World for over 200 years. Named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985, Salvador’s mixture of ethnic groups including Amer-Indian, African, and European makes it a cultural melting-pot.

 
The funds for this TLO will support a study abroad program in Salvador, Bahia focusing on the arts, design, history and social sustainability. While experience the culture, students will visit and work closely with local non-profit organizations. First the program will visit historical sites, museums, business centers, and organizations that are sucessfully working with the community. Secondly, the program will visit non-profit organizations that are in need of support for their community outreach activities.

 
The course will be offered in July 2011 with a total duration of two weeks. Students will also be required to meet 3 times before departure and 2 times after the trip.  Some activities will focus on the design and development of programs and promotions for the selected non-profit organizations. Students will work under the guidance of Brazilian designers, and advertising agencies while engaging in a range of professional development activities, for example, client interview techniques and portfolio development, to enhance their professional skills.

The Strasbourg French language and culture study abroad program has been in existence for twelve years, and is a true immersion experience for students.  The program consists of five weeks in France during which the UNF students have French classes 15 hours a week (total 60 contact hours) in which native speaker instructors teach entirely in French and their classmates come from all over the world. They live with French families with whom they take two meals a day, so their immersion experience continues outside the classroom, and real cultural contact fills the greater part of most days as they navigate the city independently on foot and on public transportation (and most travel outside the city is by train).

Dr. Schwam- Baird teaches a culture class (Faces of France) three afternoons a week and conducts their many excursions—short afternoon visits to places of interest in the city, full-day Saturday excursions in the region around Strasbourg, and a long weekend in Paris (total about 80 contact hours including the excursions).

This TLO allows degree-seeking undergraduate students of American Sign Language / English Interpreting to accompany graduate students in a study abroad for 13 days at two universities in Austria and Slovenia that have translation/interpretation programs: The Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria (signed and spoken language programs) and the University of Ljubijana, Slovenia (conference interpreting program/spoken only).  Students will be enrolled in Applied Research in Interpreting at the time of the TLO and will be in the midst of designing research projects and writing literature reviews when they travel.

Given that signed language interpreting students are typically isolated from the larger world of spoken language translation and interpretation, it is unique that UNF students have the opportunity to see how the pedagogy of educating interpreters is similar, regardless of mode.  The TLO leaders plan to expose students to a broader world view of their chosen career while instilling in them an enthusiasm for research in second language acquisition, interpretation theory and process, and the larger field of translation/interpretation learning.

The University of North Florida Chamber Singers will be traveling to South Africa for a 12-day tour of the country as well as the chance to be part of a culturally diversifying experience for students, other tourists and locals. Students will encounter the culture of South Africa first-hand with Jacksonville's sister-city Nelson Mandela Bay, Capetown and Johannesburg while performing repertoire from regions around the world including North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.

 
Students will travel through both the large cities and smaller towns of South Africa in order to provide a well-rounded perspective on South African culture. The touring ensemble membership will span multiple age brackets, ethnic backgrounds and majors. The transformational aspect of the tour will come through both the act of touring the country as a performing ensemble and also through representing a diverse group of students working together to create music. As with the TLO-sponsored 2007 Portugal Tour and the fundraised 2010 Italy Tour, a focal point of the trip will have students performing alongside collegiate choral ensembles based in South Africa, providing UNF singers with the opportunity to interact with peers of another country. Rather than merely visiting landmarks, our students will experience another culture and its languages from within, heightening their cultural transformational learning. Another facet of the experience will be performing in underserved parts of various cities, providing the South African communities a vocal as well as physical model of success in diversity.

Dr. Gabbard’s LIT 4931 course on Disability Studies will focus on the nature, meaning, and consequences of what it is to be defined as disabled, and explore the historical and cultural dynamics of disability.  It will primarily address the stereotypes associated with and the experiential aspects of disability as these are deployed in literature, film, television, the Arts, and other cultural media.  It also will address disability rights, legal issues, and public policy as ancillary topics.  
 

In addition to attending biweekly class sessions, students will volunteer two hours per day, one day per week, over a ten-week period at one of three sites: The Mt. Herman Exceptional Student Center, Alden Road Exceptional Student Center, and Hope Haven Children’s Clinic and Family Center.

This TLO will involve a credit-bearing undergraduate anthropology course at the 4000 level designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration with “The Ghana Project” offered through the UNF Honors Program. The course, Gullah/Geechee Culture of the Southeastern U.S., introduces students to the population increasingly recognized as 'the root of Africa in the New World.' In 2006, the Gullah/Geechee communities spanning the coastal regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northern Florida became the first cultural group of African descent to

be recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior with a Cultural Heritage Corridor, thereby acknowledging their national importance to “American” culture. The course material and experiences of the proposed TLO draw upon more than a decade of the leader’s ongoing anthropological research experiences among the Gullah/Geechee in an effort to illustrate how West African cultural lifeways have been and continue to be translated, interpreted and sustained in this New World Diasporic context.

Students participating in the TLO course in Fall 2011 would subsequently enroll in a related-content course for Spring 2012 and participate in “The Ghana Project” in early Summer 2012 (accompanied by both TLO leader and Spring honors professor). This cumulative experience would foster a deeper understanding of the connections between Africa and the African Diaspora by allowing students to see and experience the cultural connections first-hand.

The purpose of this TLO is to facilitate the transformation of students into scientists and/or practitioners through reflection on experiences in a community organization.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in research while simultaneously participating in a practicum as a trained peer counselor.  In doing so, students will be better prepared and informed about making important, life-altering decisions about their futures.  
 

The highlight of this TLO experience will be students’ engagement with clients as professionally trained peer counselors (under the supervision of agency staff and UNF faculty) and their engagement with clients as trained researchers in psychology (under the supervision of UNF faculty) in an agency serving the needs of women – the Divine Mercy House, a maternity home. Students will work collaboratively with agency officials and faculty mentors to develop shared academic and agency descriptions of problems to be addressed, solutions to be applied, and activities that constitute success. Students will enroll in one practicum course and one DIS. They will be expected to be actively engaged in research and/or counseling for a minimum of 10 hours each week for which they are registered: approximately half in counseling and half in research. By participating in this TLO, students will clarify their educational and career goals and begin their transformations from student to professional.

This study abroad course is an excellent opportunity to experience the history and culture of one of the most interesting and important countries in Central America. The trip includes visits to the north of the country (Tikal and Flores), Antigua and the Western Highlands including Panajachel and Huehuetenango. This study abroad is unique in that its focus is on freshman and  that it creates a study abroad environment that immerses students in service learning. Students will interact with Guatemalan indigenous communities and attend lectures/presentations addressing current economic and social issues in Guatemala. This course is aimed at students with interests in service learning, social entrepreneurship, socio-political and economic development, clean water availability and educational access with Latin America. This trip includes a service learning component and students will participate in several projects sponsored by Rotary International for the benefit of the indigenous communities in Guatemala.

Through this trip and the project students will have the opportunity to experience the richness of Guatemala’s culture and history. This course provides students the opportunity to think critically regarding economic development, hygiene, education and sustainability issues in a developing country, demonstrate the ability to present information and write reports, and understand the historic, social and economic
background of business in international markets.

Salvador, Bahia was founded in 1549 on the northeast coast of Brazil and is considered one of the oldest cities in the New World. It was also the first colonial capital of Brazil and was the most populous city in the New World for over 200 years. Named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985, Salvador’s mixture of ethnic groups including Amer-Indian, African, and European makes it a cultural melting-pot.

 
The funds for this TLO will support a study abroad program in Salvador, Bahia focusing on the arts, design, history and social sustainability. While experience the culture, students will visit and work closely with local non-profit organizations. First the program will visit historical sites, museums, business centers, and organizations that are sucessfully working with the community. Secondly, the program will visit non-profit organizations that are in need of support for their community outreach activities.

 
The course will be offered in July 2011 with a total duration of two weeks. Students will also be required to meet 3 times before departure and 2 times after the trip.  Some activities will focus on the design and development of programs and promotions for the selected non-profit organizations. Students will work under the guidance of Brazilian designers, and advertising agencies while engaging in a range of professional development activities, for example, client interview techniques and portfolio development, to enhance their professional skills.

Through this TLO project, students will learn a variety of techniques for capturing, handling, measuring and marking gopher tortoises and diamondback terrapins. Additionally, they will learn why these species are so important in their own habitats and how their continued existence has become so threatened by the activities of humans.
 

Tortoise students will learn the components of tortoise habitat which are necessary for their food and shelter and how their environment has long been influenced by natural fires. They will learn a variety of techniques for assessing tortoise habitat, particularly soil and vegetative analysis. This will entail learning to identify various plants used by tortoises. They will learn habitat management techniques such as controlled burning and subsequent habitat assessment to determine its effects.
 

Terrapin students starting this project with little or no knowledge about diamondback terrapins or field work will finish having transformed into field biologists with an in-depth appreciation for the needs of this and other species, an understanding of the complications involved in management of habitats, and an appreciation for anthropogenic effects on habitats.

This TLO project is designed to give students hands-on experience with biomedical research, focused on the issues of preventing, controlling, and treating antibiotic-resistant infections.  Students will complete a comparative biochemical analysis of outer membrane proteins produced by the bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia and Acenitbacter baumanni.  Both of these species of bacteria are major causes in nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections in immunocompromised patients.  Students will isolate, identify and quantify relative levels of outer membrane proteins in each of these strains.  
 

This program will provide students experience with clinically-relevant medical research using state-of-the art equipment at UNF, and interaction with clinical professionals at the Mayo Clinic.  It is designed to help students prepare for and more fully explore career options in medicine, clinical science, and biomedical research.  Students will be expected to commit a minimum of six hours per week to this project in 3-hour blocks throughout the 2011-2012 school year.  The project will culminate with students travelling to the American Society for Microbiology Florida branch annual meeting to present their findings to the scientific community.   

This course will provide students with a unique opportunity to use knowledge that they obtain in formal class sessions to address an ongoing, real-world problem in the field of Shark Biology, that is, the need to identify and protect nursery grounds for overexploited shark species. This is a timely research topic that builds on preliminary work conducted by the UNF Shark Biology program, which has demonstrated the importance of the Tolomato River as critical habitat for the scalloped hammerhead and other shark species. The scalloped hammerhead is currently listed as an endangered species in U.S. Atlantic waters by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to overfishing. Therefore, we anticipate that the direct participation of students in actual research geared towards obtaining data necessary for conserving this species will instill a sense of real-world relevance into this course and a strong sense of personal investment on the part of students.

Students will enroll in a 3-credit-hour, upper-level undergraduate course focused on the biology and ecology of sharks during Summer B, 2011.  In addition to providing an overview of the basic biology of sharks, this course will emphasize the interactions that occur between humans and sharks, such as shark attacks on beachgoers, and the impacts of human exploitation on shark populations, using both classroom- and field-based forms of instruction.

The purpose of this TLO is to facilitate the transformation of students into scientists and/or practitioners through reflection on experiences in a community organization.  Students will have the opportunity to participate in research while simultaneously participating in a practicum as a trained peer counselor.  In doing so, students will be better prepared and informed about making important, life-altering decisions about their futures.  
 

The highlight of this TLO experience will be students’ engagement with clients as professionally trained peer counselors (under the supervision of agency staff and UNF faculty) and their engagement with clients as trained researchers in psychology (under the supervision of UNF faculty) in an agency serving the needs of women – the Divine Mercy House, a maternity home. Students will work collaboratively with agency officials and faculty mentors to develop shared academic and agency descriptions of problems to be addressed, solutions to be applied, and activities that constitute success. Students will enroll in one practicum course and one DIS. They will be expected to be actively engaged in research and/or counseling for a minimum of 10 hours each week for which they are registered: approximately half in counseling and half in research. By participating in this TLO, students will clarify their educational and career goals and begin their transformations from student to professional.

The goal of the “Diving for Drugs” TLO is to provide students with training in the scientific inquiry process, as applied toward discovery of new antibiotics from marine microorganisms and including significant field experience.  Student participants will gain broad training in marine biology, microbiology, and chemistry fieldwork and laboratory skills, and develop interpersonal interaction, teamwork, leadership, and oral and written communication skills.  
 

This unique combined field and laboratory experience will guide students through on-campus and local training exercises in microbiology, marine biology and chemistry, in preparation for a July 2011 field expedition to the Florida Keys.  During the 7-day research cruise in the Keys, students will live entirely aboard the R/V Bellows Research Ship, and will collect and culture marine microbes from Keys habitats for drug discovery studies.  Upon returning to UNF with samples from the expedition, the team of student scientists will pursue chemical and microbiological studies to discover antibiotic molecules produced by the organisms they collected.   

A group of 15 student-volunteers will gather data about the health behaviors of the UNF student body, including physical activity, illicit drug use, nutrition and mental health.  They plan to host a State of the Student Health address for UNF stakeholders, administrators, faculty, staff and students in Spring 2011, based on the findings of their study.  
 

Students also plan to present their  findings at the American School Health Association (ASHA) annual meeting .  They will have the opportunity to participate in scientific research, and be recognized in the field of health education and grow their national network of contacts.

This TLO describes a 2-credit, direct independent study course that will offer undergraduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with coral reef biology and physiology. Due to the recent Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster, there is now a pressing concern for the fate of corals of the Florida Reef Tract, and the coral reef environments that they maintain. Most corals have two life history stages, larvae and adult, both of which may be subject to a variety of environmental stressors (e.g. exposure to contaminants, changes in salinity and temperature). Surmounting evidence has shown that these stressors result in adult coral stress and/or mortality. What are less well studied are the effects of environmental stressors on the vital larvae phase. If larvae do not survive and recruit to a site, adult populations will undergo a drastic reduction. The basis for this research opportunity is to work with the understudied, yet extremely important, larval phase using the coral Porites astreoides as a model system. 

Based upon previous research by the principle investigator, it has been determined that P. astreoides releases its larvae on the new moon of every May. This narrow window (May 20, 2012 ±3 days) dictates the timely offering of this proposed TLO (Total: 2 week duration). Days 1-10 will be designated for the field component of this project (sample collection and experimental set up). Days 11-14 will be used for laboratory analysis of the specimens at UNF (laboratory of Cliff Ross). The field component of this research will take place at Mote Marine Tropical Laboratory, a fully-equipped marine science facility dedicated to marine research, education and conservation. The facility is located within easy access to a variety of coral reef habitats. UNF students will be involved in all aspects of this project including adult coral collection, larvae maintenance, experimental setup, and data collection and analysis. 

This TLO allows degree-seeking undergraduate students of American Sign Language / English Interpreting to accompany graduate students in a study abroad for 13 days at two universities in Austria and Slovenia that have translation/interpretation programs: The Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria (signed and spoken language programs) and the University of Ljubijana, Slovenia (conference interpreting program/spoken only).  Students will be enrolled in Applied Research in Interpreting at the time of the TLO and will be in the midst of designing research projects and writing literature reviews when they travel.

Given that signed language interpreting students are typically isolated from the larger world of spoken language translation and interpretation, it is unique that UNF students have the opportunity to see how the pedagogy of educating interpreters is similar, regardless of mode.  The TLO leaders plan to expose students to a broader world view of their chosen career while instilling in them an enthusiasm for research in second language acquisition, interpretation theory and process, and the larger field of translation/interpretation learning.

The goal of this project is to determine if HDAC4, a gene expressed in muscle and “turned on” when skeletal muscle loses its connection to the nervous system, is important in the aging process at the molecular level.  Students will analyze DNA from skeletal muscle of young and old mice, and these DNA samples will be characterized using state-of-the-art techniques in genome analysis.  This TLO proposes to investigate the molecular and genetic controls of longevity using the mouse as a model organism, along with cell culture and molecular genetic techniques.  
 

The techniques utilized in this project will provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to learn and understand new and exciting methods currently being used in biomedical research.  This TLO will provide students the opportunity to learn cell culture coupled with molecular genetic techniques that they might not learn in the classroom.  Furthermore, students will use these skills to address important questions in muscle aging.  Then during the summer of 2012, in collaboration with Dr. David Furlow, the final phase of the project will be conducted during a two week trip to U.C. Davis. Dr. Furlow is a broadly trained molecular biologist and has generously offered space in his laboratory for UNF students to learn the techniques required to do whole genome studies.