From de-militarization to re-development: Vieques, Puerto Rico

Course Description

In the 1940s most of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico was appropriated by the United States military as a bombing range and combat training ground. In the second half of the twentieth century the residents of Vieques were resettled into a small central section of the island, deprived of almost any economic development options and subjected to the negative social and health effects of almost continual bombing and military exercises. Through a prolonged non-violent direct action campaign social movements on Vieques managed to force the United States military to leave the island in 2003. While the people of Vieques have won a major victory by ending the military occupation many questions regarding the future of the island remain unanswered. How contaminated is the island from years of military activities? Why is the former bombing range still owned by the US government instead of being turned over to the people of Vieques? Why is the most bombed part of the island now officially a wilderness area? Can local efforts to promote small-scale sustainable development succeed or will the island become dominated by off-island investors and corporations? These are just a few of the questions we will be examining on this class trip. This trip, however, is not only about learning about the situation on Vieques. We will also be doing a research project that involves making maps supporting local sustainable development initiatives. We will be working in collaboration with the local organization Comité Pro Rescate y Desarollo de Vieques (Committee for the Rescue and Redevelopment of Vieques) to develop our maps. This will be the third trip by UVM students to Vieques. Trips in June of 2006 and January 2007 were very successful. The projects from those classes are on-line at: http://www.uvm.edu/~jdavis6/viequesclass.htm

What we will be doing

We will have three meetings during the fall semester prior to our trip to Vieques (days and times TBA). Our first meeting will discuss the logistics of the trip and will also focus on discussions of the geography and recent history of Vieques. The second meeting will focus on some of the geographic techniques we will use on the trip such as Interviews, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The third will focus on Service-Learning pedagogy. There will also be one post-trip meeting in the spring semester (date and time TBA).

On the trip we will be working with the Comité Pro Rescate y Desarollo de Vieques and other members of the community in Vieques to discuss the kinds of mapping projects they want done. Then we will carry out those projects by collecting the needed data. It is expected that some of the projects we undertake may build on some of the earlier projects done by UVM students in June. While on Vieques students will be responsible for producing the map or some other project and for keeping a daily record of their reflections. This will be more than just a diary and will be discussed more in the pre-trip meetings. Students will also be required to write a paper that reflects on the total experience that is 7-10 pages long (double-spaced). The due date for the assignment is Jan 22. During the trip students will also have ample time to independently talk to people in Vieques and do some exploring of the island.

What is (and is not) covered by the course fee:

The course fee is (apx) $1,325 which is billed when the student registers for the course.

It covers: all in-country transportation including rental cars, taxis and getting from San Juan to Vieques and back; all hotel stays in San Juan and Vieques (which includes breakfasts); all meals (a $25 dollar stipend per day for each student to cover costs of lunch and dinner), all lecture and other fees.

What it doesn’t cover: airfare from the student’s home city to San Juan (the listed cheapest fare on Expedia from Burlington to San Juan was $415 round trip; New York to San Juan was $286; Hartford to San Juan was $375; Boston to San Juan was $277). The course fee also does not cover tuition. The course is 3 credits and for tuition purposes is considered part of the spring semester. In other words, if a student takes this class and 15 hours during the regular spring semester they would have a total of 18 hours and ALL tuition costs would be covered by regular full-time tuition. Also, the course fee does not cover extra spending money for gifts, tourist activities (such as snorkeling, renting scooters, kayak tours, etc) or expensive meals over and above the daily stipend.

Materials for class:

Students need to purchase one book to be read before arrival in Puerto Rico:

Military Power and Popular Protest: The U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico (Paperback)

by Katherine T. McCaffrey " ISBN: 0813530911. The book is available on-line at Amazon or other book sites. The cost is approximately $24

Class Policies:

Behavior: It is expected that students will conduct themselves in an ethical and responsible way during the trip.

Academic dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism (submitting someone else’s work as your own), cheating, and fabrication of information or citations. It will result in a grade of “F” for this course. If you have any questions or uncertainty regarding the use of sources in your research or other areas of potential conflict with this policy, discuss them with me.

Access: I encourage persons with disabilities to participate in this class. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible.