Background

The International Seafarers' Center Port-as-Classroom Project is a project in performance-based, multi-cultural education. We employ the port as a stage or setting in which to bring together students with seafarers and others in the Brunswick shipping industry.

The project embraces the story of global trade and the world's merchant marine contingent and how goods are moved in and out of the Port of Brunswick. With over 12,000 seafarers visiting Brunswick from over 70 nations (such as West Africa; the Caribbean nations; South, Southeast and East Asia; the Philippines and South Pacific island nations; East and Southeast Europe; and South and Central America) this becomes a superb educational source. Having the facilities and capabilities to bring this experience to these students expands their knowledge of the importance of the sea, the many cultures involved and how these things play an important role in world commerce.

The activities of the port itself and of the ships entering it, offers a rich context for learning. Visiting the work and living spaces of modern merchant vessels, talking with mariners where they work, eat, relax and sleep provides an insight that cannot be gained by any other means. With this experience, students acquire a sense both of the seafarers' lives - at sea and at home - and of the ethnic and cultural diversity found in the contemporary merchant marine. As a result of their interaction with seafarers from around the world, students learn geography, interview skills, writing and publication, and the art of storytelling. Other benefits include exposure to other cultures, economies, and languages to children who may never travel far from Brunswick, GA.

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Any questions about Port-as-Classroom? Email Eleanor

PAC Photo Gallery

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