January Term 2009 Programs: Asia and the South Pacific

E-Commerce in Australia: Legal Principles and Business Practices (UMAIE)
The emergence of the Internet in the 1990s gave birth to an entire new economy providing goods and services through electronic commerce. This new economy emerged through the development of new forms of market opportunities, legal relationships, risks and legal liabilities. The rapid growth of e-commerce has created many challenges for the law to adapt existing legal principles to the new realities of the online world. This course will focus on the major legal questions faced by e-commerce organizations in contracting, intellectual property and information security, jurisdiction and dispute resolution, as well as the regulatory environment intended to protect firms and their customers. The course will compare American, Australian and international legal rules, and will visit Australian e-commerce companies and regulators to discuss the legal issues from the business perspective first-hand.

• Enrollment: selection
• Prerequisites: junior standing; Business Law course preferred but not required
• Maximum participants: 26
• Counts toward: 300-level elective for Legal Studies or other Business major/minor elective
• Fee: $6995 + $175 UST off-campus study fee
• Fulfills: no core requirement
• Faculty Directors: Rick Kunkel and Michael Garrison, UST
• Detailed Course Description

Development & Community in Bangladesh (HECUA)
Witness the moderate practice of Islam while learning about the environmental and economic impact of global development. Ranked among the world's poorest countries, Bangladesh has been a key site for implementing and testing models of development used by international agencies. Students will spend one week in the capital of Dhaka and two weeks in a village setting to get first-hand experience with development issues in a rural community. The course is taught in English with no prerequisites. Translators are provided for the field study. Please visit www.hecua.org for more information.

• Enrollment: selection
• Prerequisites: none
• Maximum participants: 20
• Counts toward: Justice and Peace major/minor
• Fee: $5,500 + $175 UST off-campus study fee
• Fulfills: Human Diversity core requirement
• Faculty Directors: to be announced
• Additional Course Information

India: An Examination of Globalization (UMAIE)
This course will include classroom speakers from Madras Christian College as well as business and community leaders from the Chennai area. It will also include visits to religious sites, businesses, and governmental offices. In addition to spending time at Madras Christian College, we will visit Mumbai and Delhi by plane and will travel to Hyderabad and Kerala by train.  A professor from Madras Christian College will accompany us to Mamallapuram and will provide lectures on the different cultural and religious traditions of that region. The course will provide exposure to the current business climate in India with particular emphasis on the globalization activities of Indian firms and government entities as well as American and other Western multinational firms. In addition to exposure to business practices of India, we will include a number of lectures and trips examining the culture of India with an emphasis on those aspects of Indian culture that most affect business with Western countries. Our association with Madras Christian College will facilitate contacts with Indian students and our base in Chennai will provide easy access to the business community to learn of the differences and similarities between Indian business practices and American approaches.

• Enrollment: selection
• Prerequisites: None
• Maximum participants: 26
• Counts toward: no major/minor requirement
• Fee: to be announced
• Fulfills: Human Diversity core requirement
• Faculty Directors: Bruce Fischer and Gurram Gopal, Elmhurst
• Detailed Course Description

Religions and Cultures of India: Hinduism, Islam & Eastern Christianity (UMAIE)
The course, “Religions and Cultures of India,” will provide a comparative perspective on Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism in India. It will focus on fundamental aspects of all three, will explore aspects of these religions that are particular to the areas we visit, and will examine first hand the issues and questions that arise when members of very different religions live side-by-side in a diverse society. In order to understand more clearly how religion is lived and experienced on a daily basis, the course will focus especially on interactions with the people. We will be led by Indians the majority of the time in India, and we will spend five nights in homes. Also, the course will take place mainly in the countryside, with its many challenges and inconveniences.

• Enrollment: selection
• Prerequisites: THEO 101 and one 200-level THEO course
• Maximum participants: 20
• Counts toward: Theology major/minor upper-level elective
• Fee: $5730 + $175 UST off-campus study fee core requirements
• Fulfills: 300-level Faith and Catholic Tradition and Human Diversity
• Faculty Directors: Ted Ulrich and David Penchansky, UST
• Detailed Course Description