Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Thank you for taking the time to review my appeal, I greatly appreciate it. My name is Sophie Keith-Brown, I am a third year History and Life-Sciences student, and I am submitting an academic appeal in order to be eligible to attend a semester abroad in Winter 2023. Rather than a traditional exchange program, I am planning to attend Semester at Sea for my study abroad. Essentially, this program combines traditional university learning with immersive experiential learning in 11 countries over the course of the semester. Typical lecture style and discussion classes are conducted just like any other university in classrooms on the ship while sailing between locations. In each port, where we spend between three and six days, learning is taken beyond the classroom and conducted via local culture, experiences, and nuances. Each course taken on the ship also comes with an associated field class connecting the in-country learning to the course content. For example, I am registered for a science class entitled Coastal Environmental Ecology, with an associated field class in Mombasa, Kenya. We will take the ecology principals we are learning in class and be able to observe and interact with them in real time on the Mombasa waterfront. While a concise summary, I believe this provides a detailed explanation of the incredible value I would gain from participating in this semester abroad.

I was drawn to Semester at Sea as opposed to other traditional exchange programs because I feel that it encompasses many of the values I was raised with and have built my life upon. Born in Mexico City before moving to California at 4 years old and then Canada for university, I hold three citizenships and a very international perspective. My father was raised in the Dominican Republic and comes from a South African background. Spanish was my first language and my parents instilled a strong sense of intercultural curiosity and literacy in my sister and me as children. Going into university, I knew I wanted to do a semester abroad, but I could not decide on one place. Last spring when I was preparing my application for exchange, I was having trouble coming to terms with choosing just one country to study in when I ran across Semester at Sea under the Queens Study Abroad website. It seemed to be the perfect combination of a serious, rigorous university program and a diverse, fulfilling international experience.

While on study abroad, I will be taking HIST 339: World War II in Europe; HIST 461: Rise and Fall of the British Empire; and NR 370: Coastal Environmental Ecology. I will also be taking a Global Studies class required by the Semester at Sea program. The courses I am taking with Semester at Sea are not ones that I can take through Queens because they offer a completely unique educational experience. Not only is the subject matter different than the lectures offered at Queens, but more importantly at no other time in my life will I be able to combine education and global literacy so seamlessly. I deeply believe this is an opportunity I must take advantage of. My classes have been approved for transfer credits by both the Life Science (NR 370) and History (HIST 339 & 461) departments and I have a letter from the Undergraduate History Chair stating her approval of my choice to take credits for my plan on this semester abroad. If this academic appeal is approved, I will then go through the process of acquiring an international letter of permission to complete the process. For supporting documentation, I have included the approval from the undergraduate history chair, written support from both the History and Life Science departments, and the transfer credit form completed by the history department. In the answer below I have also laid out how I plan to complete my degree requirements when I return to Queens and show that this semester abroad is still keeping me on track with my plan.