Changing Perspectives

For more than a decade, Jonathan Williamson has seen the many ways students react to studying abroad. Sometimes, during a powerful moment on the trip, they turn to the associate dean in the University of Houston’s Honors College and share how the trip has inspired them to change their major. Other times, students return home, reflect on their experience, and continue the work they started abroad by volunteering or taking on new projects on or off campus.

“[Students] see their place in the United States a bit differently,” Williamson says. “There isn’t a right answer.”

The experienced political science professor, who also leads the college’s academic programs and faculty affairs, is particularly proud that the study abroad experiences he leads are open to every major. That includes a trip to the Dominican Republic. The first was in 2024, and the next takes place this June. Roughly a dozen students will head to the vibrant, diverse Caribbean country for about 10 days, where they’ll partake in a course titled “Political Ecology.”

“The Dominican Republic is very interesting,” Williamson says. “It has lots of resources, including its amazing people. But it also has lots of challenges.”

His course examines the environment and biology of the Las Terrenas community through the lens of politics. Students immerse themselves in the community, walking its coastlines, surveying its springs, and studying its mangroves and coral reefs, all while analyzing how these ecological elements are shaped by political forces on the local, national and global stage.

For Weidy Rodriguez Castro, a hike in Las Terrenas on the 2024 trip provided one of the most poignant moments of the experience.

“I had never done anything like it before and struggled all the way up,” Castro says. “However, once I got to the top and saw the view, I understood why people enjoyed hiking so much. It wasn't about the struggle; it was the reward.”

Other aspects of the trip were both challenging and rewarding in different ways. Students toured a city dump uphill from one of the local springs, then traced the path of a stream running from the dump into town. They saw how members of the community bathed and washed clothes in the stream, then mapped its contours all the way to a wetland.

This in-depth exploration helps the students pinpoint specific causes of mangrove depletion. Then they work with local organizations on restoration projects.

“These experiences not only taught me the value of small, collective efforts in creating meaningful change but also deepened my understanding of environmental sustainability and community-driven work,” says Ranya Khalifa, a biology student who went to the Dominican Republic in 2024. “They reinforced my passion for combining my scientific background with hands-on projects to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.”

In other words, this political ecology course offers a truly interdisciplinary experience, strengthening students’ understanding of climate change and international politics while they undertake a valuable service project. The 2024 class was so impactful for its students that Williamson is returning to the same community for this year’s trip — and staying even longer.

“It’s one thing to talk about that in a class or read about it in a book,” he says. “It’s another thing to see mangroves dying, or to see trash lining a stream bank, or to see — and smell — a dump right above what is otherwise a pure and natural spring.” That’s an experience that students are unlikely to forget. Some consider new career paths; others take up similar projects once returning home. But everyone returns with even more awareness of our world — and how to improve it.