Peru: Math and Archaeology of Ancient Peru LAS 3XX
Dr. Robyn Cutright (robyn.cutright@centre.edu) and Dr. Lesley Wiglesworth (Lesley.wiglesworth@centre.edu)
This course blends methods from mathematics and archaeology to understand how ancient Peruvians lived and understood their world. Ancient Peru was a crucible for complex human societies. Despite the harsh environmental extremes of the Central Andes, humans settled there 12,000 years ago, independently invented agriculture, and created a series of politically complex states and empires. The Inka were only the most recent in this long sequence. In this course, students will apply mathematical concepts, archaeological data, and ethnographic methods to describe, analyze, and compare cultures such as the Moche, Nasca, Yschma, and Inka. We will also explore how Andean cultures devised their own mathematical tools and used math (such as symmetry and fractals) in their architecture, engineering, and art.
Cost: $4,200
Includes: flights, all transportation and lodging, all entry fees, and two meals a day.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
France’s Game of Thrones: Combat and Confrontation in French History – HIS 411
Dr. Steve Beaudoin (steve.beaudoin@centre.edu) and Dr. John Kinkade (john.kinkade@centre.edu)
War, revolution, and invasion have left France with a bloody but fascinating past. This course begins that story with the Valois kings who ruled France from 1328 to 1589, when the kingdom was beset with fierce challenges by foreign invaders, provincial rivals, and a religious reformation that threatened to tear the fledgling state apart. From this base, we expand to consider the centrality of conflict to the history of the nation in other contexts, from wars of words to physical combat. We will explore the idea that the French nation and French identity do not value consensus building and getting along but instead value competition, combativeness, and the sharpening that comes through a battle of ideas. The centrality of conflict can therefore extend to understanding significant aspects of French literature, art, architecture, and culture. Through a combination of readings, discussions, and visits to sites as varied as the D-Day beaches, le Struthof outside Strasbourg, Parisian museums, and some of France’s most beautiful castles, we will explore symbols of a disputed royal authority, traces of deadly battles, and clues of a long-simmering discord that undergird how Frenchness is constructed.
Cost: $4,000
Includes: flights, all transportation and lodging, all entry fees, and two meals a day
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Belize: Caribbean Ecology Dr. Mark Galatowitsch and Dr. Kelly O'Quinn
This course will provide students with an introduction to tropical ecology extending from the tropical highlands to the Caribbean Sea. Our course will focus on the two major Caribbean ecosystems, marine and rainforest environments, with Kelly O’Quin specializing on the marine component and Mark Galatowitsch’s expertise in the terrestrial portion. In the first portion of the course students will study the ecology of coral reef and mangrove habitats. The second half of our course will address the complexity of rainforest ecosystems (climate conditions, species interactions, forest habitat structure, and nutrient cycling) to understand why they are so biodiverse. We will explore links between terrestrial and marine ecosystems by boating a portion of a freshwater river.
Cost: $3700
Includes: Flight, transportation, visits, 2 meals/day, hotel, accommodations, and activities.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
The Art of Pilgrimage (Spain)) ARH310/REL 310/PHI390
Dr. David Hall (wdavid.hall@centre.edu)
This course is intended to immerse students in the tradition, theology, culture, and environment of pilgrimage. Specifically, this course will allow students to explore the significance of pilgrimage by performing the actions of a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. For over 1000 years, people of faith have traveled to the burial site of St. James in Santiago. The routes to reach Santiago flourished in the medieval era, paths that were walked by princes, kings, and ordinary peasants. As a result, each town along the way to Santiago bears vivid material evidence, for instance, in the ecclesial art and architecture, of the popularity of this practice. Students enrolled in this course will walk in the footsteps previous pilgrims upon the well-trod Via Frances northern Spain. By delving into this practice, students are expected to gain a deeper knowledge of the role of ritual practice in religion as well as an understanding of the continued significance of physical ritual in the contemporary world.
Cost: $4200
Includes: Flight, transportation, visits, 2 meals/day, accommodations, classes, and activities.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Global environmental Health and Development in Gambia (Gambia) ENS 320 or (3XX)
Dr. Jean Faye (jean.faye@centre.edu) and Dr. Brett Werner (brett.werner@centre.edu)
This course is an interdisciplinary course that examines the human-environment-health interactions in Gambia. It will focus on diseases such as Cholera, Tuberculosis, Dengue Fever, and Ebola among others that have decimated many lives in the West Africian region, along with other components of public health abroad.
It also explores the country's public health facilities and model of development.
Cost: $4000
Includes: Flight, transportation, visits, 2 meals/day, accommodations , classes, and activities.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Tahiti: "Returning" Pacific: Huahine to Tahiti FRE 2XX/4XX: HUM 2XX : ENS XX
Dr. Christian Wood (Christian.wood@centre.edu) and Dr. Marc Demont marc.demont@centre.edu)
Our rigorous course, either for Humanities or French credit or ENS credit, offers students established Tahitian structures in which to live sustainably, practice ecologically sound methods, and to develop a framework for critical assessment based upon experiences. We will question the logic of consumer culture and of the ‘post-card’ image of the regions, as well as what it means to have visited a foreign place. We thereby engage with many assumptions in “modernity,” “progress,” and “development”. Course themes include sustainability (in food and dwelling for instance); confronting socio-economic realities beyond ‘the postcard’ (poverty, obesity, for instance); Tahitian language and culture; French colonial influences informing the assumptions of “civilization”; and the cultivation of sustainable relationships with local persons.
Cost: $4250
Includes: all transportation logistics leaving from CVG, and returning to CVG, entry fees, lodging, activities and 3 meals a day.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Croatia & Slovenia Antiquity & Musical Culture in Transmission
Dr. Johann Van Niekerk (johann.vanniekerk@centre.edu)
In this course students will explore, experience and engage with the music, culture and history of Croatia and Slovenia through academic study, performance and on-site visits. It will focus on the interaction of music in antiquity (there is a strong presence of ancient Rome), recontextualizations thereof by English baroque composes and romanticists and the functioning of music and antiquity in modernist settings.
Cost: $4200
Includes: Flight, transportation, visits, breakfast each day, 5 group dinners and 1 group lunch. A stipend of $300 will be given to students to buy their own meals for the other days. accommodations , classes, and activities, carbon mitigation and emergency fees.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Pilgrimage in the East: Actual and Environmental Footprints (Shikoku, Japan)
Dr. Robert Schalkoff (Robert.schalkoff@centre.edu)
Students will, within the larger context of experiential learning, explore the interconnection between spiritual and physical worlds focusing on concepts such as enlightenment, human and environmental deification, respect, awareness, and sustainability through a three week, walking pilgrimage experience in Japan. Students will learn basic tenets of Japanese Buddhism as well as Shinto, a spiritual belief system unique to Japan. At the same time, they will focus on environmental issues directly related to pilgrimage sites on the island of Shikoku and the prefectures of Tokushima and Matsuyama, where students will be trekking .Visits to temples, shrines, and other related historic, natural, architectural, and cultural heritage sites will provide physical context. Meetings with scholars, experts, and local religious leaders as well as key players in the tourism industry will help students understand the complex issues that arise when religion, tradition, and tourism meet. Students will read background literature prior to departure and record and rewrite in narrative form their experiences in the field, comparing and contrasting their own reflections to the readings, exploring emergent themes and their reactions to them. Time will be set aside each day for writing and reflective activities. Students will discuss their observations in meetings held periodically throughout the course. On the second to last day in the field, students will present an initial summary of their learning through presentations or creative projects. A short paper submitted prior to return to the US will help students synthesize readings and reflections written during the course and to further develop the ideas they explored in their presentations or creative projects.
Cost: $4200
Includes: Flight, transportation, visits, 3meals/day, accommodations, activities, carbon mitigation fee and emergency fee.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty director named above.
Continuity & Change : London 2021 (Great Britain)
Dr. Milton Reigelman (Milton.reigelman@centre.edu)
The course will build on the 10 London courses I’ve taught over the past twenty years, 8 as part of the Centre-in-London spring semester program and 2 as part of the 2-credit prep course for students going to the fall program at the University of Reading. The “Transition” in the course title recognizes the political changes currently taking place in the U.K. and the effect these changes may have on London’s historic image.
How has London, not too long ago the largest and most important city in the world, been able to adapt to current geopolitical and cultural changes? Why does it remain the most attractive destination and powerful magnet (20 million visitors this year) for people around the world)? We'll approach these question through readings from different disciplines, lectures by London experts, and daily explorations around the city. Each student will research and present to the class a key London museum, site, or institution connected to their academic or personal interests.
Cost: $3,650
Includes: flight, transportation, visits, 2 meals/day , accommodation and extracurricular activities.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Change-makers in Miami and Cuba LAS/SPA 271: Latin American Civilization and Culture HIS 379: History of Cuba
Dr. Genny Ballard (genny.ballard@centre.edu) and Dr. Mauricio Castro (Mauricio.castro@centre.edu)
This course examines the development of Cuban national identity both on Cuban soil and abroad. It takes a thematic approach to Cuban history that ties the development of abstract concepts to space and place over the course of 19 days in Cuba. The course emphasizes competing visions of Cuban nationhood from the struggle for independence to the revolution and beyond. Students will begin by addressing the relationship between North American views on Cuba and history of the Cuban diaspora. Once in Cuba, the cities of Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegoes, and the Valley of Viñales will serve as spaces in which to discuss topics like revolutionary nationhood, the legacy of slavery and the Cuban antir-racist campaign of the 1960s, the relationship with the United States, and the Cuban literacy program. Contact Dr. Mauricio
Cost: $4000
Includes: Food (2meals/day), lodging, transportation in country, plane ticket from Miami. Carbon mitigation fee and emergency fees.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty directors named above.
Happiness in the Land of Enlightenment (Bhutan)
Dr.Jennifer Goetz (Jennifer.goetz@centre.edu)
Travel with me to Bhutan, the last great Himalayan kingdom, to explore Bhutan’s cultural identity in all its complexity. We will investigate what it means for a country to measure progress through Gross National Happiness rather than Gross National Product, and examine the tensions between tradition and progress and their impact on culture and environment.
Together, we will experience how modern day Bhutanese culture has been shaped by its rugged and amazingly diverse landscape, early influence of Tibetan Buddhism, and a robust tradition of resistance to outside rule. We will hike to the famous cliffside monastery Taksthang Goemba (elevation 10232 ft), visit the historical fortress capital of Punakha Dzong, and trek through nature preserves such as the Phobjikha Valley (Bhutan, one of the smallest countries in Asia, has one of Asia’s most diverse ecosystems). Our classroom will be this fascinating country; our teachers will be Buddhist monks, local experts, and students at Royal Thimpu University.
Cost:
Includes: flight, transportation, visits, 2 meals/day , accommodation and activities.
If you are interested in applying for this course, please be in direct contact with the faculty director named above.
Merida Internships (Mexico)
Dr. Marie Petkus
Students with advanced proficiency in the Spanish language are eligible to live and work in Merida for 3-4 weeks in January. It is a great opportunity to professionalize one's Spanish language abilities, to prepare for a career, and to embed yourself in the local community.
Cost: $950 (does not include airfare)
Includes: All meals, homestay, and a day excursion in Merida
If you are interested i this course please see Mrs. Karen Ryan