Each year, the Liberal Studies Department sponsors an international travel course. These courses not only take students abroad, they broaden your sense of who you are.

During the 2009 Winter Block, Liberal Studies students are encouraged to participate in a travel course to Brazil and Argentina that focuses on South American literature, history, and culture. Students will meet on-campus in the mornings for two weeks and then travel to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires for two weeks.

The 12 day trip will start in Rio de Janeiro, where the group will take a guided tour of Sugar Loaf and Colonial Rio, visit the Christ the Redeemer statue, and enjoy a guided cruise in the Guanabara Bay. From there, we will fly to Iguacu to see the beautiful Iguacu falls and participate in a Macuco Safari. Then we will fly to Buenos Aires and take a guided tour of the city, participate in a traditional Fiesta Gaucha, and see an optional Tango show.

GREECE - Winter Block of 2008, featuring study in “Greek Culture and Literature.”
This course explored the ways in which Greek literature and culture are fundamental to understanding who we are today. The list of Western cultural features with Greek roots is long: styles of public architecture, arts such as literature, drama and sculpture, science and mathematics, political theory and vocabulary, ethics and metaphysics, ideals of heroism, even theories and practices of war-making, which also pertain to sports and games, such as the Olympics. The course took students to various locations in Greece, visiting the Acropolis and other ancient sites.

ITALY - Winter Block of 2007, featuring study in “Humanism, Literature, and the Renaissance in Italy.”
In the 14th century Petrarch, exiled from Florence for political reasons, first used the phrase Dark Ages to describe a preceding era in European history, and went on to be a leading figure in sparking the new humanism, one of the defining characteristics of the Renaissance. This course allowed students to explore the concept of humanism as it was developed during the Renaissance this time and its subsequent importance in Western civilization. Students studied humanism and the Renaissance while visiting Rome, Florence, and magnificent cultural sites and museums.