2009-10 Exploration Seminars
FALL EXPLORATION SEMINAR
Oct. 24-Nov. 1
West Highlands of Scotland: Exploration, Adventure and Risk
Inquiry 100 (Olsen)
W. Scott Olsen, English
Estimated seminar cost: $2,300
We all have travel and adventure stories. Whether it’s the stories of the road trip in the family car or a trip to some distant part of the planet, we all tell stories about being away from home and sometimes being at risk. We enjoy telling stories about the times we have been out of place. And we have been telling these stories for centuries. This course examines the issues brought to light in travel and adventure narratives. From climbing Everest to sailing the oceans to flying small airplanes, we will talk about conquest, self-discovery, science and a good bit more.
How do our goals influence how we value what we see and experience? How do we think about the literature of travel and its relation to any kind of accuracy or truth? Extra-curricular activities for this class often include introductory scuba and flight lessons as well as exotic foods. You will have the option to participate in travel abroad over mid-semester break to Scotland to hike the West Highland Way – one of the world’s great trekking trails that passes by Loch Lomond and various mountain passes as the scenery gets better day by day.
SPRING EXPLORATION SEMINARS
February 20-28, 2010
Exploration Seminar Application
Exploration Seminar Timetable
Exploration Seminar Financial Aid Info
I Love Paris in the Springtime
French 112 (completed or concurrent)
Gay Rawson, French
Estimated seminar cost: $2,100
What makes France the subject of so many love stories? Why have generations of writers flocked to Paris? Why did many European courts speak French? What is so special about this beautiful place? We will spend three days in Paris, exploring famous monuments and sites with the hope of better understanding what has made Paris a world capital for so many centuries. Touring Versailles, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, les Deux Magots and Notre Dame de Paris will provide us with an understanding of the history and legacy of this city. We’ll travel to Tours for a better understanding of French culture and the French mentality.
We will interact with families, students and teachers. Tours is an ideal choice for us as we investigate further the impact of French heritage because it sits in the center of the Loire Valley and contains the castles that housed French kings for centuries. As we move through different periods in history, we’ll experience first-hand the culture, cuisine and “je ne sais quoi” that makes the French “French!”
Wien: du Stadt meiner Träume – Vienna: City of Dreams
German/Music 362R
Madelyn Burchill, German, and David Hamilton, Music
Estimated seminar cost: $2,400
“Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume,” means “Vienna, city of my dreams.” Vienna, the very name sets one’s thoughts to music. The undisputed world capital of classical music will be our setting to explore and enhance our understanding of the art song genre and the cultural setting that gave it life. Mozart, Schubert, Mahler, Strauss and Schönberg head the list of Austrian composers we will study. We’ll experience opera, concerts and recitals in the elegant settings of the Staatsoper and Volksoper. We’ll visit Schonbrunn and Belvedere palaces to understand the opulence and beauty of a period that was the definition of elegance.
No trip to Vienna would be complete without a stop at its famous coffee houses that inspired the conversations and dialogues of our composers and greatest thinkers. A day trip to Melk Abbey and a day at the Vienna International School with a Cobber who teaches music will add to an unforgettable week in one of the world’s most beautiful and influential cities on the romantic Danube. This is an interdisciplinary course and either department may grant credit.
Rome: Early Christianity and The Empire
Religion 100 (Hammerling) or Religion 314J (Carruth) (concurrent or completed)
Shawn Carruth and Roy Hammerling, Religion
Estimated seminar cost: $2,050
One of the most important cities of the past and present, Rome has captured the imagination of poets, artists, rulers, popes and people of faith for thousands of years. In order to understand why this is, we will visit the great sites of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican and its Museum and Sistine Chapel, the catacombs of the saints, an exclusive subterranean tour of the Vatican, and some of the most famous churches and holy sites in Christendom.
We will also enjoy the great historical and present day sites like the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, the Colosseum where early Christians were thrown to lions, and much more. We’ll travel to the cradle of Western monasticism in the mountains outside of Rome, and the beautiful monasteries of St. Benedict and also explore ancient Ostia, Rome’s seaport. We will closely examine both how the Roman Empire affected early Christianity and how Christianity turned Rome into the Holy Empire, and why Rome still remains eternal.
Ancient Stars and Brand New Earth:
Astronomy and Geology in Hawaii
Earth Science 104 or 106 (completed)
Paul Siefert and Heidi Manning, Physics
Estimated seminar cost: $2,250
Just imagine spending seven sunny spring days on sandy beaches and watching nighttime skies ablaze in stars, all set in Hawaii’s pristine island ecology. In Hilo and Kona we’ll begin an investigation into the formation of the solar system and learn how astronomers study the heavens using telescopes and spacecraft. The lower latitude of Hilo helps us see much of the southern sky that is not visible from Moorhead, such as the Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri and much more of the Milky Way. We’ll also travel up 14,000 feet to the summit of Mauna Kea to see some of the largest and best telescopes on earth. We’ll learn about the inner workings of stars, the formation of stars and planets and the large-scale structure of the universe. Students will also explore volcanoes, lava flows and other volcanic features unique to Hawaii, including the green, black and white sand beaches.
England through Adaptation: Literature, Film and Reception
English 439
Karla Knutson, English
Estimated seminar cost: $2,150
Travel to legendary London, a city famous for its rich history and multicultural diversity. Together we will use literature, film, and travel to investigate how the city and its inhabitants have been imagined by authors, directors, and audiences. Our visits to historical sites like the Tower of London, film locations, such as Broughton Castle, and museums, including Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, will help us to explore how physical, historical, and cultural contexts influence a writer’s choices and the similar concerns of those who adapt literature for the screen. We also will attend screenings of films at the British Film Institute and plays in London’s celebrated West End. In addition to these activities, we will have opportunities to explore other sites of your choice. Join this seminar to experience contemporary and historical London on the page, on the screen and in person.
Bicentennial Mexico: Independence and Beyond
History 320HG
Richard Chapman, History
Estimated seminar cost: $2,325
Soak up the sun, sights and sounds, food and culture, and history of Mexico as we observe the country’s 200th year of independence. We will follow along in the footsteps of Father Miguel Hidalgo whose unexpected grito in the village of Dolores gave birth to the independence movement on September 16, 1810. Our path passes through the quaint and charming vistas and byways of Mexico’s Guanajuato state. Visits to colonial sites and monuments, churches and squares in Guanajuato City, San Miguel de Allende, and Dolores Hidalgo will bring alive the significance of Hidalgo, his fellow creole protagonists and his mestizo followers, and encourage us to consider their legacy.
The hearth of Mexican independence where history truly lives on through striking colonial architecture and a well-preserved past, Guanajuato nowdays also invites leisurely strolls where food, music, and artisian handiwork can be sampled and enjoyed. Exploration of sites, museums, and landmarks around the global metropolis of Mexico City, highlighted by the National Historical Museum at Chapultepec, will round out our understanding of Mexican independence and its consequences, the short-lived experiment with monarchy leading to the country’s first constitution in 1824, and the early threats to independence and territorial integrity posed by, first, the United States, and then, in short order, France.
Mexico City will also afford opportunity to reflect further upon the many ways that the past remains alive, as we attend a performance of the celebrated Ballet Folklórico, view the work of famous muralists like Rivera and Siqueiros, and visit iconic sites like the central plaza, the Basilica de Guadalupe, and the Plaza of Three Cultures.
Athens: Birthplace of Persuasion
Communication 317 (or consent of instructor)
Don Rice, Communication Studies and Theatre Art
Estimated seminar cost: $2,350
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle defined the early theories of rhetoric and persuasion, which still influence the political and public strategies of today. We will go to the ancient ruins in Athens relevant to these thinkers and their culture, including the Agora where Socrates taught and was eventually imprisoned, and two of the most important schools: Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum. We will tour the Acropolis and the new Acropolis museum among other locations important to developments in Athenian discourse and democracy, including the Hill of the Pnyx, where most of Athens’s important speeches were given, and the Areopagus where St. Paul spoke to the Athenians.
We’ll also enjoy great food and shopping in the Plaka and Monastiraki areas of the city. Side trips will include Aegina Island with its ruins and beautiful beaches, and an excursion to the Oracle at Delphi, important to the story of Socrates. Delphi also includes a visit to the Temple of Apollo with its sensational mountain views. The Greeks were known for their conception of the liberal arts, which will be highlighted by museum visits and visits to the Olympic stadium, and several ancient theatres. Finally, participants will be amazed by the vistas from Philapappou Hill and from the church at the top of Mount Lykavittos, the highest point in Athens.
Exploring Health, Culture and Vocation in Brazil
Nursing 351 or Chemistry 152
Linda Scott, Nursing
Estimated seminar cost: $2,900
Brazil, a rising business and economic competitor among developed countries, has rich resources and great diversity throughout its vast borders. We will explore southern Brazilian culture and health within the context of our own vocation in nursing. We will interact with health professionals as we tour general and specialty hospitals, clinics, and public health agencies. Brazilians are known for their gracious hospitality and love of celebrations, which we will also experience through our encounter with local residents while staying at Camp Moriah, a retreat center operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil. Here we will be treated to a churrasco or barbeque, which is a popular tradition in southern Brazil.
We will enjoy the splendid Brazilian landscape while taking an excursion to the magnificent Iguaçu Falls and Itaipu hydroelectric dam, the largest hydroelectric source in the world, and enjoy a train ride through a spectacular tropical rainforest on our way to a stay on the beautiful Atlantic Ocean beaches. Includes visa and most meals.
Arctic Environmental Issues in Norway
Political Science 367 (or consent of instructor)
Peter Hovde, Political Science and Environmental Studies
Estimated seminar cost: $2,475
The names still call us to adventure: The Arctic. North Pole. Northwest Passage. These places today are overlain with concern and alarm, as the world’s currents of air and water carry the consequences of civilization’s effluents to the creatures and peoples of the North. To gain a fuller understanding of world environmental issues, we will cross the Arctic Circle by air, landing at Bodø, Norway, for briefings on environmental issues by the very people working to resolve them. Then it’s off by boat to the magnificent Lofoten Islands, once a major Viking settlement.
Basking in warm ocean currents, Lofoten’s temperatures average just above freezing during late February, a welcome relief from frigid Moorhead. Whether by the low Arctic sun by day or the stunning Northern Lights at night, we will soak in the beauty of Lofoten’s spectacular landscapes as we witness efforts to preserve their pristine nature.
Religion at the Crossroads: Exploring Islam and Christianity
in Turkey
Religion 100 or Religion 313J or Religion 314J (concurrent or completed)
James Aageson and Elna Solvang, Religion
Estimated seminar cost: $2,595
Imagine yourself in a place where you can hear the Muslim Call to Prayer; see Sufi Whirling Dervishes; walk in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul; visit cities in the New Testament book of Revelation; and shop the Grand Bazaar and sample the flavors of Turkish cooking. We’ll explore this modern nation with a diverse religious past and a lively religious present. Turkey is the land where Christianity first emerged as a religion distinct from Judaism and through which Christianity spread to the west. It is where the Apostle Paul was born, where the creeds that define Christianity were hammered out, where the Roman imperial capital Constantinople was located and where the seat of Eastern Orthodox Christianity continues today.
Turkey is also where, after Islam took root in the 7th century, Islamic culture flourished and traveled both eastward and westward. Constantinople became Istanbul, the capital of the Islamic Ottoman Empire for nearly five hundred years. The only city on two continents, Istanbul remains a modern crossroads between the secular and the sacred.
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2009-10 Exploration Seminars
