Substance abuse, alternative transportation systems, climate change, equal opportunity for women and minorities, loss of genetic diversity, environmental pollution, alternative healthcare systems, differences in national accounting standards, urban homelessness, emerging technologies, animal rights, global markets, and euthanasia. These are some of the complex and fascinating issues that we will discuss with some of Europe's leading policy-makers and analysts. The meetings will provide you with many new thought-provoking perspectives about these cutting edge issues, allowing you to gain an appreciation of the challenges facing societies today. The seminar focuses on what we, as Americans, can learn from the problems and experiences of the European cultures we visit.

Typically the seminar visits London, Paris, and Switzerland along with several countries which include Norway, Sweden, Scotland, The Netherlands, and Germany. The seminar has also visited other cities in England and France, and has also visited Wales, Ireland, Hungary, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. Even though the seminar usually visits five to seven different countries, there is no language requirement for the seminar. Some time is spent in the pre-seminar to help you learn a set of basic phrases in each language that are helpful for travelers. More than ever, English is becoming the global language of choice and it is certainly the preferred langage of international business. The seminar is planned to provide you with an exceptional opportunity to experience as much of the culture of the countries that we visit. The goal of the seminar is to provide you with a set of experiences that are unique, experiences that you would be unable to obtain as a first-time traveler on your own.

Visits to picturesque towns like Hamar, Norway, Bergen aan Zee in the Netherlands, Wengen and Luzern, Switzerland, and Cochem, Germany continue the seminar's tradition of including smaller, rural sites to provide a contrast with the hectic pace of the larger cities. Highlights of the seminar include fascinating walking tours of London and Edinburgh, hiking in the magnificent Swiss Alps, cycling in the Netherlands and Paris, an entertaining folk show in Luzern, Switzerland, and challenging the Olympic bobsled run at Lillehammer. The economics seminar is one of the more physically challenging seminars and a number of the informal experiences are designed with that in mind.

The seminar is structured to give participants ample time to explore European culture on their own, and to visit many of Europe's most important historical and cultural sites. Every effort is made to provide seminar participants with a day or two of free time in the larger cities. One of the major goals of the seminar is to provide a set of experiences that will increase your confidence and skills so that you can travel on your own as a sensitive and independent traveler.