Students travel to Europe, learn outside of classroom

Students travel to Europe, learn outside of classroom

By Melanie Klein
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 15, 1996

Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Forum in Rome is one of the many landmarks students will see on a 10-day tour organized each year by a professor in the Classsics Department.

The Classics Department is offering students a chance to get out of the classroom and experience the history they have been reading about.
Cynthia White, an assistant professor in the Classics Department, has organized tours of Italy open to faculty, staff and students for the past five years.
"Rome is so alive with 2,000 years of history; there is not a corner of Rome that does not have its own history," White said.
The 10-day excursion through Italy consists of tours of the city's historical sights and museums.
Additionally, White, who studied and lived in Italy for more than two years, guides the group to the sights and people of Italy that are not covered on regular tours.
On this year's trip, over the spring break vacation, March 14 to 23, the group will have the opportunity to tour the Vatican.
"Anyone could get a lot out of this trip," said Sarah Meadows, classics senior who went on the trip last year. "It brings the history alive."
"You're not just reading the words anymore; you have been there, and you can see what and who the authors were writing about," she said.
Carol Freundlich, a nondegree seeking graduate student and a former travel agent, said she has already visited Europe, but last year was the first time she got to go to Italy.
"(Last year's trip was) an excellent introduction to Rome and the other cities we visited," she said. "Not one of my (previous) trips would I compare to the excellence of this trip."
Over this year's 10-day excursion, the group will cover 10 cities in Italy including Florence, Venice, Sicily and Pompeii.
The trip "does cover a lot, but there is enough time to get the flavor of the country," White said.
"Students have a good footing on what they want to see later when they come back," she said. "It teaches students how to travel through Europe."
Highlights of last year's trip included seeing a12th century cathedral and a preserved Greek temple, Freundlich said.
"It is definitely worth doing again," she said.
The cost for persons 22 years and younger is $1,600, which includes all travel, hotel accommodations, two meals a day and entrance into all sites, exhibits and museums.
The cost for persons over 22 varies according to the choice of hotel accommodations, but will not exceed $1,800.
The group is limited to 38 persons.
A $90 deposit is due by Nov. 5 at the Classics Department. More information is available by calling 621-7271 or by sending electronic mail to ckwhite@ccit.arizona.edu