2008 Woodie Awards
Rome for the Holidays
Students studying abroad travel from Rome to Athens during the holiday season for insight into foreign cultures
Christina Voss
Issue date: 12/1/05 Section: Feature
Kirkwood students are heading to Rome and Athens this winter even though the trip was close to never getting off the ground.
Students began signing up for the study abroad trip from Rome to Athens in June, when Jed Peterson, a Kirkwood history instructor, promoted the trip to his students. Due to a lack of interest from other faculty members, the trip was nearly cancelled in August.
"I had been involved from the beginning," Peterson said. "With a few other faculty we decided that we would make sure that those people who had already signed up and the few we knew who still wanted to go could have this wonderful experience."
Now in charge of the trip, Peterson, along with seven faculty and 42 students, will travel through a vender called EF Educational Tours to Rome and Athens from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4.
"We are going through EF Tours because they bring the cost down significantly for the students," Peterson said. "It isn't cheap but for what we get to see and do it really is a great price."
The reason the trip was scheduled for Kirkwood's holiday break was because "it was a good time for students to get away for nine days without missing too much work or other commitments," Peterson said.
The only pre-trip problem the group has run into is with flight scheduling.
The group was originally scheduled to fly together but because of the number of people going, along with other conflicts such as the Olympics, the group has to take three different flights and join up in Rome a day later.
Once the group returns home from the trip, students will enroll in a literature course taught by Michele Payne, one of the faculty members going on the trip.
Students will study different stories about world traveling and will keep a journal about their experiences while in Europe. The class will give students three credit hours in a core literature course.
"I mostly hope students who attend this study abroad trip will have the experience of a lifetime," Peterson said.
Though this is the first trip Peterson has organized, it is not the first study abroad trip he has attended. Last year, Peterson traveled to Rome and Paris. He is also organizing a trip to England and Scotland scheduled for spring break of 2007.
"It's going to be a fabulous trip," Peterson said.
For more information or to sign up for the England to Scotland trip, e-mail Jed Peterson at jed.peterson@kirkwood.edu.
Students began signing up for the study abroad trip from Rome to Athens in June, when Jed Peterson, a Kirkwood history instructor, promoted the trip to his students. Due to a lack of interest from other faculty members, the trip was nearly cancelled in August.
"I had been involved from the beginning," Peterson said. "With a few other faculty we decided that we would make sure that those people who had already signed up and the few we knew who still wanted to go could have this wonderful experience."
Now in charge of the trip, Peterson, along with seven faculty and 42 students, will travel through a vender called EF Educational Tours to Rome and Athens from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4.
"We are going through EF Tours because they bring the cost down significantly for the students," Peterson said. "It isn't cheap but for what we get to see and do it really is a great price."
The reason the trip was scheduled for Kirkwood's holiday break was because "it was a good time for students to get away for nine days without missing too much work or other commitments," Peterson said.
The only pre-trip problem the group has run into is with flight scheduling.
The group was originally scheduled to fly together but because of the number of people going, along with other conflicts such as the Olympics, the group has to take three different flights and join up in Rome a day later.
Once the group returns home from the trip, students will enroll in a literature course taught by Michele Payne, one of the faculty members going on the trip.
Students will study different stories about world traveling and will keep a journal about their experiences while in Europe. The class will give students three credit hours in a core literature course.
"I mostly hope students who attend this study abroad trip will have the experience of a lifetime," Peterson said.
Though this is the first trip Peterson has organized, it is not the first study abroad trip he has attended. Last year, Peterson traveled to Rome and Paris. He is also organizing a trip to England and Scotland scheduled for spring break of 2007.
"It's going to be a fabulous trip," Peterson said.
For more information or to sign up for the England to Scotland trip, e-mail Jed Peterson at jed.peterson@kirkwood.edu.