We have a lot of exciting developments for 2024, so let’s get right to them.
BLOCKS AWAY FOR SUMMER 2024
AND THE 2024-2025 ACADEMIC YEAR
We are happy to announce the full slate of 2024 Summer Blocks Away as well as the 2024-2025 Blocks Away. We have 9 summer courses offered and 16 blocks during the next school year.
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SUMMER 2024
Hidden Spaces, Hidden Narratives (Berlin): FG214/RM200/GR220. Prof. Heidi R. Lewis
Students examine the experiences of marginalized people in Germany, particularly how they resist and reproduce oppression through multidisciplinary critical perspectives
Ecology & Management of Shallow Lakes (Czech Republic): EV320, Prof. Miro Kummel
This applied limnology course with the focus on (1) ecosystem and landscape level processes, (2) population level processes, (3) fishery management, conservation and ecosystem services, and (4) the unique history and culture within which the ancient anthropogenic ecosystem operates.
Greek & Roman Art (Italy): CL223/AH207/HY220, Prof. Sanjaya Thakur
Survey of the archaeology, art, and history of ancient Greece and Rome and their influence from antiquity to the modern period.
Kenya’s Maasailand: Indigeneity in the Postcolonial British Commonwealth (Kenya):
PH203, Prof. Alberto Hernandez-Lemus
Hosted by the Maasai people at the Dopoi Center, the course will address the complex relationship between Indigenous communities and the State under colonial and postcolonial conditions.
Shakespeare and London (UK): EN225/EN405, Prof. Steven Hayward
This class will experience productions of Shakespeare’s works and by explore the cities and the countryside where he lived and wrote.
Cultural Studies in Senegal: CO200/FR201/FR317, Prof. Ibrahima Wade and Prof. Nene Diop
This Culture course, taught in English (with credit in French option), will investigate and discuss Senegalese culture hrough Field trips, reading of novels, selected historical and sociological documents,, guest lectures by writers/researchers and university profs., films and documentaries, attendance of selected live cultural events, etc.
Spanish Language in Spain: SP111/SP211/SP305/SP306, Directed by Prof. Carrie Ruiz
The program offers 3 levels of Spanish: Beginner (SP111), Intermediate (SP 211) and Advanced (SP 305 and SP 306). It is a 2-block, 2-unit program.
Monks & Monarchs: A History of Christianity in Great Britain: RE200, Prof. Pamela Reaves
Students will explore the history of Christianity in Great Britain as they travel in England and Scotland.
Topics in Printmaking: The Art of the Boat (Utah): AS216, Prof. Kate AItchison
This course that will explore the concept of a BOAT as relief print, functional form, and fine art object. Taking place in remote Southeast Utah on the Yestermorrow Design School Campus, the course will be divided into three parts: design and carving of the hulls, construction of the boats themselves, and finally a multi-day aquatic journey with the boats built during the course.
APPLICATION
Applications for Summer 2024 opened on November 30 and run through January 22. Students do not need to apply for aid separately. All students who are approved for program rosters are automatically reviewed for a possible aid award. We highly recommend that all students apply by or before the 22nd to ensure their best chance to obtain aid. We do not expect there to be aid available for late applicants.
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ACADEMIC YEAR 24-25
BK 2: Greek Archaeology: Prof. Sanjaya Thakur & Prof. Henry Fricke
The course examines the geologic history of the eastern Mediterranean basin and examines the impact of geologic and other environmental changes and events on cultures in ancient Greece and in the modern period through several case studies.
BK 2: Mathematical Symmetry in Spain: MA340, Prof. Molly Moran
The study of symmetry from a mathematical perspective. Symmetry groups of bounded figures, frieze patterns and wallpaper patterns in the Euclidean plane will be classified using the Mosaics, tiling, art, and architecture in Southern Spain as motivation.
BK 3: Gazing in Italy: PY130, Prof. Tomi-Ann Roberts
In both a classroom and in the “laboratory” of the museums, chapels, galleries, gardens and squares of Florence and Siena Italy, this course will examine how we “see,” “look,” “gaze,” “behold” works of art, theories and research on facial and bodily expression and embodiment, notions of individualism and identity. the role of empathy in aesthetic experience, and gender and sexuality, objectification, “the male gaze,”power
BK 4: In the Footsteps of Bach (Germany): MU398, Prof. Ofer Ben-Amots
With study at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, in Eisenach, Weimar, Arnstadt, Köthen and Leipzig we will focus on and analyze related compositions, while exploring both the historical and social aspects of Bach’s time as we attend many concerts of Bach’s music.
BK 4: Performance Away-India: DA/TH232, Prof. Pallavi Sriram
This course introduces students to dynamic contemporary arts scenes in India. Scheduled around the Kochi Biennale – Asia’s largest interdisciplinary contemporary arts festival – as well as a residency with a contemporary theater company or traditional performance institution,
BK 5: History Senior Seminar in Chicago: HY410, Prof. Jake Smith
This course travels to Chicago’s Newberry Library so that senior history majors may gather materials for their final research projects in a world-class library.
BK 5: Greek For Beginners (Athens): CL101, Prof. Sanjaya Thakur
Introduction to reading Attic Greek, the language of ancient Athens in its political, literary, and philosophical prime. We will also learn about the history of the Greek language and its considerable influence on English’s scientific vocabulary and literature.
BK 5: Martyrs & Saints (Italy): RE200, Prof. Pamela Reaves
Encounter the history of Christian martyrdom and sainthood in Rome, Italy. Examines the beginnings of martyrdom in the early church, particularly in the context of the Roman Empire, and the legacies of the apostles Peter and Paul as well as the emergence of later saints, especially in the Catholic tradition.
BK 5: Musical Crossroads (Panamá): MU228, Prof. Liliana Carrizo
An immersive musical and culture-based learning experience, the course is a hands-on exploration of the rich sonic and culinary tapestries that make up Panama’s musics and foodways, where the sounds and cuisines of Panama’s Indigenous populations and African immigrants combined with the music of its Andalusian settlers to create a unique set of soundscapes and culinary cultures.
BK 7: Voice & the Non-Human (Ecuador): EV261/PH203/IT320, Prof. Amanda MInervini
This course interrogates anthropocentrism and human/nonhuman animal relations through a specialized, ecocritical and ecofeminist analysis of theoretical, visual and literary texts.
BK 7: Linking Literacy, Language, and Linguistics (UK): ED110, Prof. Lynne Fitzhugh
This course is an introduction to the science of comprehensive literacy instruction and linguistics.. designed to enhance teaching abilities, especially for those working with struggling beginning readers and writers who require targeted or intensive intervention, as well as English Language Learners. It will travel in both England and Scotland.
BK 7: Politics, Film & Culture in New York City: FM200, Prof. Scott Krzych
The city, in all its myriad forms, is the classroom as this course intersects topics of film, culture, and the politics of the largest city in the nation.
BK 7: Art of Insurgency in Serbia & Bosnia: TH239/PS239, Prof. Shawn Womack
Investigates the arts’ relation to narratives of power–those stories that justify why certain structures dominate, and why alternatives do not. An examination into those arts that expose these narratives, reveal silenced alternatives, and present challenger stories that aspire to power themselves.
BK8: Kinesiology-Nordic Research: HK260, Prof. Anthony Bull
The course is a combination of lectures and student presentations on campus in week 1, and presentations by Nordic researchers and tours of historically famous research institutes in Denmark, Sweden and Finland in weeks 2-4.
BK 8: Turkish German Cinema (Berlin/Istanbul): GR220/GR320/FM205,
Prof. Ane Steckenbiller & Prof. Baran Germen
Visit both Berlin and Istanbul as the course examines the intersection of arts, culture, and politics for the Turkish population in Germany as well as Turkiye itself.
BK 8: Gusto: Italian Food as Art, Culture, and Tradition: IT320, Prof. Amanda Minervini
This course includes readings on the cultural history Italian cuisine, and a hands-on part, in Abruzzo: in the kitchen with professional chefs, in a winery, and in a cheese-making facility. During our itinerant class, we will discuss, analyze and unravel a complex tapestry of taste and the history behind them.
APPLICATIONS & AID
Applications for next year’s blocks open on the date of our Study Away Fair on February 1 and run through March 16. Any questions at all about the application process, or if you would like more information to be able to advise students, there is always a lot of course and process info available on our Global Education Website. Students do not need to apply for aid separately. All students who are approved for program rosters are automatically reviewed for a possible aid award.