CISC Offers Spring 2018 Study Abroad Opportunity in London and Wittenberg, Germany
Students from the CISC 2016 spring semester abroad pose for a photo after a tour of the Wartburg Castle in Germany. Photo by Sophia Mayrhofer.
by April Bayer
Students from schools in the Concordia University System have the opportunity to travel and study abroad in London, England, and Wittenberg, Germany, next spring semester.
The tour is made possible through a partnership between the Concordia International Studies Consortium (CISC), the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) in London and the International Lutheran Center in Wittenberg.
Students will spend eight weeks between Dec. 31, 2017 and April 22, 2018, studying and exploring in each location. One full week in each country will be devoted to travelling outside the cities on various field trips and seeing landmarks relevant to the students’ course material. Students will also have the option of completing a mission or service opportunity in another location during their spring break.
The group’s time in London will be led by Professor of English Dr. Daniel Thurber from Concordia Nebraska. Thurber has led several study tours in the past and has been traveling with students to London since 1992. He will teach Shakespeare and English Literature II during the trip.
Students will also have the option of taking either Historical London or British Fantasy Writing as January term classes. These courses will be taught by professors from Richmond, The American International University in London. Students will be housed on the University’s Kensington campus, located just south of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
Field trips in London will include visits to the site of the original Globe Theatre, the reconstructed Globe Theatre and Museum, the Virginia Woolf neighborhood, the British Museum, the Southwark area and the Charles Dickens Museum.
“(Students) will be in class but will also have London itself as a textbook to read and explore,” Thurber said.
Weekend excursions in Great Britain will include a train trip to Bath, where Jane Austen lived and worked, as well as a journey to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Students will stay at a bed and breakfast in Stratford-Upon-Avon and will have the chance to see Shakespeare’s plays performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“When you’re learning about Shakespeare, when you’re learning about different English literature, being in the midst of the country is going to be a completely different experience than what you would have learning about it here in the classroom,” said Michelle Walters, a regional director for AIFS. “It’s a place where you’re actually going to be living and breathing in the same environment as these authors were.”
Students’ time in Wittenberg will be led by Instructor of Business Management and Business Administration and Management Program Chair Renata Mayrhofer of Concordia University, St. Paul. Mayrhofer also led a CISC trip to Wittenberg last spring and lived and worked in Germany for over 20 years. She will be teaching Intercultural Communications and Global Topics during the semester abroad.
Students will also have the opportunity to take German 101 and will be taught by a local, native speaker.
The classes and sightseeing opportunities in Wittenberg will be focused on business, communication and culture. Students will visit various German businesses, the Lutherhaus, and Castle Church where Martin Luther is said to have nailed the 95 Theses to the door 500 years ago.
“Studying abroad is an amazing adventure in and of itself, (allowing) students to gain confidence in unfamiliar surroundings while experiencing life outside of the United States,” Mayrhofer said in an email interview. “A bond is created among the students as they experience so many new things together, and friendships formed on these trips often last a lifetime.”
The tour’s cost is estimated to be around $14,750. This will cover the cost of tuition, housing and excursions in both locations, as well as all meals in Wittenberg and a travel card for public transportation in London. Students will also be expected to cover the cost of airfare, a passport, souvenirs and some meals in London independently.
Concordia University, Nebraska is offering $500 scholarships to students who register early to help cover the costs of travel. Applications for these scholarships are due by May 1.
Past CISC tours have included trips to Costa Rica; Rome, Italy; and Wittenberg.
Junior Larissa Geyer, a CUNE student who visited Italy and Germany on last year’s tour, encourages students to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad.
“You will probably experience homesickness and culture shock, but you can always Skype (people) back home,” Geyer said. “I had such a wonderful time just looking at all the different ways that we’re so similar and yet we’re so different, even though you’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away.”
Thurber also encourages students not to let a fear of being far from home stop them from travelling abroad.
“Expect the unexpected, look intentional, don’t make yourself vulnerable and be street smart,” Thurber said. “International travel has increasingly become challenging, and yet it should not detract people from moving ahead purposefully because the benefits, the ways we are deepened and broadened as people, are so great.”
The application and deposit deadline for the Concordia semester in Europe is October 1, 2017. Anyone who has questions or is interested in applying should visit Julie Johnston Hermann in the Global Opportunities Center.
