Geography Study Abroad
Landscapes and Nations of Europe
Students will journey through ten countries—Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden—to study the natural and built landscapes of Europe while exploring historic and contemporary issues tied to nations and nationalism. They will consider how political, cultural, linguistic, and religious forces shape nation-states, examine the aspirations of separatist regions, discuss the impact of immigration and minority groups on national identity, and reflect on the European Union's role as a form of post-nationalism. Along the way, students will engage with people from diverse backgrounds to hear their perspectives on life in Europe’s shifting political and cultural landscape.
Kilimanjaro: Adventure Travel in Tanzania
Students will apply geographical principles of adventure travel and global studies to learn through experience about adventure travel and conservation programs in Tanzania. Students will climb Mount Kilimanjaro with local guides, attend lectures and field trips at the College of African Wildlife, and travel with local guides through national parks and game reserves to apply academic principles to actual experiences.
Exploring our British Heritage
Experience nineteenth-century Great Britain, the world in which thousands of our ancestors converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This study abroad will explore the historical geography of England, Wales, and Scotland during the Industrial Revolution, as well as the British Mission that found great success in building the Church here. Each student will have the opportunity to guide the group through the life of a British convert or missionary (preferably, one of your own ancestors) with a firsthand experience of the historical and modern landscape of his or her community. For students with British ancestry (not required), this study will forge an especially strong connection to your own religious heritage.
Students will place these personal experiences in the broader context of heritage tourism as an aspect of economic development in modern British communities and as a form of pilgrimage for modern Church members. We will also study the geography of the Church in Great Britain in the context of the geography of other denominations. Therefore, our travels will focus on regions where the early Church was most concentrated: London, South Wales, the West Midlands, Northumberland, and Scotland.
