Hofstra University
Department of Global Studies and Geography

EUROPEAN ODYSSEY 2012

February 25 - May 10, 2012
Director: Professor Linda Longmire

GENERAL INFORMATION

During the spring semester the Global Studies and Geography Department offers its exciting interdisciplinary program, the European Odyssey, to all undergraduate students. Accompanied by Professor Linda Longmire and Professor Timothy H. Smith, students will travel for 10 weeks by minivan throughout Western and Eastern Europe. The program visits France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. In the context of a mobile classroom, participants will examine both historical and contemporary issues in these countries.

Courses

Beginning with the Spring 2013 European Odyssey, students can receive up to 15 credits from the Department of Global Studies and Geography for the program, which is composed of five three-credit courses. These courses include the Geography of Western Europe (Geog 122, BH), Globalization and Human Trafficking (GS 108, CC and IS), Globalization and Human Rights (GS 109, CC and IS), and two additional geography courses that are currently in development (Urban Geography of Western Europe and a Geography Field Study Course). Both of the new geography courses will require prerequisites in the form of either 6 sh of prior geography course or the prior completion of at least one of the following: Geog 1, Geog 2, GS1, or GS 2

Students interested in going on the Odyssey must ensure that they have either taken at least one of the above courses, or that one of these courses is in progress when applying for the program. Prospective Odyssey students should also make sure to NOT having completed GS 108 or GS 109 prior to going on the Odyssey. All of the course on the European Odyssey will count toward the major and minor in Geography, and all courses except, the proposed Geography Field Methods course will count toward the major/minor in Global Studies.

When selecting students for the Odyssey preference will be given to declared Geography and/or Global Studies majors and minors. Students who wish to participate in these Odyssey programs must be in good academic standing and have at least a 2.5 GPA.

SOME ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS

*  Paris: the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Notre Dame, Louvre

• Mont St. Michel
• Spain: Basque Country, Madrid, Seville, Toledo, Barcelona
• Florence: the Duomo and Renaissance treasures
• Rome: Vatican City, Coliseum, Pantheon
• Olympia, Greece: home of the Olympic games
• Athens: the Acropolis, the Parthenon
• The Minoan civilization of Crete
• Budapest, Vienna, Prague
• Terezin, the Czech concentration camp
• Berlin: The Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, etc.
• Strasbourg, Brussels: visit to the European Parliament
• Luxembourg: visit to the EU Court of Justice

ELIGIBILITY

Students who participate in this program must be in good academic and financial standing and have at least a 2.5 GPA. Preference will be given to declared Geography and/or Global Studies majors and minors and those eligible to take all 15 sh of courses offered on the program. Students must also have the maturity, flexibility, cultural curiosity, respect and initiative to be able to travel, live and study in close quarters with others for ten weeks. The accommodations in youth hostels and inexpensive hotels are modest, and students are expected to be adaptable about housing arrangements.

COSTS

The fee for the program is $8,300, which includes airfare, ferries, all transportation costs by van, housing for the ten weeks, and entrance fees to museums and archeological sites. Additionally students are responsible for the regular full time tuition for spring semester, which is the same as for on campus courses. Students will also be responsible for food costs and other spending money.