About the Experiencing the New Europe Program

Experiencing the New Europe is a 3 1/2 week international summer program that combines classroom study with on-site experiential learning to explore cultural, political and economic transformation in an urban context. Through its interactive curriculum, the program explores how large processes of geopolitical change -- the aftermath of WWII, ethnic and national upheaval, the fall of Communism, democratization, European integration -- play out in the local setting of a large European city. The city of Wroclaw, an academic and historical center located in the southwest region of Poland, offers a unique urban and cultural experience for students who are interested in studying European culture, history and politics. Coordinated by the University of Lower Silesia's International Institute for the Study of Culture and Education (http://iisce.org/).

This program helps students learn about ways in which European cities and nations have dealt with the legacies and memories of 20th-century political, social and ethnic conflicts. An important element of the program is a study trip to Berlin, where we visit and discuss sites of memory in Germany's struggle to remember and represent the tragedy of the Holocaust, WWII and post-war division into East and West. The program also takes us to Poland's former royal city of Krakow and to the former Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Through student-based 'action research' we work together to understand historical conflicts and reflect upon ongoing challenges at reconciliation. An added bonus of the program is a weekend in the Czech Republic's Krkonose Mountains National Park.

Housing & Orientation

Housing:

Participants stay in a student dormitory, strategically located near the Rynek (Market Square), close to restaurants, cafes, shops, and public transportation. Each suite has its own bathroom, and bed linens and towels are provided. The shared kitchen is equipped with basic cooking/eating utensils. Students are responsible for their own meals; however, the current exchange rate (USD- Polish zloty) makes meals and personal expenses very affordable.

Orientation:

Upon arriving in Wroclaw, Poland students participate in an orientation to the city, including instructions on how to use public transportation, a basic Polish language session, and tips on interesting sites to visit and inexpensive places to eat and shop. Students also receive an orientation to the cities of Krakow and Berlin. Additionally, the Brockport faculty representative joining the group will advise students prior to departure.

Cost

Summer 2013

Undergraduate Cost: $4,950.00 (est.)
New Europe Sum 13 EST.pdf

Graduate Cost: $5,412.00 (est.)
New Europe Sum 13 Grad EST.pdf
 

The cost for the 6-credit program is $4,950 (est.) and includes round trip air fare, classes, site visits and tours, guest lectures, dormitory accommodation in Wroclaw, and weekend excursions to the cities of Krakow (Poland) and Auschwitz-Berkenau concentration camps. $350 is due upon acceptance and the remainder is split into two installments due April 15 and May 15.

Included in Program Cost:

• Tuition for 6 Brockport credits
• Program Acceptance Fee
• Pre-departure Orientation Materials
• Round-trip Airfare from the east coast point of departure (e.g. JFK)
• Guest Lectures and Site Visits
• Dormitory Accommodations
• Trips, Excursions, and Program Activities
• Brockport's Study Abroad Office Services

Not Included:

• Health Insurance*
• Various campus fees** (college fee, technology fee, etc.)
• Passport
• Meals
• Transportation to/from JFK
• Personal expenses while abroad

Financial aid applies toward fees.

*SUNY regulations require that participants in Overseas Academic Programs have "adequate" insurance coverage.  Students whose current health insurance is not "adequate" may purchase appropriate coverage for $95.50 per month (this is the current cost and is subject to change).
**Varies depending on the SUNY campus at which the participant pays tuition.

Please note:

The cost of this program is subject to change until April 15th, 2012 depending on market conditions (airfare, etc.)

This summer program is contingent upon having a sufficient number of participants enrolled in the program.

Courses

For Brockport students, Experiencing the New Europe takes care of the Contemporary Issues general education requirement and Honors Program credit!

 

Traveling through Europe, one is constantly confronted with conflicting memories in places that have experienced dramatic upheavals and tragic events. The 6-credit team-taught course focuses on crucial sites for understand how culture and the politics of reconciliation and memory have shaped modern European identity. In Wroclaw, which was once a dynamic German metropolis almost totally annihilated during WWII and later nearly entirely re-populated and rebuilt by Poles in the post-war era, we study the visible and invisible monuments of a city that speaks to complex issues of conflict, memory and reconciliation. In the spirit of action research, which aims at implementing knowledge through practical social action, students together with their instructors produce a concrete work that will improve our common understanding of how the monuments of Wroclaw tell the stories of the city's complex past.

In Berlin, we consider Germany's struggle to remember and represent the tragedy of the Holocaust, WWII and post-war division of East and West. We study key sites such as the 'Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe', the Berlin Jewish Museum, the Stasi (the Communist regime's Secret Police) Prison, the Berlin Wall Memorial and the revitalized Parliament of re-united Germany. We revisit the tragedy of the Holocaust and the destruction of the European Jews at the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz/Birkenau. We build on this experience in nearby Krakow, Poland's royal city, where we juxtapose the Polish national narrative embodied in the Royal Wawel Castle with the absence of the once flourishing Jewish life of the city focused in the neighborhood of Kazimierz. On the last weekend of the program, we take a trip to the nearby Polish/Czech mountains south of Wroclaw where we reflect on the themes and experiences in the borderlands of Europe.

The 6-credit course also introduces students to methods of qualitative ethnographic research, which are used to study the culture and poltiics of memory as it is reflected in the landscape of European cities. Engaging in an exploration of architectural remains and the stories of the city's inhabitants, students spend most of their time outside the classroom, working in groups under the supervision of instructions using a variety of action research techniques- interviews, participant observation, data recording (notes, film, photography, audio recording), archival and library research. This course culminates in the creation of cultural products (performances, websites, written tourist guides, films) which present the results of students' intellectural and creative work to the public. For prior products, please see http://wroclawonyourown.pl/

Weekends are devoted to excursions. Participants also have "free days" to explore on their own or participate in informal group tours.

The core faculty from the International Institute for the Study of Culture and Education are Hana Cervinková (Anthropology, Urban Studies), Juliet Golden (Urban Studies, Journalism) and Elzbieta Matynia (Sociology, Liberal Studies).

Experiencing the New Europe admission is open to students from diverse backgrounds, although it is tailored to Honors students and third and fourth-year university students who wish to enrich their studies with a short-term study-abroad program. The entire program is taught in English.

Credits

Participants will earn six (6) credits of upper-division undergraduate or graduate credit. Honors students earn program credit. The program satisfies The College at Brockport's Contemporary Issues ('I') General Education requirement. Many students have been able to earn 3 elective credits in their academic major by special arrangement with the department chair.
 

Summer 2013 Program Dates: May 30 - June 26th