Travel Studies
During the summer prior to their third year, all Scholars are invited to participate in a carefully designed five-week foreign travel/study experience. 2009 structured Foreign Travel Study trips:
- “Civilization in Tuscany: A Case Study of Creativity, Continuity, and Change,” held at The Erasmus Institute in Tuscany, Italy. Scholars live in Capitignano, guests of Erasmus Institute founder Michael Aeschlimann, who serves as senior tutor.
- “The Culture of London: Past and Present”, held at Regents College, London. Scholars are led in this tutorial by U.Va. English professors Michael Levenson and Clare Kinney.
- “China: Four Heartlands” (travel through China (including Tibet)) led by U.Va. Professor of Politics (Comparative Gov’t and International Relations) and East Asia Center faculty member Brantly Womack
Following the structured program, each Scholar has the opportunity to undertake an independently designed inquiry into a topic of personal interest. These projects involve additional overseas travel and research, and the Scholars present their results to the Foundation upon their return.
“My Jefferson Scholars independent summer travel experience was one of the most profound cultural excursions I have ever undertaken. I can now claim that I have: traveled the canals of Venice; hiked in the snow capped Swiss Alps; touched the Berlin Wall; attended one of Mozart’s operas in Prague; toured a Hungarian Soviet statue park; swum in the hot spring baths of Budapest; paid a visit to Dracula’s castle in Transylvania; climbed to the summit of Mt. Olympus; stood atop the ancient Acropolis; spent several days on the Greek island thought to have been Atlantis…and everything in between. The opportunities which the Jefferson Scholars Program has afforded me have enhanced my undergraduate learning in ways I never dreamed possible.” –Chris Belyea
Travel Studes Photo Gallery
