BRTC International Tour 2003

Scandinavian Highlights

Dr. Jan Ziegler, Group Leader

 

                The seventh annual BRTC International Tour destination is Scandinavia.  This nine- to eleven-day tour is scheduled to depart May 12, 2003.  The tour is open not only to BRTC students and staff, but also to the community in general.  Student tour participants may elect to enroll in three hours of humanities credit, completing a directed study in conjunction with the tour.

                Highlights of the trip include a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, home of Hans Christian Andersen, and an optional visit to Elsinore, setting of Hamlet, followed by an overnight cruise to Norway, “Land of the Midnight Sun.” 

                Of special interest in Oslo is a visit to retrieved and preserved Viking ships, dating to the 9^th Century.  The tour also includes a visit to the Kon-Tiki Museum, which celebrates explorer and anthropologist, Thor Hyerdahl.  Oslo was also home to playwright Henrik Ibsen.

                In Stockholm, Sweden, special points of interest include the site of the annual Nobel Prize festivities, and an optional tour by steamboat to the beautiful Drottningholm Palace, still in use by the royal family.  

                Tour participants may opt to include the trip another two days, cruising to Helsinki, Finland, and then on to Talinn, Estonia, the northernmost of the Baltic Republics.  This former Soviet state retains the aura of the 14^th and 15^th Centuries in its jumble of medieval walls and winding cobbled streets.

                The annual tour is one way BRTC fulfills that part of its mission which states the college “is committed to a partner ship between the individual and the global community.  Through these tours, many people—students and non-students—have traveled internationally who would not otherwise have done so.  It’s a great way to experience other people and other cultures, especially for those who are inexperienced at international travel.  Prior to the travel, participants (and their spouses) will have a couple of meetings when they will get to know each other, and learn a bit more about the places they will visit.

                For more information, contact Dr. Ziegler, 870 248 4000, EXT 4185, or e-mail janz@blackrivertech.org.