Itinerary and Other Details

This is our group! Including Mr. Mars, our chaperone, on the very left. Very exciting.

I finally studied the booklet in more detail. It's a filled week, no doubt. Each morning we are scheduled for a talk of some sort from 9 until 10 AM. We then have coffee/tea (I love that) at 10, after which there is another discussion. Lunch is at 12:30 every day, and after another group activity we have coffee/tea again at 3:30 PM. More program until dinner at 6:30, and then we have the last event of the day which includes a fireside talk on Wednesday, sounds cozy.

On Wednesday, April 5, we will be visiting Dachau, a concentration camp. Ironically, this is something I always voted for when we were deciding where to go on our field trips back in Germany, but I was overruled each time. Now that I live across the ocean I get the chance to actually finally go there. My Mom lived through WWII, her father, my grandfather, died in a field in Russia. She used to tell me how Americans would give the children chewing gum, but then it wasn't well known in Germany and people thought that they were trying to poison the children, so they never ate it but threw it out instead.

Our Dachau visit will be an interesting starting point of conversation considering all the other genocides that have happened but have not received similar reactions. I can't wait. I can sense that this trip will be truly life-changing.

To give you a better idea of what this entire program is actually about, let me quote from the syllabus:

"In an age of new international challenges and tensions, the need for Americans to understand international affairs, to recognize cultural values other than their own, and to view world events from a variety of perspectives, has becomes increasingly
critical. The purpose of this program is to provide an intensive seven-day international experience for participants to explore pressing issues of global
concern and to view such issues from a perspective both literally and figuratively outside the borders of the United States.

Participants should leave with knowledge and skills to acquire a better understanding of the international political order, the global economy, and worldwide social developments. Because the Salzburg Seminar is located in the heart of Europe, the session will pay special attention to the political, economic and cultural history of the trans-Atlantic relationship, its future dimensions, and the impact such changes may have on the rest of the world. At the same time, mindful of increasing global interconnectedness, the session will consider issues of particular concern to regions of the developing world. In this way, students will be exposed to the relationship between the historical legacy of the latter part of the 20th century, global responsibility, humanitarian intervention, and social justice.

It is intended that this program will make students more aware of global issues and of what it means to be a 'good citizen', more discerning on the assessment of information pertaining to world affairs, and more understanding of America's place in the worlds as well as of non-Americans' perception of the U.S."

This was a bit lengthy but I it sums it all up so well it deserves the space. This is what this seminar will be all about.

We will do all this through pedagogical modules which include plenary lectures, small group work, and some cultural exchange which will include meeting local students, film screenings, and a classical concert.

There's a (still subject to change) list of faculty for the seminar, and finally lecture topics, also still subject to change: Mapping Ethnocentrism, The First Universal Nation: The American People in the 20th and 21st Century, The Third Sector: Creating Inclusive Societies, Emerging Diseases and Bio-Terrorism: Global Health and Economic Issues of Importance, The Legacy of the Holocaust in Europe: An Introduction to the Visit to the Former Concentration Camp in Dachau, Civil Society and Foreign Aid: The Eastern European Experience, The U.S. of America and the World: Views From a Distance, and finally The Role of the UN Today.

For our pre-reading we have Europe vs. America on our list as well as Inescapable Side by Side: An Interview with David Held, a text called Mass Migrations on Europe (published by the European Science Foundation), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Beyond Hegemony.