From Ethiopia to France, Princeton University students can enroll in courses that offer them the opportunity to travel abroad with their classmates during fall break. Courses are offered in multiple departments, each with its own unique structure.
In fall 2024, students will have access to at least five courses aimed at international travel: ANT 437, ART 456, HUM 417, FRE 217, and HIS 461. All of these courses require registration. The classes analyzed were found by searching for the words “travel” and “travel” on the registrar's course offering website.
“The practice of dislocating and de-intimating one's own views on global issues by deeply engaging with another site is invaluable,” Professor Eileen Small wrote in the Daily Princetonian. Additionally, Ms. Small, who will be traveling to Italy in the ART 456: Contemporary Art: World Painting course, emphasized the importance of broadening her global perspective through her travels. She says, “Academics are only part of what makes up a person and their outlook on life. Traveling often brings other elements into the discussion.”
Beyond the Arts, FRE 217: Paris Revisited includes a mandatory trip to Paris, France. Professor Andre Benheim started teaching this course 15 years ago. He includes applications “not only for the travel element itself, but also to see if students have the desire and appropriate motivation to take the course.” This course examines the real life of contemporary Paris as an urban space, object of expression, and part of French cultural identity.
Benheim hopes the students will work on personal projects while in Paris, which will be decided and discussed before the trip.
“I had a very wide range of personal projects,” Benheim said. “A student interested in science decided to tour museums that focused on different sciences.”
ANT 437: Blackness in Games: Video Games and the Anthropology of Race includes a mandatory trip to Tokyo, Japan. This course is taught by Professor Akil Fletcher and focuses on the Black experience in media in the United States and Japan, with a particular emphasis on video games.
ANT 437 was previously offered in Fall 2023 and received a perfect rating in each category with reviews encouraging students to take the course. One student wrote in their evaluation, “My favorite class this semester.”
Several courses offered in the travel component have achieved high course ratings. HUM 417: Historic Structures: Materials, Construction, and Engineering of Ancient Architecture includes a trip to Athens, Greece. This course is offered in Fall 2022 and has an average rating of 4.7.
“This was one of my favorite courses I took at Princeton,” one student wrote in a course review.
Finally, HIS 461: History of Coffee in Africa and the Middle East includes a mandatory trip to Ethiopia. The new course, taught by Professor Lacey Fay, will “visit farmers and washhouses and talk to the people at the heart of the coffee production process in southern Ethiopia,” Fay said.
Mr Fay's application to the course ensures that the limited slots are open to those interested not only in coffee and travel, but also in Ethiopia, African history and the Middle East. .
“My hope is to bring together people who are interested in both and spark conversation throughout the semester,” Fay said.
Transportation to these courses is free for registered students. “Prince'' analyzed the minimum amount universities spend on student transportation.
Applications for some courses close before course registration takes place from April 16th to 18th. For other courses, applications are due after course selection and will be returned by April 29th, when additions/drops begin. Course applications may include unofficial transcripts, GPA, and name. References, interesting course descriptions, and relevant coursework.
Kirill Sirik is a contributing data reporter for 'Prince'.
If you have any corrections, please send them to the correction address.[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
