Central Europe
Americas | Africa | Asia & Oceania | Europe
Academics
ELIGIBILITY
The program is open to all academically eligible undergraduate students. You must be in good academic standing and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 
2.3. You may apply as a freshman but must have at least sophomore standing by the time the program begins.
THE COURSE
All students on the seminar will earn three credits of History 280, History Travel Seminar. This is a GE-IVC class and fulfills 3 credits of the UW-Eau Claire foreign culture requirement. You may also wish to enroll in a 3-credit on-line course, "Origins of Contemporary World Problems: History & Memory in Central Europe", which will run for four weeks after you return.
THE SEMINAR
Central Europe has a complex history that includes the creation of multi-national empires, the formation of new nation-states after WWI, the rise and dominance of Nazism and Soviet Communism, the divisions of the Cold War, and the peaceful grass-roots revolutions of 1989 that brought down the Berlin Wall. The architecture, art, and music of the region has been shaped by leading local figures of important cultural movements from Romanticism to Post-Modernism. From the Renaissance to the “Roaring Twenties,” Krakow, Vienna and Berlin emerged as European cultural capitals.
The ethnic and religious history of the region is rich, complex and filled with both impressive examples of multicultural coexistence and tragic histories of persecution and genocide. The program will explore what has made the history of this region unique, impressive and sometimes tragic. It will pay particular attention to the recent developments of the late 20th Century: the fall of communism, the post-communist experience, and post-war immigration.
PROGRAM CALENDAR
Tentative dates for the program are May 23-June 19, 2010. Dates will be finalized during fall semester.
