WKU Faculty, Students Complete Mediterranean Program

June 10, 2008

Bowling Green, Ky. - Ten Western Kentucky University students and four faculty members returned from a monthlong study abroad program through the eastern Mediterranean last weekend.

Organized and led by the Department of Geography and Geology, the program exposed students to a variety of physical and cultural environments in Turkey, Greece, Italy and Slovenia. Leading the program were geography instructors Debbie Kreitzer and Will Blackburn, Department Head Dr. David Keeling, and Bowling Green Community College instructor DJ Urquhart.

Participating students represented nine WKU departments -- Amber Hager (elementary education major from Bowling Green), Patricia Ide (elementary education major from St. Louis), Nikisa Razban (broadcasting major from Paducah), Jamie Jackson (political science graduate student from Bowling Green), Devin Moran (English major from Lexington), J. Kyle Thompson (meterorology major from Henderson), John Deaton (electrical engineering major from Bowling Green), Laura Blackburn (nursing major from Bowling Green), Laura Rosser (history major from Franklin, Tenn.), and Jenna Jepson (psychology major from Price, Utah).

The Department of Geography and Geology’s annual field camp programs are designed to introduce students from multiple disciplines to contemporary social and environmental issues in different parts of the world. Previous international programs have visited Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Belgium, Britain, Chile, France, Ireland, Mexico and Tanzania. During the eastern Mediterranean program, students learned about Turkey’s attempt to join the European Union and explored its secular Islamic culture. In Greece, visits to Mykonos and Santorini focused on environmental conditions on small Aegean islands, especially the historical impact of the Santorini volcanic eruption 3,000 years ago.

In Athens and Delphi, the roots of Western civilization were examined, with specific attention paid to acid rain damage to national monuments and the challenges presented by insufficient infrastructure. Five days in Italy gave students the opportunity to visit Bologna, Florence, Rome and Venice, with discussions on environment, culture and historical geography providing context for explorations of the built landscape.

The program ended with four days in western Slovenia. Dr. Martin Knez from the Karst Research Institute in Postojna hosted the students for a full-day exploration of the spectacular cave and karst landscapes of the region, providing maps, lectures and research material on the various karst systems around Postojna. A hike through the Vintnar Gorge in the Julian Alps near Bled provided students with an opportunity to study stream hydraulics and erosion processes. During the last day in Slovenia, students learned about communism in Yugoslavia, the post-1990 breakup of that country, and Slovenia’s independence and accession to the European Union, followed by a brief tour of Ljubljana, the capital city.

Photo caption:  WKU geography students in the caldera of Santorini Volcano, Greece.
               
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Debbie Kreitzer or Will Blackburn at (270) 745-4555.