During May 12-25, UTM will offer a lesson in respect, tolerance and compassion through a tour visiting some of the locations that include one of the darkest times in history: the Holocaust.
“The Holocaust is a very important topic. It’s the one event in recent history that has redefined Europe, … a tragedy that left deep scars. Europe today would be very different if the Holocaust had not happened,” said UTM Professor of History and Philosophy Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls, who is leading the trip.
The tour will last two weeks, and the sites that will be visited include Holocaust memorials, Jewish ghettos, former concentration and death camps, museums, national historic sites and other cultural landmarks. At the beginning of the trip, students will travel to Berlin and Dresden in Germany, before going to Prague in the Czech Republic and Poland’s Cracow and Warsaw.
“We stay overnight in Auschwitz. We’ll meet with a survivor, probably go to the synagogue, have a representative of the Jewish community come to us and we’ll visit camp one, camp two and camp three,” Carls said.
Before students embark, they will have pre-departure meetings to prepare them for what they might expect. They will also have the opportunity on April 9 to meet with Holocaust survivor Sonja Dubois, one of the Honors Program Academic Speakers for this semester, and learn how she survived during the war after she was given to complete strangers by her parents.
“What is most amazing is survivors’ ability to recreate communities of families and friends that reach across the world; it is a tremendous lesson,” Carls said.
The approximate cost for the trip is $4500 and includes air and coach transportation, admission to all required events, hotels, breakfasts and several included meals. Students are responsible for personal expenses, which include transportation to and from Memphis Airport and meals during assigned free time during the trip. The Center for International Education and the College of Arts and Sciences are offering scholarships up to $500 for those who qualify.
The 2014 Holocaust Travel Study also marks the sixth year of the cooperate venture between UTM and Rhodes College in Memphis. Since 2008, the participation of the two colleges allows students from different backgrounds to travel and study together.
“The idea is to broaden your experience and encourage you to travel with people you don’t know. I think you learn more by traveling with people who are different than you,” Carls said.
Carls encourages students to use the experiences that they acquire during these trips abroad to react when they see people being disrespected, harassed, bullied or dehumanized.
“Don’t be afraid to take a stand. Don’t remain a bystander; don’t be there on the sidelines,” Carls said.
For more information, contact Carls at accarls@utm.edu.
