January Term Traveling Seminars

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Seminar Descriptions

Diplomacy is about balancing multiple, sometimes competing priorities. How can the US promote human rights in North Africa while also fighting terrorism? How does the US elicit cooperation from NATO allies while also getting them to pay their fair share? This study tour surveys how US diplomats balance multiple goals and foreign policy challenges while working with partners from other governments, international organizations, and civil society in Europe and North Africa. The Mediterranean region is one where the most pressing foreign policy challenges of the day converge, from migration to counterterrorism and climate change to great power competition with China and Russia. This course will introduce students to the tools the US uses to address these challenges, from public diplomacy to military partnerships.

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• Human Development 355: Diplomacy & Human Rights in the Mediterranean
• Human Rights 355: Diplomacy & Human Rights in the Mediterranean
• International Relations 355: Diplomacy & Human Rights in the Mediterranean
• Political Science 355: Diplomacy & Human Rights in the Mediterranean
  

Sites visited include:

• Belgium: Brussels
• France: Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille
• Morocco: Rabat
• Tunisia: Tunis, Carthage

Academic, Behavioral, and Travel Expectations

This trip is a serious one, both academically and culturally. Students are expected to be prepared for intellectual, linguistic, social, and travel challenges. We are traveling as a team, and each member must be prepared, punctual, cautious, and professional. Trip leaders have extensive experience in North Africa, where the security situation has stabilized and tourism is growing. Team leaders closely monitor the security environment and sensitive areas are avoided. With those important caveats, the trip promises to be an incredible experience, including both fun and adventure.

About the Professor

Mieczyslaw (Mietek) Boduszynski teaches U.S. Foreign Policy at Pomona College, as well as courses on the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, democracy promotion, and democratization. Previously, he was a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State at postings in Albania, Kosovo, Japan, Egypt, Libya, and Iraq. A member of the Pacific Council, Boduszynski is an expert on the Balkans and the modern Middle East and North Africa, especially Iraq, Libya, and Egypt.

A frequent op-ed contributor to publications such as The Hill, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post/Monkey Cage, Boduszynski previously published a book on democratization in the Balkans, and has just published a new book titled US Democracy Promotion in the Arab World: Beyond Interests vs. Ideals. He is also the co-author of a forthcoming textbook entitled Research Methods in Politics and International Relations.

Boduszynski served as a 2016-2018 Center for Public Diplomacy Research Fellow at the University of Southern California, a 2017-2018 Resident Fellow at IAU College in Aix-en-Provence, and a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po-Paris School of International Affairs (Spring 2018). Boduszynski has also been a Visiting Scholar at Osaka School of International Public Policy (Summer 2017) and the University of Gothenburg-V-Dem Institute and has taught at the American University of Cairo, Temple University—Japan Campus, European University in Tirana (Albania), the University of San Diego and KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

In addition to English, Boduszynski speaks Arabic, Japanese, Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian, Albanian, French, and Polish.

 
The Europe and the Islamic World Seminar is designed for students interested in an academic and cultural experience in France, Morocco, and Spain. Students participate in a series of briefings from leading academic, literary, and political experts on the European relationship with the Islamic world. In each city, students attend daily lectures and meetings with distinguished scholars from ACM in addition to local guides and experts in the fields of politics, art history, history, and culture. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of immigration to Europe and its current socio-cultural implications on the region.

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• Art History 395: Classical Islam and the European Renaissance
• Cross Cultural Studies 395: Jews, Muslims and Christians in Europe and the Islamic World
• French 395: Cultural History of France and the Islamic World
• History 395: Cultural History of Europe and the Islamic World
• Political Science 395: European Politics and the Islamic World
• Religious Studies 395: Jews, Muslims and Christians in Europe and the Islamic World
• Spanish 395: Cultural History of Spain and the Islamic World

The 2023 syllabus will be available soon! View the 2022 syllabus here. Details are subject to change.

Sites visited include:

• France: Paris, Aix-en-Provence, and Marseille
• Morocco: Marrakesh, Casablanca, Rabat, and Tangier
• Spain: Seville, Granada, and Cordoba
• United Kingdom: Gibraltar

View the 2022 itinerary here! Please note, the schedule is tentative and subject to change. 

About the Professor

Dr. Carl Jubran, a 1992 alumnus of The Aix Center and previous member of IAU’s Council of Academic Advisors, became IAU’s fifth President in May 2011.  He completed his undergraduate education in linguistics, participated in a Master’s program at the Sorbonne, Paris IV through New York University, and later earned his M.A. in Spanish Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at the University of California. Dr. Jubran was a professor of Language and Literature at the University of San Diego (USD) and also served as Associate Provost for International Affairs. He has developed courses in French, Spanish, Arabic, world civilizations and global studies and has led and overseen programs in France, Mexico, Morocco, and Spain. Dr. Jubran’s multilingual fluency in French, English, Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew positions him well to lead students, faculty, and staff in developing multicultural understanding and learning the essential importance of the interconnections among social equity and justice, economic viability, and environmental vitality in building sustainable community in today’s world.

GREAT CITIES
France • Netherlands • Czech Republic • Italy

ACM’s January Term Traveling Seminar is designed for students interested in an academic and cultural experience in France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Students explore major cities across Europe using literature and the arts as a guide to understanding the rise and establishment of the urban setting. Through readings and media studies, students examine the artistic process from inspiration to creation. Site visits and guided tours then allow students to experience the historical, geographical, and demographical foundations that inform the fictional representations of European cities and their impact on perceptions of those cities today. Students have the opportunity to learn from and exchange their observations with experts from IAU as well as distinguished on-site scholars and local guides in order to frame their own perception of the cities and these cities’ representation through the arts. 

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• European Studies 303: Europe and the Urban Space
• Anthropology 301: The Artist and the City
• Literature 375: The European City in Literature
• Communications 375: The European City in the Visual Arts
• Geography 201: Europe and its Cities

The 2023 syllabus will be available soon! View the 2022 syllabus here. Details are subject to change.

Cities visited include:

• France: Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Paris
• Netherlands: Amsterdam
• Czech Republic: Prague
• Italy: Rome

View the 2022 itinerary here. Please note, the schedule is tentative and subject to change.

About the Professor

Dr. Leigh Smith has lived in Provence since 1999 and has worked in the field of study abroad since 1998, beginning with his first work with the University of North Carolina’s Paris program while still a graduate student. While working there as on-site assistant to the program director, he met his future wife and eventually returned to France. He and his wife settled in Provence where their three children were born. He completed his dissertation while abroad and received his Ph.D. in comparative literature. He has since gone on to teach at the Université de Paul Cézanne and at the Université de Provence in Aix and in Marseille. His first position in Aix was as academic advisor with the American University Center of Provence. He has taught courses in literature and French culture at the IAU since 2005. He served as interim director of The Aix Center over the 2008-2009 academic year and assumed the role of Academic Director at IAU in April 2011.

MEDITERRANEAN BASIN
Greece • Italy • France

ACM’s Mediterranean Basin January Term Traveling Seminar is designed for students interested in an academic and cultural experience in Greece, Italy and France. Students build visual literacy in the history of art and archaeology as well as examine philosophical literature of the Mediterranean Basin from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The seminar cultivates students' abilities to synthesize cultural, historical, political, and social information as it relates to the visual arts. The experiential learning component consists of a series of site visits made by academic experts from ACM in addition to local guides and faculty in the fields of history, art history, and archaeology.

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• Archaeology 385: Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Art History 385: Ancient and Medieval Classical Art and Architecture
• Cross Cultural Studies 385: Cultural Identities in Mediterranean Europe
• History 385: Ancient and Medieval Mediterranean Cultural History
• Religious Studies 385: From Polytheism to Monotheism, The Early Christian Period in Italy, Greece & France

Sites visited include:

• Greece: Athens, Mycenae, Corinth, Epidaurus, Delphi and Cape Sounion
• Italy: Rome, Paestum, Pompeii and Naples
• France: Aix-en-Provence, Glanum and Arles

View 2022 itinerary here! Please note, the schedule is tentative and subject to change. 

About the Professor

Dr. Guillaume Durand has been a professor of archaeology and art history at IAU since 2002, Assistant Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences since 2014, and leads a January Term Traveling Seminar on Mediterranean Civilizations. Prof. Durand completed a Masters of Art History and Archaeology on Byzantine Studies and a Ph.D. in Romanian History at the Université de Provence. In 2014 he completed a three-year post-doctorate program funded by the European Union and under the aegis of the Romanian Academy (Bucharest) and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris). He has published two books and several articles in French academic reviews (Cahier des Études Romanes, Turcica) and in Romania (Historical Yearbook, Annals of the Spiru Haret University).  Professor Durand participates regularly in international conferences in France and throughout Europe and maintains active involvement and oversight of local, regional, and national archaeological excavations. He speaks French, English, Romanian, and Greek. 

WINE, GASTRONOMY & SUSTAINABILITY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
Spain • France • Italy

The Wine, Gastronomy & Sustainability of the Mediterranean J-Term Seminar focuses on the appreciation of gastronomy and wine, while exploring regional and local delicacies. Students will learn to appreciate how these products are produced, understand how they impact the environment, and will begin to recognize how our consumption choices may be a potential solution or hazard to the global environmental crisis. In this multi-country traveling seminar, students will have the opportunity to taste Spanish, French, and Italian wines, speak directly with winemakers and industry experts, and visit cultural sites in Spain, France, and Italy.

Students can choose one of the following courses:

• Business/Wine Studies 306: The Global Wine Industry 
• Geography/Marketing/Wine Studies 303: Regional Wine Trade and Economics 
• Hospitality Management/Wine Studies 317: Wine and Food Pairing 
• Marketing/Wine Studies 312: Wine Marketing and Analysis 
• Environmental Studies 375: Environmental Security and Sustainability in the Mediterranean Basin 
• International Relations 375: Environmental Security and Sustainability in the Mediterranean Basin 
• Geography 375: Environmental Security and Sustainability in the Mediterranean Basin

The 2023 syllabus will be available soon! View the 2022 syllabus here. Details are subject to change.

Sites visited include: 

• Spain: Barcelona and Penedès
• France: Aix-en-Provence and Marseille
• Italy: Rome

View the 2022 itinerary here. Please note, the schedule is tentative and subject to change.

About the Professor

Professor Anthony Triolo also serves as the Coordinator of the Wine Studies Program at IAU. He received a Bachelor’s degree (Summa Cum Laude) in International Affairs from the American University of Paris, and later earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies (Histoire Militaire, Sécurité et Défense) from IEP, Aix-en-Provence, France in conjunction with Universite Paul Valery III, Montpellier, France. Professor Triolo is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and has several years of hands-on experience managing sustainable and organic vineyards. His scholarly interests are centered around the relationships between international security and global environmental crisis with a particular focus on sustainable agriculture, which he sees as a possible panacea, playing a significant role in mitigating climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and food insecurity.