May 2025
Estimated Total Program Cost: TBD
PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
Students should apply for the Global Ambassador Scholarship in October 2024 on Academic Works and will find out what/if they received the scholarship before the first payment due date.
First payment due November TBD
Second payment due December TBD
Third payment due January TBD
POLS or HIST 2110: Europe Today
3 Credits
LAS Attributes: AIA, CTW, GDC, HI, or IHIP
Take this 3 credit course that introduces major themes in contemporary European history, politics and economics before traveling to see some of the most significant places in the world. During the program, you will travel to three European countries; the Netherlands, Germany and Poland with Professor Spero and your classmates. You will meet and engage informally with collegial German and Polish university students. Together, we’ll experience incredible cultures and societies with this window into the heart of Europe, as we walk centuries-old cobblestone streets and witness some of the most extraordinary architecture and cities internationally.
Our course and its European program expand our partnership with European and other international students and faculty at Rhine-Waal University, our exchange partner in Germany (Kleve and Kamp Lintfort Campuses), as well as our emerging partnership with the University of Warsaw in Poland. Students from both countries participate in workshops with us on US-European relations and continue advancing our cooperative university-to-university research project to enhance our "US-European Transatlantic Relationship."
We will also decompress a lot with Europe’s wonderful café culture for ample time to relax and sightsee, in addition to our touring such significant, historic, and monumental European sites as:
- Amsterdam and the International Court of Justice/The Hague (both in the Netherlands);
- Rhine-Waal University (RWU) and its Kleve/Kamp Lintfort cities (in Northwest Rhineland / Germany);
- University of Warsaw, its government and palatial architecture, old town and Warsaw Ghetto (in Northern Poland);
- And, finally, via train from Warsaw to Kraków (Southern Poland), the latter with its Wawel Castle, and our excursions to the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine and the important Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
Students from all majors and years should apply.
For more information please email Professor Joshua Spero jspero@fitchburgstate.edu or the Office of International Education inthelp@fitchburgstate.edu.
Working Itinerary
| Depart from Boston |
| Arrive in Amsterdam, Netherlands in the morning. Travel to Kleve, Germany by bus in the afternoon. |
| Sightseeing with RWU colleagues in Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort campuses. |
| Discussions at RWU with students about European security and transatlantic relations. |
| Bus to Amsterdam Airport / early morning departure – Flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Warsaw, Poland. |
| Walk to University of Warsaw. Mid/late morning discussions with faculty and students at University of Warsaw on European security and transatlantic relations. |
| Train from Warsaw, Poland to Krakow, Poland. |
| Early morning departure from Maly Kraków to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. |
| Travel by train to Wieliczka Underground Salt Mine. |
| Depart from Warsaw to Amsterdam, then depart from Amsterdam to Boston. |
I would say the biggest highlight for me was the celebration of the friendship between Fitchburg, Mass and Kleve, Germany...It showed me how people will happily go above and beyond. Studying abroad has given me the opportunity to see and listen to the stories that are hidden, and it has widened my perspective on life. I highly encourage anyone to study abroad while they're a student.
Nothing compares to being physically standing where so many events that marked our history happened. That feeling when I think, "Oof, I have been there". I am grateful and honored for the opportunity.
There have been a lot of decisions in my life that have changed my direction completely. My choice to go to Europe is probably one of the most influential decisions I have ever made.