History professors Stephan Curtis and Sébastien Rossignol have partnered up to offer all Memorial students a unique study abroad opportunity.
Food, Drink and Cultural Exchange around the Baltic is a program scheduled for 2018 intersession that will take students to Northern Germany and Sweden and will focus on food and drink as an example of intercultural interactions.
Full experience
Both professors have had a longstanding interest in Northern Europe and the emergence of economic trade in the area and felt that a focus on food and drink was the perfect way for students to fully experience the region.
“Fishery and trade in herring has been one of the most important motors of interactions across the Baltic Sea, at least since the late Middle Ages,” said Dr. Rossignol.
“Beer and wine were also important commodities for trade and recipes for beer-making circulated through the interactions of merchants. Wine was a luxury commodity that was imported from mostly Southern Germany as an exotic product.”
Lectures and discussions will take place in St. John’s from May 7-26, 2018, following by three weeks in Europe from May 27-June 18, 2018.
“[History] is something that can be experienced and tasted.”
The itinerary includes visits to archaeological sites, a trade centre from the Viking Age, numerous museums, a coffee factory, markets, breweries and pubs and several Hanseatic cities and UNESCO World Heritage sites.
“Students will learn that history is not just about dates and battles. It is something that can be experienced and tasted,” said Dr. Curtis.
Information session on Sept. 29
The program has no prerequisites and is open to all. For more information, please visit online.
Drs. Curtis and Rossignol are holding an information session on Friday, Sept. 29, from 12-12:50 p.m. in A-1043. All are welcome to attend.
