Application deadline is March 12 for students and general public
OXFORD,
Miss. – The University of Mississippi’s Department of Philosophy and
Religion offers a travel opportunity to Austria, Poland and the Czech
Republic May 11-23 to examine religious implications of the Holocaust.
The
study abroad affords students three academic credit hours for the
course REL 399 in philosophy and religion. Coordinated by the Study
Abroad Office, the excursion is also open to faculty, staff and anyone
else interested in gaining a deeper perspective of the history and the
effects of the Holocaust throughout the world. The deadline for
applications is March 12.
“The trip will be a serious
intellectual endeavor for people who want to understand the background
of European Jewry from the second century to the Holocaust,” said
course instructor Willa Johnson, assistant professor. “This event has a
painful legacy that echoed across the European continent and throughout
the world.”
The approximate cost of the trip is $3,220, which includes tuition, housing, program-sponsored excursions and international health insurance. It excludes a UM Study Abroad application fee, textbooks, meals, airfare, personal spending money and passport fees.
Students interested in applying must submit a UM Study Abroad application, an unofficial transcript and a faculty-led course approval form. Students are required to be at least 18 years old, have a minimum 2.5 GPA and be in good academic and disciplinary standing. Nonstudent applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The group will explore a history of religious interaction that spans hundreds of years through lectures and readings, visits to museums to view Holocaust artwork created by men and women during their captivity, and tours of synagogues, memorials and churches, Johnson said.
The itinerary includes stops at such locations such as Cracow, Terezin and Auschwitz where Jewish ghettos, slave-labor sites and concentration camps were created. In contrast, the group will experience Yiddish theater and eat at kosher restaurants to indulge in other aspects of Jewish culture.
“Through this program, I have the opportunity to help people come to a greater knowledge of the Holocaust,” Johnson said. “Participants will be able to grasp a religion that contributed much to the Christian tradition. I want people to think about the genocide’s costs and to consider our ethical obligations concerning it.”
For more information, contact Study Abroad adviser Ruth Maron at rfmaron@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1508, as well as Willa Johnson at wjohnson@olemiss.edu or 662-915-7020.