2004 - Italy and Greece
In May 2004 English and Humanities Associate Professor Robert Kibler led a group of students and community members through Italy and Greece. Participants threw coins in Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain, sipped cappuccinos in outdoor cafes, gorged on gelatos and Mediterranean cuisine, and toured the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Coliseum, and the hustling bustling streets of Rome. Afterwards, the group headed through Naples and Sorrento, and took ship for the island of Capri. Then off to Pompeii, to walk through the streets and houses of the city buried by the eruption of Vesuvious in 79 A.D. Taking an overnight ship across the Adriatic from the classical port city of Brundisi, the group landed in Patmos and went by bus to Delphi, located on the side of Mount Parnassas. Delphi was the home of the famous Oracle, priestess of Apollo, who foretold events to kings and commoners alike for hundreds of years. The trip ended in Athens, with long stays amid the Acropolis and a walk to the ancient Greek stadium where the eternal flame is again lit to begin this year’s Olympics. Students also had the opportunity to earn course credit by researching and writing about such subjects as the "Origins of the Oracle of Delphi's Strange Hallucinatory Powers," and "Lead in the Water or an Imbalance of Trade: What Happened to Rome."
