By Kristine Milbrandt

Wartburg students will travel abroad to four continents for May Term courses emphasizing onsite learning.

“Wartburg programs have unique qualities that set them apart, especially in regard to their experiential, field-based learning,” said Kathy Traetow, office coordinator for Wartburg study abroad programs. “Students gain new perspectives on the world, test their interests, increase language skills and learn cross-cultural ethics.”

The courses include journeys to Nicaragua, Germany, Tanzania, Japan, Senegal, Brazil, France, Spain, the British Isles, Guyana, Costa Rica and India.

Leadership theories and practice students are in Nicaragua with Michael Gleason, Pathways associate, and Dr. Fred Waldstein, professor of political science. The course works with Self-Help International and El Porvenir — non-profit organizations that strive to alleviate hunger and provide clean water, respectively.

“Students in the past have described this experience as a ‘life-changing’ event,” Waldstein said. “The real highlight is getting to work with local citizens on community-service projects they have identified as important to them. Working side-by-side with the local people is always a great opportunity to learn.”

Other activities Waldstein expects the students to enjoy range from touring the rainforest and peering into an active volcano to ziplining and surfing in the Pacific.

Dr. Roy Ventullo and Dr. Samantha Larimer, professor and assistant professor of biology, respectively, will expose their class to a wide variety of plants, animals and cultures in Guyana.

Larimer said highlights for students will include “holding a baby (alligator-like) caiman in their hands, spending a week sleeping in a hammock, seeing Kaieteur Falls (arguably the ‘largest’ waterfall in the world), fishing for piranha, learning how to cook native Amerindian foods or watching an anteater run across the savannah.”

Students instructed by Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek, associate professor of chemistry, are exploring the impact of HIV on eastern Africa during a trip to Tanzania.

“The students witness hardships, idyllic beauty, sacrifice and poverty, groups struggling to maintain/readjust identity and tradition in the face of modernization and the value of patience,” Ellerbroek said. “They come home more aware of their own advantages.”

The students in Tanzania look forward to Swahili lessons, visits to Maasai and Barabaig villages, a safari, and exploring Zanzibar.

Dr. Mariah Birgen, professor of mathematics, is leading students to the British Isles to explore the history of math and physics. They will witness the works of brilliant minds from Sir Isaac Newton to Alan Turning, who worked to break the German codes in World War II.

The students plan to visit Stonehenge, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Trinity College in Dublin, and Green’s Mill in Nottingham.

“We also will be doing a home-stay in Wolverhampton arranged by Wartburg alumnus Jessica Schenk (a 2011 grad), who is doing a year in Wolverhampton as a part of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) program Young Adults in Global Mission,” Birgen said.

The Castle Singers, led by Dr. Jane Andrews, is bringing its musical talents to Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic and France. The jazz choir is on a three-year rotation with the Wartburg Choir and the Wind Ensemble to tour internationally.

“They not only learn about the different countries and customs, but also sharpen their performance skills,” Andrews said. “American jazz concerts are usually well attended in Europe because Europeans know that jazz in indigenous to the U.S.”

Performances will be in schools, cathedrals, fine arts centers and performance halls. The Singers also will be broadcast live from Germany’s Deutsche Welle Broadcasting Company.

Maren Hopkins ’13, a communication arts major, and Daniel Hanson ’12, a religion and history major, are interning in Eisenach, Germany — site of the college’s namesake castle and Waverly’s sister city.

“In addition to the skills developed and practiced on the internship site, they spend a month immersed in German culture and have the opportunity to learn more about the heritage of Wartburg College,” said Dr. Kathryn Kleinhans, professor of religion, who is overseeing the course. 

Hopkins will give English language tours at the Wartburg Castle, while Hanson will intern at St. George Church.