It's a muggy June evening in Duluth. My clever daughter Nina helped my husband and me purchase our tickets, since there didn't seem to be anything better to do. Truly, I'm quite excited. I think I've put this off because I knew that once I bought the tickets I would start obsessing about the trip--or should I say, the journey. I remember the first time I went to England in 1972. I must have dreamed about what it would be like, night after night for months ahead of time. I envisioned the hedges by the side of the roads, the narrow lanes and the old homes. I got it just about right. I didn't know Cranfield would be quite as small as it was, but I wasn't disappointed. I've seen many photos of Worcester, so there's not much mystery with what to expect from the physical environment.
I have so many goals for this trip. I am revamping one of my courses, Deciding What's News, and I'm also thinking about how to make Interpersonal more Interculturally centered. I do hope some British students will enroll in both classes. It would be so much more engaging if they do. I have three new books for DWN, and some new ideas about case studies to use. Watergate will remain a centerpiece, but I'll be adding Murdoch, for sure.
Beyond the work, I'm really hoping to do a LOT of traveling. In England proper, I hope to get to Bath (again), Stratford (again), Canterbury (for the first time), London (again), and some village jaunts. I am thinking it would be fun to get to know the villages surrounding Worcester.
Jim and I are traveling first to Edinburgh and then to St. Andrews. We will be visiting with one of Jim's authors. I hope we'll be able to travel about Scotland a bit before traveling back down to Worcester.
During school breaks, I will be going to Digoin, France and Ireland. Once the term is up, I want to go to Berlin, Buchenwald, Prague, Teresienstadt, Warsaw, Krakow and Auschwitz. I hope I can do it all, but we'll see.
Regardless, there is a lot to do before we leave. Stay tuned...
I am very intrigued by your course 'Deciding what's news.' It sounds like a fascinating topic. What kind of issues do you look at? I often talk in my regional geography classes about what makes news in different parts of the world, and (often even more interesting) what doesn't.
ReplyDeleteYour list of places you want to see is interesting, and the theme is clear. I have a suggestion: visit some of the less well known Holocaust sites and memorials as well as the largest and most famous. I found it fascinating, and profoundly depressing, to visit Kelme, for example (I wrote about it at http://regionalgeography.org/101blog/?p=82).
I am looking forward to reading more of your blog posts in the future!
Donald Rallis
Thanks for your comments, DNR (love your monogram, btw). There's a tour that takes in some additional sites, but it's in August. We're exploring options for transit and tours this p.m. I'm certainly open to some other venues, but the three I've listed are "must sees" for me. I've been running a Holocaust Commemoration program for over a decade and really feel BTA are essential visits.
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