Studying abroad has always played an important role at Saint Anselm College. Most students who attend college, do so with hopes of traveling and learning about new cultures and experiences. Traveling is also about taking advantage of the vast opportunities that a college experience can provide for you and ways to enrich your future.
This year brought many traditions back to campus, including some study abroad opportunities. During spring break, a group of students had the privilege to travel to Vienna, Austria, through the “Music and Culture in Vienna” course, making this the college’s first trip outside of the country since March 2020.
“[The course] was originally designed as a winter term course. Its rich culture and influence as the city of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms made Vienna the perfect location and focus of the class,” explained Professor Andrew Haringer, of the Fine Arts Department, who taught the course and also chaperoned the trip. He shared that the course’s principal goal “to situate important musical developments within this rich cultural framework… Each student then had the opportunity to present their research on location at their respective buildings, a trip highlight.”
The trip was opened to all students as long as they were in good academic standing and held no college judicial record. Although only two thirds of the class went on the trip, the remaining students had backgrounds in related fields like German studies and history. According to Professor Haringer this “resulted in a wonderful mixture of students with complementary interests.”
The students enjoyed visits to the opera and the symphony, numerous churches, the homes and graves of composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Shubert, and even took a private tour of a palace which was led by an actual prince. Additionally, they also had a great deal of free time to explore on their own, giving students a thoroughly European experience of visiting famous cafés, restaurants, and touring the city.
Amelie Crowe ’22, a Great Books major and English and music minor, said that although she never had the opportunity to study abroad, the trip to Vienna “was a perfect opportunity to experience travel through the lens of a college student.” Crowe also expressed the awe she felt “standing in these outrageously beautiful and ornate palaces learning about the history that took place right where we stood.”
Professor Haringer shares that many students raved about the experience and he is already planning out ways to expand the trip next year, making it possible for more excursions to nearby cities. He said the trip would not have been possible without the help of Jane Bjerklie-Barry and Brother Titus in the Study Abroad Office.
Crowe was grateful for how much she got out of her experience. “[It was] definitely a huge academic learning experience, but also a great personal growth opportunity, which I think we're exactly the goals of the trip.”