Dr. Valerie Renegar, Professor of Communication Studies and Chair
renegarv@southwestern.edu

Dr. Erin Crockett, Professor of Psychology
crockete@southwestern.edu

Information Sessions: 

It is required to attend an Info Session or Advising. Fall 2023 SU Europe information sessions:

• Mon., Sep. 11^th, 12:30-1:30 PM, Prothro 233
• Thur., Sept. 26^th, 4:00-5:00 PM, Prothro 233
• Tues., Oct. 17^th, 4:00-5:00 PM, Prothro 233
• Thur., Nov. 2^nd, 12:00-1:00 PM, Prothro 233

Application Deadline: November 10, 2023

Program Start Date: June 1, 2024

Program End Date: June 27, 2024

NOTE: Students take a 2-credit UST course during the Spring semester of 2024.

NOTE: Below are estimated costs for the 2024 program. Costs are subject to change.

The 2024 program fee is estimated to be between $8197 and $8997. Cost is based on enrollment and may change.

The program cost includes:

• $550 non-refundable deposit
• 6 credits of tuition
• Group airport reception and return
• On-site safety, health, and cultural orientation
• Housing in shared hotel or hostel rooms
• Breakfast in some locations
• Some group meals
• API on-site staff
• Medical and life insurance
• Entrance fees during cultural activities and excursions
• Day trips 
• Ground Transportation on all API-arranged activities
• Transportation between cities

The program cost does not include:

• International airfare
• Baggage fees and travel insurance
• Passport and visa expenses
• Additional meals
• Personal expenses: toiletries, activities, snacks, personal travel, souvenirs, etc.

The SU European Cultural Exploration Program is an 8-credit program including 3 courses. Admitted students start the program in Spring 2024 with a 2-credit UST course. In Summer 2024, admitted students continue their studies with two 3-credit courses. 

All students will take the following courses:

Spring 2024:

UST course with Dr. Valerie Renegar & Dr. Erin Crockett (2 credits)

Held on Tuesdays 8:30-9:45am, this semester-long course will introduce students to the theories and cognate areas of the Summer courses, as well as allow students to begin working in their groups, generating their ideas for their group projects, and beginning the research they will need to complete their papers and projects. The traveling portion of the trip demands research skills and content knowledge that students will need to develop and understand prior to conducting the research for our classes abroad. As such, students will be provided training in these methods during the Spring semester so that they are ready to begin conducting research in cross-cultural psychology and at the public memory places and tourist destinations on our program. 

Summer 2024:

COM75-303: Travel, Tourism, and Communication with Dr. Valerie Renegar (3 credits)

In this class, students will explore a number of different perspectives on rhetoric and human communication in an attempt to better understand how rhetoric constricts tourist destinations, creates public memory, and shapes our experiences with each of these. Students will critically examine the rhetoric that surrounds both tourist destinations and places of public memory. Students will examine travel guides, travel blogs and websites, and other rhetorical artifacts associated with our international destination to reveal the ways that the traveler’s attention is focused on particular sites or events. Then, as the group travels together, students will investigate how tour guides and interpretative materials communicate and how our experiences are shaped by this rhetoric.

There are no prerequisites for this course. This course fulfills upper-level Communication Studies, Humanities General Education, Business, or Elective.

AND

PSY33-303: Cross-Cultural Psychology with Dr. Erin Crockett (3 credits)

For much of Psychology’s history, it has been critiqued for studying human behavior, cognition, and emotions in a vacuum that largely ignores the cultural environment in which these processes occur. Indeed, our field has notoriously conducted its research on WEIRDos (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic cultures, and within those cultures, mostly White, middle class, college first-years). No doubt these biases limit the application of some of our findings. With this limitation in mind, the field of cultural psychology was born, and with it came a greater appreciation for the ways in which one’s behavior, development, cognition, emotion, language, health, brain, and social interactions are cultural products. In this course, students will study of how cultural meanings, practices, and institutions influence and reflect individual human psychologies. Unlike other psychology courses, students will approach psychological theory and findings assuming at least the possibility of cultural variability. Using Spain, Italy, and Hungary as the classroom, students will observe, engage with, and ask questions of how culture affects our affect, behavior, and cognition.

There are no prerequisites for this course. This course satisfies both the Social Science area requirement and the Social Justice requirement. It also counts as an upper-level Psychology elective for majors.

Accommodation in shared hotel or hostel rooms throughout the duration of the program; linens and towels, internet and daily breakfast included. Welcome and farewell meal and 6 group meals will be included (8 meals total). Students are responsible for all other meals.  

In each destination, students will attend a walking tour given by a professional tour guide with experience in the region. These guides will feature the historical and cultural significance of the notable locations in each city that students visit.

While in Galway, student activities include:

• Guided walking tour of Galway
• Galway Food Tour
• Day trip to Connemara countryside including visits to Kylemore Abbey and Diamond Hill National Park

While in Prague, student activities include:

• Neighborhood walking tour
• Guided walking tour of Prague
• WOW! Black Light Show
• Day trip to UNESCO World Heritage Site Český Krumlov including guided tour of town and palace

While in Croatia, student activities include:

• Guided tour of Plitvice Lakes National Park
• Guided walking tour of Dubrovnik
• Painting class and guided tour through Croatian Modern Art exhibition at MOMA Dubrovnik
• Day trip to Lopud island including a guided tour