Previous Courses

Spring 2022 Courses

Mexico: Rights, Revolution, and Ruins

Credits: 2(GBL 3XX) Term 4 course with May travel in Mexico for two weeks
Instructors: Jay Lively (Integrated Advising Coach) and Paul Bobbitt (Associate Dean of Work)
Travel Dates: May 9th-May 21st, 2022

This course will take a look at Mexico through the lens of human rights and how the past influences present-day life for Mexicans, both in relation to United States Foreign Policy as well as Mexico’s own internal policies, politics and culture. From the bustling streets and museums of Mexico City, to the beautiful colonial town of San Cristobal de las Casas in the southern state of Chiapas, students will better understand the power dynamics of one of the world’s largest cities and the impact that globalization and policy have had for some of North America’s most marginalized and isolated communities.

Students will begin the study away portion of the course by attending language school in San Cristobal de las Casas for one week, while also participating in homestays with local families. Students will spend the first half of each day in one-on-one language classes with native speakers, and the second half of each day learning about local indigenous issues, exploring San Cristobal, and visiting nearby villages and cooperative projects. Speaking engagements will include a closer look at the history of the 1995 Zapatista Rebellion, present-day popular resistance movements, small business owners, and local religious leaders. Students will also learn about local migration and immigration issues, trade and the economy, and how US-Mexican Foreign Policy is impacting the everyday lives of Mexicans, specifically those in Chiapas.

Following five days of language school and homestays, students will spend three days exploring ancient Mayan ruins and visiting rural campesino communities. Through a partnership with Chiapas-based NGO Las Abejas de Acteal, students will hear from local leaders and organizations about structural injustices that exist in Mexico, particularly in Chiapas. Students will spend time exploring the ruins of ancient Mayan cities and learn what role traditional Mayan customs still play in today’s indigenous communities. Students will also explore the natural habitat of the area, including two waterfalls, the Lacandon jungle, and a small “eco-hotel,” owned by a local Mayan family.

The group will then head back to Mexico City where we will meet with civic leaders, human rights advocates, artists and journalists during our five days in the economic center of Mexico and one of the largest and most dynamic cities in the world. Our home base and lodging while in Mexico City will be at Casa de los Amigos, a “Center for Peace and International Understanding” rooted in Quaker values. We will visit with two Warren Wilson alumni who live and have small businesses in Mexico City, as well as a small family factory that I worked with when I had my own small import-export business based in Mexico City between 2014-16. Mexican artist and educator Fransisco Coranado will join the group for a day to join us on a tour of public art projects, some inspired by the Revolution and some inspired by modern human rights struggles.

Application Fee: $75.00
Course Fee: $1,300* + airfare (est. $500-$800)
*(Limited amounts of need-based financial aid available)
GPA Requirement: 2.5 minimum
Application Deadline: October 8th, 2021

Italy: In the Nature Studio: Ceramics in Italy

Credits: 4 (ART 3770) Spring semester course with May travel in Italy for two weeks
Instructors: Leah Leitson (professor of ceramics) & Julie Caro (professor of art history)
Travel Dates: May 9th-21st, 2022

The lure of Italy for the American artist dates back to the beginnings of our nation’s history. Although Rome was a focus for artists in the 18th and 19th centuries, more recently American artists have gravitated towards Tuscany, and they have drawn inspiration from its distinctive landscape and rich traditions of Renaissance art. Like their European counterparts, American artists have long viewed travel in Italy and first-hand experience of Italian art, architecture, and culture as an essential component of an artistic and humanistic education. In our increasingly globalized, digitized society, where images of past and present art are available 24/7, what is the value of engaging directly with a place and its cultural products and producers? This course offers students a unique opportunity to connect directly with Italy’s landscape, art, culture and people/artists through site visits, shared conversations and meals, and time to create in an Italian ceramics studio.

Using Tuscany, Italy and Western North Carolina as our focus, this course considers what distinguishes one unique geography from another. How do cultural and artistic expressions arise from a specific geography? What are the unique aspects of a place that artists respond to and translate into material objects—its colors, textures, light, weather effects, tastes, sounds, cultural attitudes, the cadence of language, customs, jokes, folklore, etc.? We will consider our experience in relation to the experiences of artists who have travelled to Italy and make connections between the local American learning communities of Warren Wilson College, Black Mountain College, and the Penland School of Craft, all located in the rural setting of western North Carolina to the Italian learning community at La Meridiana School of Ceramics.

While in Italy, we will spend the first week living in the Medieval hill town of Certaldo and make daily site visits to Florence, Siena, Volterra and Faenza to look at examples of ceramics, painting, sculpture, and architecture and visit the studios of contemporary artisans and artists. We will bring those experiences to bear on our studio work and independent research realized during the second week of the trip at La Meridiana School of Ceramics located just outside of Certaldo. Founded in 1982 by renowned Italian ceramic artist Pietro Elia Maddalena and set in the characteristic landscape of Tuscany, La Meridiana’s outdoor Nature Studio will allow us full access to create within the natural light, colors, and atmospheric effects of the local Tuscan landscape. On studio days in Italy, we will eat lunch at La Meridiana and experience traditional Tuscan cuisine prepared by local chef and potter Lucia and plated on pottery created by Pietro and other artists in the La Meridiana community. Days spent at La Meridiana will allow us to connect with the other artists and members of this community through informal conversations and interviews.

In the clay studios at Warren Wilson College and at La Meridiana, students will learn or continue their study of ceramics through hand building and wheel throwing, glazing, and firing. In addition, students will learn and begin a journaling practice while on campus and continue that practice in Italy as we gather material to inspire our clay work. It is our hope that students will bring back their ideas to continue to make Italian inspired work at Warren Wilson the following year. Through studio work, readings, and independent research, students will learn to ask and answer the types of questions posed by artists and art historians as they endeavor to connect their sense of place to a new place and culture, to draw inspiration from it, and to develop their creative, intellectual, and intercultural awareness. Students will also learn some basic travel Italian.

Application Fee: $75.00
Course Fee: $1,700* + airfare (est. $1,100-$1,400)
*(Limited amounts of need-based financial aid available)
GPA Requirement: 2.5 minimum
Application Deadline: October 8th, 2021

France: Climate Crisis in Context

Credits: 4 (ENS 3XXX) Spring semester course with May travel in France for two weeks
Instructors: Amy Knisley (professor of environmental policy & law) & Liesl Erb (professor of conservation biology)
Travel Dates: May 8th-21st, 2022

In this course, we compare the framings of and responses to climate change in the United States and France, from grassroots movements to global policy. Focusing questions include: How have responses at different scales -- local, national, international -- played out in the two countries? How has geography, e.g. urban and rural, coastal and inland, shaped residents’ reactions? How does protest culture in the two countries compare? How has climate science been perceived and used in understanding and responding to climate change? Classroom study is complemented by connections with community organizers in Asheville and Paris, climate scientists in the US and France, and nongovernmental organizations at the front lines of climate migration.

Other Previous Courses

TANZANIA: Intercultural Comparisons of Agricultural and Social Welfare Systems in Tanzania and Appalachia

Credits: 4 (SWK 301)-- Fall semester course with travel in December/January
Course Instructors: Lucy Lawrence and Virginia Hamilton

Through the distinct and multi-disciplinary lenses of agriculture and social welfare, students compare and contrast a myriad of interdependent social/environmental/political/economic/cultural civic engagement issues in Tanzania, East Africa, and in the southern Appalachian region of the United States from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The course aims to provide students with an intercultural understanding of agriculture and social welfare in southern Tanzania, compared to practices and structures and policies in Appalachia. The course will trace the historical beginnings and necessities of the development of social welfare systems along with restrictions and conventions of agriculture and social welfare in both countries. Students will examine the ways in which both Tanzania and Appalachia develop policies, programs, and practices that create a safety net to address current societal issues. Focus points of the course include intercultural comparisons of approaches to agriculture and social welfare that advance community self-sufficiency while promoting active citizen participation. Additionally, this course provides students the opportunity for intercultural exchange and engagement through rigorous academic endeavor and field study in Tanzania, including service-learning. This course fulfills General Education requirement AIM 5 Service Learning and PEG 2 of the Community Engagement Commitment.

BORNEO: Indigenous Land Use In Borneo: Food, Farming, and Forest

Credits: 4 (ENS 3XX)-- Spring semester course with three weeks travel in May
Course Instructors: Mary Bulan and John Odell

This course introduces students to tropical ethnobiology and indigenous farming and land use in the rainforests of Borneo. Readings, field work, class discussions and student research projects will be used to explore issues of indigenous land rights and traditional natural resource management. During the travel component, students will travel to a highland village area in the state of Sarawak and experience the food, forests, farming and culture of the modern Kelabit tribe. Students will discuss environmental threats and social change with tribe members in the context of ecological and cultural survival. The class will complete a service project in collaboration with in-country hosts.

THAILAND & INDONESIA: Tackling Taboo Topics: Gender & Religion in Thailand & Indonesia

Credits: 4 (ANTH 3XX)-- Spring semester course with three weeks travel in May-June
Instructors: Siti Kusujiarti and Matt Hoffman

This exploratory course at the intersection of two taboo topics: religious practice and gender dynamics. Join Siti Kusujiarti and Matt Hoffman as we explore religion, society, and culture in Thailand and Indonesia. Our time in Thailand will center around Chiang Mai and focus on the role of gender in Buddhist religious practices, environmental concerns, and monastic movements. In Indonesia, we will explore the unique religious and social environment of Yogyakarta, a city known for education, religious pluralism, and varied approaches to understanding gender. In addition to touring various sites in both countries, students will have the opportunity to build deep connections with locals through homestays, a stay at a Buddhist monastery, and service-learning opportunities.

IRELAND: Hand Held: Photography and the Visual Book

Credits: 4 (ART 3XX)-- Spring semester course with two weeks of travel in May
Instructor: Eric Baden

This course is open to students from any discipline, and focuses on photography and visual books as forms of artistic expression. The class presents an opportunity for students to engage perspectives from outside the United States while attentively traversing a landscape that has long been a singular inspiration to artists, musicians, storytellers, and writers; and by sharing in the cross-cultural and global dialog in art and diverse international histories of book structures and contemporary photobooks. Students will engage in individual artistic practice characterized by careful observation, creative exploration, reflection and expression supported by the development of conceptual, material and editorial skills. Formal instruction will be provided in the techniques, materials, and processes used in crafting meaningful visual statements and organizing photographic images as artist's books and photobooks. We will explore a variety of contemporary forms based on historical and contemporary visual books from different cultural contexts.

BELIZE: Comparative Psychology: Marine and Cultural-Historical Studies in Belize

Credits: 4 (PSY 377) -- Fall semester course with winter travel to Belize
Course Instructor: Bob Swoap

Comparative psychologists study the behavioral patterns and minds of a wide array of animal species, including humans. There is an emphasis on discovering similarities and differences across species

that may shed light on evolutionary and developmental processes. Belize has a rich marine life as well as diverse cultural and language traditions (including Belizean Creole, Spanish, and English). We will use a comparative and cross-cultural lens to focus on marine species and on learning from the people of Belize. Following the on-campus component, we will embark on a 13-day field course to Belize to assist researchers from the Oceanic Society. This group is conducting several long-term studies documenting the abundance, distribution, and behavioral ecology of bottlenose dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles off the coast of Belize. While in the field, we will also learn about Belizean culture, discuss community-based planning for sustainable marine development, and meet Belizeans involved in protecting this exceptional ecosystem. We will also explore Mayan ruins in Belize and Guatemala. There will be good opportunities to immerse ourselves in the culture and the intersections of marine conservation and daily Belizean life.

PRAGUE: Reading Genre and Form: Fairy Tales and the Pop-Up Book

Credits: 4 (WRI 301)-- Spring semester course with travel in May
Course Instructors: Rachel Himmelheber and Lara Nguyen

The fairy tale and the pop-up book are two sophisticated artistic genres often misunderstood as being primarily intended for audiences of children. In fact, fairy tales and moveable books have historical roots as texts for adults. This course will serve as an introduction to the related genres of the fairy tale and the pop-up book, with a special interest in the folkloric and artistic traditions of the former Czechoslovakia/current Czech Republic. Coursework will include films, particularly Czech fairy tale features; feminist and queer fairy tale criticism and history; and slide lectures on moveable books and illustration styles and techniques. Students will learn form and technique and will apply this craft knowledge as they write their own fairy tales and craft their own pop-up books. During the semester, students will write drafts of their own fairy tales and will collaborate on a class pop-up book as we practice technique. Relevant Czech history, geography, plant life, and culture will inform this work, and the course will culminate in a two-week trip to Prague, Czech Republic where students will experience Czech architecture, art, nature, historical landmarks, and geography that they have studied as they complete their own fairy tale pop-up book projects. There will be free time in our travels for students to visit sites or areas relevant to their own work and interests, and as a group we will visit museums including The National Gallery in Prague, castles including Prague Castle and Hluboka Castle, churches including Sedlec Ossuary (known as the church made of human skeletons), theater including the National Theater and a puppet show, and natural exploration including hiking in the Bohemian countryside and mushroom foraging (considered a national pastime among Czechs) in the many forests of the Czech Republic.

BERLIN: Poets and Dictators: Art, Politics, and Philosophy in Modern Germany

Credits: 4 (PHIL 377)-- Spring Semester course with travel in May
Instructors: Jay Miller and Brian Conlan

This course will be an immersive experience that will provide students with a rich understanding of the major cultural and intellectual developments of modern Germany. We will begin our sojourn with the art, politics, and philosophy of the nineteenth century and trace the growing tensions among these through the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. Coupling in-depth analysis of key texts with on-site experience of the modern urban center of Berlin (with day trips to Weimar and Dessau), we will focus critical attention on the collision between artistic culture and political dictatorship that defines modern Germany.

LATVIA & SWEDEN: Traditions of Civic Engagement in Intercultural Context

Credits: 4 (SWK 377)-- Spring semester course with two weeks of travel in May-June
Instructors: Lucy Lawrence and Māra McLaughlin-Taylor

Through the distinct and multi‐disciplinary lens of civic engagement, students compare and contrast a myriad of interdependent social/environmental/political/economic/cultural issues in Latvia, a Baltic nation ruled by the Communist ideology of the Soviet Union for more than five decades, and the neighboring Scandinavian independent socialist democracy of Sweden. Students will examine the ways in which both Latvia and Sweden develop policies, programs, and practices that create a safety net to address current societal issues. Focus points of the course include intercultural comparisons of approaches to civic engagement that advance community self‐sufficiency while promoting active citizen participation. Students will have intercultural exchange and engagement through rigorous academic endeavor and transformational field study in both countries, including service-learning, building relationships with Latvian and Swedish students and professionals, exploring natural and historical landmarks on the Baltic coast, and experiencing traditions of food, art, music, and dance. This course fulfills General Education requirement AIM 5 Service Learning, General Education requirement AIM 15 Intercultural Perspectives, and PEG 2 of the Community Engagement Commitment.

CUBA: Appalachia to Cuba - Intercultural Approaches to Social Welfare & Education (January 2017)

4 credits

SWK337: Social Work

Course Instructors: Lucy Lawrence and Anna Welton

Through the distinct and interconnected lenses of social welfare and education, Warren Wilson students will come together to compare and contrast myriad and interdependent social, environmental, political, economic, and cultural issues in Appalachia and Cuba, from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The course aims to provide students with an intercultural understanding of poverty and approaches to addressing poverty through social welfare and education. The course will trace the historical beginnings and necessities of the development of the social welfare systems and innovative education systems in the contexts of Cuba and Appalachia. This course examines the ways in which both the U. S. (Appalachian region specifically) and Cuba develop policies, programs, and practices that create a safety net to address current societal issues. Focus points of the course include intercultural comparisons of social welfare service delivery and educational structures and practices that advance community self-sufficiency while promoting active citizen participation. Additionally, this course provides students the opportunity for intercultural exchange and engagement through rigorous academic endeavor and field study in Cuba.

See the Appalachia to Cuba program in the news!