Due to concerns for the health and safety of IU students, the “Treks in Provence” class is cancelled for summer 2020. We hope to be able to offer it again in summer 2021.
In this course, students spend three weeks discovering Provence: integrating aspects of geology, environmental science, language, history, and culture in an exploration of the iconic landscape and culture of Provence. Starting in the city of Aix-en-Provence with its many fountains, they travel throughout the region, staying in a twelfth century chateau and visiting the magnificent markets and famous agriculture and winemaking that inspired “Mediterranean Cuisine.” They view the turquoise blue waters of the Mediterranean from Marseilles, experience the rural culture and Roman sites of the Rhone Valley, hike the mountains of Haute Provence, and wonder at the ammonite fossils and animal tracks in the Provençal Alps.
The combination of high mountains of the Alpes-Maritimes, the sienna-colored Provençal foothills, the dry Mediterranean climate, and the rugged coast of the Côte d’Azur has created one of the world’s most iconic landscapes of Europe. Occupied by Celts, Greeks and Romans, Arabs and Franks, Italians and Germans, visited by millions of tourists, armies, and refugees, the area of Provence is one of the crossroads of Europe. Made famous by the art of Paul Cézanne, Vincent Van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso, the writers Marcel Pagnol and Frédéric Mistral, and now recognized as one of the culinary capitals of theworld, Provence offers an ideal site for interdisciplinary education.
This is an IUB College-administered Program: 3 credits of EAS-E 190 (N&M) The Evolving Earth or FRIT-F 225 (A&H) Foreign Study in France for on-site field course (Summer I). Days: June 3 – 22, 2020
Faculty Leaders: Kelly Sax, French and Italian; Michael Hamburger, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Program Organization: Treks in Provence is a three-week, field-based
exploration of the landscape and culture of Provence (taught in English) and an introduction to the history, culture, geography and geology of the area.
This course is part of IU’s Bicentennial Grand Expeditions program.
The College of Arts