From Ethiopia to France, Princeton students can enroll in courses that offer an opportunity to travel abroad with their classmates over fall break. The courses are offered through multiple departments, each having a unique structure.
In Fall 2024, students will have access to at least five courses that travel internationally: ANT 437, ART 456, HUM 417, FRE 217, and HIS 461. All of these courses have required applications. The classes analyzed were found by searching the words “travel” and “trip” on the Registrar’s course offerings website.
“The practice of dislocating and defamiliarizing one’s view on the question of the global by engaging deeply with another site is invaluable,” Professor Irene Small wrote to The Daily Princetonian. Additionally, Small, whose course ART 456: Contemporary Art: The World Picture travels to Italy, emphasized the importance of expanding one’s global perspective through travel. “Academics are only one part of what makes up a person and their life perspective, and travel often allows for these other elements to come into play within our discussions.”
Beyond the arts, FRE 217: Revisiting Paris includes a mandatory trip to Paris, France. Professor André Benhaïm started teaching this course 15 years ago. He includes an application “to make sure that students are motivated or have the right motivations to take the course, not just for the travel component itself.” This course examines the real lives of contemporary Paris, as an urban space, an object of representation, and part of French cultural identity.
Benhaïm hopes that while in Paris, his students will engage in personal projects, which will be determined and discussed prior to the trip.
“I had a very wide range of personal projects,” Benhaïm said. “One student who was interested in the sciences decided to look at the museums that focus on different sciences.”
ANT 437: Gaming Blackness: The Anthropology of Video Games and Race includes a mandatory trip to Tokyo, Japan. The course is taught by Professor Akil Fletcher, and is focused on Black experiences within U.S. and Japanese media, with a particular emphasis on video games.
ANT 437 was previously offered Fall 2023 and received perfect ratings in each category, with reviews urging students to take the course. “Favorite class this semester,” one student wrote in their evaluation.
Several courses offered with travel components have high course ratings. HUM 417: Historical Structures: Ancient Architecture’s Materials, Construction and Engineering includes a trip to Athens, Greece. The course was offered Fall 2022 and received a 4.7 average rating.
“This was one of my favorite courses I have taken at Princeton,” wrote one student in their course review.
Finally, HIS 461: History of Coffee in Africa and the Middle East includes a mandatory trip to Ethiopia. This new course, taught by Professor Lacy Feigh, will be “visiting farmers and a washing station, and talking with people who are at the heart of the coffee production process in southern Ethiopia,” Feigh said.
Feigh’s application to the course ensures the limited spots go to those not just interested in coffee and travel, but also with interests in Ethiopia, African history, and the Middle East.
“My hope is to bring together people who are interested in both to liven the conversations throughout the semester,” Feigh said.
Travel for these courses is free for enrolled students. The ‘Prince’ analyzed the minimum amount the University will spend transporting students.
Applications for some courses are due before course enrollment, which takes place April 16 to 18. Others have applications due after course selection and will be returned before add/drop begins on April 29. Applications for courses may include unofficial transcripts, GPA, names of references, explanatory letter of interest in the course, and relevant coursework.
Kirill Sirik is a contributing Data writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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