HON 195: Iceland’s Changing Landscapes: from the Viking Age to the Present (3 credits)
SUMMER TRAVEL COURSE
Travel dates: May 20 – 29, 2025
The main goals of this course are: 1) to engage students in critical thinking about historical changes to the Icelandic landscape and the role that human intervention has played—and can play—in shaping Iceland’s environment; 2) to foster intellectual curiosity by allowing students to experience, contemplate and then reflect upon the very landscapes we will be studying; 3) to have students gain a historical perspective by considering the different ways Icelanders have seen and interacted with their environment, first by having students read medieval, early modern and modern texts describing that environment and then, via reflective writings, having the students compare the descriptions provided in those texts with their own, first-hand experiences of those landscapes; 4) engaging the community directly by meeting with Icelanders who are concerned about their changing environment and who are active in raising awareness about those changes (such as Andri Snær Magnason, author of On Time and Water, with whom students met last year); 5) to exhibit leadership potential by articulating possible solutions to the various environmental challenges that have been examined in the course.
Requirements: Honors Minor
Faculty
Mark Mullane, Honors Lecturer in History, mark.mullane@maine.edu
Bernadette Esposito, MFA, Honors Writing Instructor, bernadette.esposito@maine.edu
Eligibility
All students who have declared the USM Honors minor are invited to apply. Additionally, students should have a valid passport (with an expiration date no earlier than 6 months after expected return to US) or be in the process of applying for a passport.
Tuition and Fees
To be determined
Application
The application deadline is March 18, 2024
A complete application includes all of the following:
- Submit the program application form
- We recommend looking over the application before completing it so you have all parts ready, as unfortunately you cannot save as you go.
- A letter of recommendation from a faculty member or academic advisor
- Here is the link you can share with faculty/staff to complete a recommendation on your behalf: Online Recommendation for Travel Program
- Copy of academic transcript
- Information regarding requesting a transcript can be found here (It’s probably easiest to either follow the steps for “Electronic Delivery” or “Unofficial Transcript via Classic MaineStreet” and either way, send to Kimberly Sinclair (ksinc@maine.edu)
Once the application committee has reviewed applications, you will be notified of acceptance via email. At that time, all students accepted to the program will be asked to submit a $300 nonrefundable deposit and will be enrolled in the course in MaineStreet by a USM staff member.