In the summer of 2024, students will have the opportunity to study abroad in central Europe.

“Nazi Germany and the Holocaust” is a tour through Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic witnessing firsthand remints of the holocaust and Nazi Germany.   

Sponsored by the History Department and The Rowan Center for the Study of Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, the faculty-led trip took 26 students summer of 2021 and 19 in the summer of 2022. Applications are now open for students to apply along with virtual and in-person information sessions that have already started. 

The course is worth three credits, running in late May of 2024. A 13-day trip, students will visit concentration camps, museums commemorating victims of the holocaust, ghettoes and other historical sites that tell the story of Nazi Germany during World War II.    

Professor Jody Russel Manning runs the abroad program and serves as the program director for the Rowan Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights. 

Not only is he in charge of the program, but Manning also worked at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in southern Poland from 2005 to 2011 and knows seeing it in person is more powerful than reading about it in textbooks. 

“You can read about it. You can watch films about it, but until you’re standing there and see how vast it is, how big the camps were… It’s just there’s no way you can read about it, I mean you can read about it of course and learn no questions. But it’s such a different experience in such a different layer,” Manning said. 

The course starts on campus with four sessions centered around studying the history of the holocaust, along with learning German, Polish and Czech phrases that will be helpful for communicating with locals on the trip.       

After the on-campus sessions of the course are completed, students will then hop onto a flight to central Europe which includes stops in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Current holocaust and genocide education graduate student Ryn Seu’s first time traveling internationally was on last summer’s trip, but she almost never went because of the cost of the trip. 

“I really enjoyed the trip. I was thinking about going in 2020 then I was like ‘It’s too much money, I won’t do it…’ and then when it rolled around again I was thinking, ‘You know, I’m never going to be 21 in Europe with my friends again learning new things.’ I was like, ‘You know what? It’s worth it,” Seu said.

The price for the trip ranges from $4000 to $5000, but the Jan. 1, 2024 deadline gives students a head start on saving up. 

During the information sessions, Manning will detail the full itinerary costs along with potential scholarships that can help combat the price. 

These information sessions began last week but will continue to the end of April, with the next one being on March 6, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is in person at Robinson 216 and/or virtual via Zoom for students who can’t attend.

EF Educational Tours, Inc. is the travel company that is working with Rowan to ensure safe traveling through Europe providing insurance and setting up the itinerary.

While there will be school work, going abroad can mean a lot more than a final grade. Manning urges students to go out during their downtime to explore the places they end up in as it’s an opportunity for them to not only expand their knowledge on the history of Nazi Germany, but also a chance to grow as a person.

“You’re going to learn so much about yourself and how you cope with things, how you can get by and your strengths in navigating this hard history and getting through every day. And exploring on your own, I tell students the program is from this time to this time every day. Go out. You’re an ambassador of not only Rowan, but you’re an ambassador of the U.S., Go meet people…. But you’re going to learn so much about not only culture and people but yourself,” Manning said. 

Students interested in going abroad can either attend the next meeting on March 6 or email Professor Manning at manningj@rowan.edu to enquire more information about the trip.  

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