This Study Abroad program will explore Central Europe and incorporate course activities related to WWI, WWII, and the Balkan War. In 29 days you will explore Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Below is information on the course offerings:

HONR 341 - The Balkans in War and Peace
An ethnically rich, and religiously complex country, the former Yugoslavia was held together for most of the 20th century by strongman and autocrat, Josip Broz Tito. This study abroad Honors colloquium focuses on the legacy of war as well as the promotion of peace in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Yugoslavian state. Pivotal moments in the development of the post-war era will be addressed including, but not limited, to the creation of an alternative Communist path in the former Yugoslavia, the advent of worker self-management within the economic realm, the dissolution of Yugoslavia upon the death of Tito, the Bosnian/Serbian conflict, and the managed peace in the aftermath of the conflict. Special consideration is given to the ethnic and religiously complex countries that emerged at the end of the 20th century. Attention will also focus on the United States and European Union’s role before and after the conflict. Site visits will complement the Place as Text Pedagogy which is central to this experiential learning course. This class is open to Honors and non-Honors students as per the approval of the Dean of the Westover Honors College.

ENGL 202/377 - The Literature & Film of WWI, WWII, and the Balkan War
This course is meant to provide you with insight into the sensibilities present at the turn of the century which made possible a First World War and to carry on beyond that point in order to determine what the cultural and individual consequences were upon those who survived. Ultimately, the Second World War completes a cycle begun more than twenty years earlier; we’ll want to investigate the responses to that global conflict as well, noting how literary and cinema artists dealt with the residue of massive destruction and human losses numbering in the many millions. We will then consider the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia in one of the ugliest conflicts in history: the Balkan War of the early 90s. Having finished this class, the student will have a reasonably sound knowledge of the twentieth century in the western hemisphere, having sampled some of the finest literature ever written and a number of exceptional films, not to mention seeing firsthand the remnants of war.

Faculty Contacts:
Dr. DeClair | declair@lynchburg.edu | 434-544-8481
Dr. Lipani | lipani@lynchburg.edu | 434-544-8272