Journeys in Learning Beyond the Classroom

 

The World as Classroom
By MARTHA STEVENSON OLSON

RAVEL is generally a learning experience, but for some, the search for knowledge is a passion that guides the journey. Catering to this group are study tours, in which "students," often many years out of school, travel with an expert or enroll at a university abroad, focus on a subject and, in some cases, earn college or professional credits as well.

Ranging from rigorous courses of study, complete with classes, lectures and exams, to more casual tours, these "learning adventures" can originate through universities, nonprofit organizations or special-interest tour companies. Because they are aimed at an educated, often affluent customer, and because they use the resources of major institutions, they tend to cost more than the average tour. But for those who sign on, the opportunity to travel with erudite masters in the field compensates for the extra expense.

Some of the most academically ambitious courses are offered by universities and colleges, often through alumni organizations or other extensions. Enrollment is usually aimed at, but not limited to, students or alumni. A case in point is the University of California-Berkeley Extension Travel With Scholars program, which has residential courses at Merton College in Paris and at Oxford, as well as travel tours to China, Cuba and Sicily, among its offerings. All are led by scholars in the field. A three-week session at Oxford to study English stately homes, or Roman Britain or other subjects is $4,100; this includes tuition, single room with shared bath, three meals a day, general lectures and special events, but not fees for field trips or travel to and from Oxford. Call (415) 252-5229 or visit the Web site www.unex.berkeley.edu/travel.

Academic Travel Abroad has more than 50 years' experience organizing educational travel. Among its partners are National Geographic Expeditions, Smithsonian Journeys (formerly Smithsonian Study Tours) and alumni associations of Harvard, Yale, Vanderbilt and Wellesley. The Web site www.academic-travel.com has links to a wide menu of travel study options; for instance, American Heritage magazine is sponsoring a trip Oct. 6 to 15 focusing on England's Industrial Revolution. Led by the magazine's editor, Frederick E. Allen, and a leading industrial archaeologist, Dr. Barrie Trinder, the tour will visit places like Ironbridge, the Derwent Valley, Manchester and North York, which gave birth to the first textile mills, steam engines, cast iron and forged steel. The tour package, with round-trip air fare from New York, is $4,695 a person, double. Academic Travel Abroad is at (800) 556-7896.

Museums Without Walls

Many nonprofit organizations and museums offer members' study trips led by affiliated experts, including the New York Botanical Garden and the American Heritage Institute. Some, like the American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian, require you to be a member to take trips; the Art Institute of Chicago and Metropolitan Museum don't.

The Smithsonian Institution has more than 200 domestic and international tours this year, most under the wing of a study leader.

Offerings range from three-night Museum Lover's vacations, in partnership with the tour company Collette Vacations, to a 32-day Lost Islands of the Atlantic cruise, including the Canary, Cape Verde and Falkland Islands. Prices range from $289 a person, double, for the Museum Lover's vacation in Philadelphia, including three nights' hotel, one dinner and museum admissions, to $9,995 a person, double, and up for the cruise, plus air fare. The catalog is at www.smithsonianjourneys.org, or call (877) 338-8687.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York offers many global adventures through its Discovery Tours. This year's study tours include a cruise along the Irrawaddy River of Myanmar Oct. 16 to Nov. 1, $6,690 a person, double occupancy, with air fare from New York. The museum's Signature Series includes 10 new programs designed by museum-affiliated scientists, among them an exploration of Papua New Guinea in the footsteps of Margaret Mead in the company of Mead specialists, from Oct. 4 to 21, priced at $8,980 to $9,695 a person, based on double occupancy (air fare is extra); (800) 462-8687 or (212) 769-5700 or www.amnh.org.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art prides itself on its curatorial expertise, special viewing arrangements and access to private collections. A trip to Ireland, Aug. 1 to 13, will be led by Dr. Marian Burleigh-Motley, director of the program in curatorial studies at the museum and a speaker at a spring lecture series there that is entitled "Ireland Through the Eyes of Artists and Writers." The trip includes a two-night stay with the Knight of Glin at his castle in County Limerick, visits with curators and collectors, and five nights at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin; the rate without air fare is $7,275 a person, double.

Learning at Sea

Other Met tours include cruises aboard its flagships in Europe, the Sea Cloud II and River Cloud II, and several art and architecture study tours to Cuba, with private charter jet from Miami. The Met has its own license to operate tours to Cuba, issued by the United States Treasury Department, as does the company that organizes the Met tours, Academic Arrangements Abroad. For more information, Academic Arrangements Abroad is at (212) 514-8921, outside New York State, (800) 221-1944. The museum's office for tours is at (212) 650-2110, or visit www.metmuseum.org and click Events & Programs.

The Art Institute of Chicago sponsors about 8 domestic and up to 25 international study tours a year, mostly focusing on art and architecture, according to Michelle Hodalj, assistant director of membership programs. A tour scheduled for May 1 to 11 will visit art museums, studios and collections of Provence, including Dalí's birthplace and museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Nîmes, the Matisse Chapel, the Picasso Museum and Cézanne's studio. It costs $4,595 a person, double, plus air fare. Information: (312) 443-3917; because trips are organized through several companies, including Academic Travel Abroad, they cannot all be found at one Web site.

For those 55 or older and their families, Elderhostel continues to offer some of the best value. For example, a seven-day American Heritage tour in April or September retraces the final days of the Civil War through Richmond, Petersburg and Appomattox, Va. The cost per person, double occupancy, is $785, including hotels and all meals, lectures and related activities. An 11-day intergenerational trip this summer for Elderhostel participants and their young-wizard relations (at least 9 years old) explores the world of Harry Potter and children's fantasy literature from a base at Oxford, with meals in the Christchurch dining room seen in the movies. The all-inclusive price from New York starts at $2,705 a person, for all ages; other intergenerational programs have reduced rates for children; (877) 426-8056 or on the Web at www.elderhostel.org.

MARTHA STEVENSON OLSON is a freelance writer.