An Introduction
Before we set out for our three-week trip to Greece with eleven students, we discussed Constantine Kafavy’s famous poem Ithaka, which counsels us not to wish for the comforts of home while discoveries still await us, and in the end, it promises that travel will transform us if we give ourselves over to the discovery of new and strange things, as long as we do not fear “Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon,” and the other threats travelers face. From the beginning, our students were amazed at what they found when they put down their guide books and set off on journeys without destinations. They discovered Filopappos Hill in Athens, the meaning of life in a monastery, the best gyros on the island, and even romantic gelato salesmen. But more importantly, they discovered new ways of being in the world. By seeing Greece and the Greeks through a new set of eyes, they came to fresh understandings of the Greeks and, more importantly, themselves.
The following blog contains entries that reveal these discoveries from our eleven students: Valerie Abbott, Brandon Adamick, Jordan Cox, Stephanie Cowherd, Chris Dunbar, Robert Hammerschmidt, Sarah Polen, Sam Steelman, Keegan Wagstaff, Charles Yeager, and Lindsay Zahner. We hope you enjoy them.
Dr. Hueping Chin (Interdisciplinary Studies Center) and Dr. Peter Meidlinger (Dept. of English)
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