Inside the hallowed* halls of the university students and teachers undertake a time-honored journey of discovering more about the world and sharing that knowledge in the form of lectures, publications, and presentations. It is expected of both student and teacher to partake of this wellspring of knowledge and thereafter share this with others in the wider world (or the world wide web, as it were).
An integral aspect of this acquisition and exchange of knowledge involves venturing outside the aforementioned hallowed halls. Such ventures are named “excursions” here at AAU. The first series of trips in which I was involved were made as part of a pedagogy class and were planned by Carmen Amerstorfer to a school in Upper Austria (for a report on one of the visits, see here). I was very fortunate to benefit from Carmen’s expertise and experience, both in pedagogy and in excursion planning. Similarly, interactions with the teaching staff and students from BBS Rohrbach were fruitful and informative in many ways. I learned immensely from each of the visits we made and was encouraged to plan an excursion of my own. However, having been somewhat timid in planning a trip by myself, I decided to plan a joint-excursion since I enjoy working with colleagues from other disciplines, especially since it allows me to re-visit languages that I have studied (or visit languages I haven’t). The three trips I’ve made so far are highlighted below, each to receive its own page with more detail and pictures soon.
- My first such excursion was planned with Luc Bousseau (Department of Romance Studies) to visit France in the spring of 2023, specifically Paris and the region of Normandy. It might seem counter-intuitive for an English teacher to be making trips to France, but there’s reason to this madness, aye, it’s medieval. (To be continued!)
- In early winter 2024, I was fortunate to travel to Malta and Sicily with two other colleagues from the Department of Romance Studies, Marco Bianchi and Cristina Gavagnin. Their expertise in the Mediterranean inspired the trip and ensured that the planning of our stay unfolded flawlessly. (More soon!)
- The most recent trip took place in the spring of 2025 to Louisiana (USA), again planned with Luc Bousseau, in order to explore not only the English language of the state and region but also to highlight the French language, culture, and history of Cajun Louisiana. N.B. Alligators were seen up-close but not encountered face-to-snout. (Further details to follow.)
These three excursions undertaken with colleagues from the Department of Romance Studies provided opportunities for me to learn more about the nitty-gritty of planning such trips. The administrative aspect of the excursions can be challenging given the time and budgetary constraints. Without the support of the secretaries from our respective departments and support from other staff at the university, I would not have wanted to try to organize these trips. As regards the administrative aspect of these trips, I feel more confident but not so confident that I’ll be undertaking a trip organized only by myself any time soon. I also don’t know if going solo (but with students, of course) would be as intellectually challenging.
I found myself in awe of these three colleagues–their passion, their knowledge, their experience–all three of these elements found expression out in the “real world” in a way that they are not necessarily expressed in the university’s hallowed halls. Their classrooms surely are marked by these three characteristics, but by venturing off-campus, students and myself were able to witness new ways in which these colleagues shine.
Indeed, it is the students for whom these excursions are planned–seeing their teachers in a new environment helps them process what they’ve learned and see it lived in ways not (easily) reproducible in a classroom. The opportunity for growth that I experienced is one that I hope my students (and the students from my colleagues) also shared. Some had never travelled outside of Austria, others outside of Europe while others still were well-travelled. The joint excursions with colleagues and students of the other languages (French and Italian) allowed for exciting interactions–the English students were able to benefit from the (budding) expertise in the languages of the countries we visited. Malta allowed us a chance to use English while also learning about Maltese, so that even for those who knew (some) English, they were still able to learn something about language practices. All of this linguistic negotiation proved most beneficial in helping us understand the world and ourselves.
Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Does such a short trip qualify as sufficient travel so as to be so fatal? Perhaps yes, perhaps not–but, I would argue, studying a language can serve as an integral ingredient to dispelling such notions. These trips weren’t taken in isolation–they were situated in a larger context in the hallowed halls of the university. Before embarking on these trips, students learned about the historical connection between England and France, the linguistic structure of Maltese, and the migration of Acadians to Louisiana. This knowledge was then complemented by walking to Mont-Saint-Michel and seeing what life was like in medieval times, by interacting with Maltese people to learn about how bilingualism and multilingualism play an important role in Maltese society, and by eating supper with members of French-speaking Native American tribes. This kind of travel, if not immediately fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, creates the academic space for learning and also the liminal space for personal growth.
Returning to the classroom afforded students and teachers both the chance to reflect academically and personally on what they experienced. This (ad)venture into the world resulted in the acquisition and exchange of knowledge, a goal worthy of being sought after.
* hallowed: meaning “sanctified, blessed, consecrated, dedicated” (OED, see etymology below).
This sense of being “hallowed” ought not render timid those not familiar with the university. I consider the university a space that has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, an undertaking often lonely though at times enriched with companions of the highest caliber. As with any pursuit, one must be active and seek out that which is the object of one’s desire, which in this case is knowledge.
