Professor of Economics Seeley and Associate Professor of Political Science Amy Forster Rothbart take students to Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic to learn about the political and economic forces behind populist movements in these countries. Hungary and the Czech Republic share a history of four decades as Soviet satellites ruled by communist parties. Austria has a complicated identity as being German but not Germany, and the old imperial center of an empire that no longer exists. By experiencing the cultures and learning the pasts of these different places, we come to better understand political and economic forces here in the U.S.

Professor of Economics Carli Ficano and Professor of Biology Mary Allen take students to Portugal to better understand the creation of fermented foods, including cheese and sausage, from a biological, economic, and social perspective and to appreciate the value and challenges of local food systems and large scale commercial food production. As a shared part of the lived experience of all people, food provides an ideal theme through which to understand the culture and history of another nation. In-country travel includes stays in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and day trips to other major Portuguese food regions.