2011 Travel Program: Combining Adventure With Learning

The 2011 Alumni Travel Program kicks off with “Rome: An Insider’s Perspective,” Feb. 14–22. (Courtesy Image)

Washington University’s Travel Program (http://travel.wustl.edu) offers exceptional travel experiences for alumni and friends each year. Selected by the Alumni Association Travel Committee, these trips provide extraordinary learning opportunities in some of the most fascinating and culturally rich locations around the globe.

The 2011 program offers travel destinations that will appeal to a variety of ages and interests. Washington University faculty will join two of the trips, lending their expertise.

Alumni, parents and friends are welcome to participate. Don’t miss the opportunity to broaden your horizons through the Travel Program!

2011 TRAVEL PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Feb. 14–22
Rome: An Insider’s Perspective

March 4–16
Israel: Timeless Wonders

March 9–19
Antiquities of the Nile and the Red Sea

March 16–26
Cruise Costa Rica

April 29–May 7
European Coastal Civilizations

May 3–14
Treasures of Turkey

May 6–21
Treasures of China and Tibet

May 13–21
Provence and the Rhône River

May 15–29
Historic Cities of the Sea

June 10–23
Passage to the Norwegian Fjords

July 7–14
Cruising Alaska’s Glaciers and the Inside Passage

July 12–23
Grand Journey: Ireland

July 14–27
Danube River and the Cultural Treasures of Central Europe
Travel/Study Leaders: Sarah Westphal-Wihl and Gary Wihl

Aug. 15–30
Opus Mediterráneo Music Cruise
Travel/Study Leader: Hugh Macdonald

Sept. 8–22
Paradores and Pousadas: Historic Lodgings of Spain and Portugal

Sept. 18–27
Chianti and the Italian Riviera

Sept. 18–Oct. 1
Ancient Lands and Seas: Cruise From Istanbul to Venice

Oct. 20–Nov. 3
Treasures of East Africa

Oct. 22–Nov. 6
Journey Through Vietnam

Nov. 3–11
The Culture and Arts of St. Petersburg

TRAVEL STUDY LEADERS 2011

Gary Wihl
Dean, Arts & Sciences 
The Hortense & Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities
Join Dean Wihl on the Danube in July.

Wihl received his BA degree from McGill University in Montreal and his PhD from Yale, where he met his future wife, Sarah Westphal. They will celebrate their 30th anniversary in July 2011 during the Danube River cruise. Wihl joined Washington University in 2009 from Rice University, where he had served as dean of humanities since 2003. Prior to his time at Rice, he was dean of graduate studies at Emory University. He and Sarah enjoy traveling and sightseeing. They have cruised all over the world, including alumni trips to China and Sicily.

Sarah Westphal-Wihl
Professor of German Literature
Join Professor Westphal-Wihl on the Danube in July.

Westphal-Wihl specializes in the literature of Southern Germany and the Danube Valley from the 13th through the 16th century, a period noted for tales of courtly love, knights and saintly women. She earned her BA from Oberlin College and her PhD from Yale. She has taught at Duke University, McGill, the University of South Carolina and Rice University. She lived in Germany while pursing research for her doctorate and has traveled through many parts of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic over the last 20 years. At Washington University, she teaches a popular course on the legends of King Arthur in the Middle Ages.

Hugh Macdonald
The Avis H. Blewett Professor of Music
Join Professor Macdonald on the Opus Mediterráneo cruise in August.

Macdonald is well-known in Boston and St. Louis as a pre-concert speaker for the symphony orchestras of both cities. He has lectured in New York, Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco. He works with leading European conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Before joining Washington University as the Avis H. Blewett Professor of Music in Arts & Sciences in 1987, he taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Glasgow. As a specialist in French music and opera, he has published books on Scriabin and Berlioz, and a recent collection of essays entitled Beethoven’s Century. He has provided singing translations of opera for companies in London, Leeds, Glasgow, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Baltimore and St. Louis. He is working on a biography of Georges Bizet.

For more information on the Travel Program:

• Visit the Travel Program website: http://travel.wustl.edu (learn about the Travel Program, read blogs of past travelers, and become a fan of the Travel Program Facebook page)

• Call the Alumni Association at (314) 935-7378 or 866-WUTRIPS (toll-free)

• Send an e-mail to alumni.travel@wustl.edu

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