2008 Year in Review

Ashford University Plans Trip to France and Spain

All travelers, including Ashford University students, have an opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime this May – exploring the cities of France, Spain and Morocco – while, if desired, earning school credit at the same time. It’s all part of AU’s May 2009 trip to Europe.

The trip, led by AU Art Department Professor Jenny Pauckner, will depart from Chicago on May 12, 2009, returning May 24. Participants will spend 13 days traveling throughout France and Spain, with a day-trip to Morocco as well. The $3,041 student price and $3,431 adult price includes round-trip airfare, overnight stays in hotels with private bathrooms, complete European breakfast and dinner daily, tours, and a fulltime bilingual tour director.

“We’ll see Paris (the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Montmartre District, Museé d’Orsay, Notre Dame Cathedral and more) and take a day-trip to Versailles to see Louis XIV’s palace and the state apartments of Marie Antoinette,” Pauckner said. “We will also take an overnight train to Toulouse, explore the medieval town of Carcassonne, and then travel to Barcelona. In Barcelona, we will visit the still-unfinished La Sagrada Familia (the church of the Holy Family) designed by Antonio Gaudi, who estimated it would take 200 years to complete.”

The group will take a walking tour of Barcelona, known as “La Gran Encisera” (the Great Enchantress) which inspired Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and countless other artists who lived there. “We will stroll down Las Ramblas, the tree-lined pedestrian boulevard that W. Somerset Maugham called ‘the most beautiful street in the world,’” Pauckner said.

After visiting the sites in Barcelona, the group will travel to Madrid, Spain’s capital city, and visit the world-renowned Prado Museum, which is filled with works of art collected by the Spanish monarchy. Before returning home from Costa del Sol, famous for its beautiful beaches, the Ashford group will ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco and enter a world of mosques, camels, snake charmers and bustling markets.

Students can take this trip for credit, which may count as the fulfillment of Ashford University’s general education aesthetic awareness requirement or an elective. Organized and coordinated by EF Educational Tours, the trip will focus on art, architecture and cultural experience. Anyone interested in further information about this exciting opportunity should contact Pauckner at 563.242.4257, ext. 1520 (office), 317.696.5476 (cell) or email at jenny.pauckner@ashford.edu.

About Ashford

Founded in 1918, Ashford University® is a coeducational institution regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, with programs in education, business, accounting, criminal and social justice, computer animation and graphic design, and other areas. The University offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as a range of student activities and athletics, at its Clinton campus. Online degree programs are available in education, organizational management, business administration, psychology, health care administration, criminal justice and social science. The University is known for its high quality yet highly affordable on-campus and online programs, with tuition fees among the lowest in the U.S. compared to other private institutions. Its tagline is: “Higher Education Made Affordable”SM. For more information, please visit Ashford University

by  Editor, theCity1.com
September 25, 2008