Faculty Comments

Bill Miles, faculty leader in Niger, December 2006:

It is over 90 degrees F here...clear skies and no one misses the Boston weather. We are all still amazed that after a semester of study we are really in Africa and sorting out the first reality impressions from the academic preparation. There will be many interesting stories to tell and the insight we gain from first hand experience cannot be replicated in any Boston classroom.

Paul Beran, faculty leader of Turkey Dialogue, July 2006:

The students are doing wonderfully and are quickly learning the nuances of conducting observational research on the ground in Turkey. They have made Istanbul their home and are learning to navigate it independently and safely. Their learning curve has been phenomenal! Throughout they have gone out of their way to apply their reading of Turkey to seeing it for themselves. From contrasting religious and secular neighborhoods in Istanbul to meeting with Turkish students and others studying the EU and Turkey, the Northeastern students have taken seriously their role as independent researchers and scholars. We leave tomorrow for Ankara and a more in-depth study of modern Republican Turkey. I am confident the skills they have learned and used in Istanbul will be put to good use as we meet with the US embassy, the Turkish Foreign Ministry and students from Bilkent University. It is a great honor to be with such an outstanding group of students.

Richard Katula, faculty leader of Greece Dialogue, July 2006:

Our students have taken to Greece like oil to olives. They have been, as best I can describe it, perfect. Of course, they are young so they are staying up too late and pushing the envelope a little, but that is Athens and that is youth. They have made all the lectures, and visited every place I have asked them to visit. The other night, they went out late to the Acropolis and sat looking over the city and the Parthenon while Greek youths played the guitar and sang songs. They said it was unforgettable. The students are in Hydra today, an island close to Athens that they arranged to go to on their own. This is an incredible group so far: resourceful, mature, gregarious, and yet disciplined. They are having the time of their lives they have told me.