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Course-embedded Travel
Course Embedded Travel (CET) courses are credit-bearing courses on campus offered across all divisions with a site-based learning travel component. The experience off-campus lasts one to two weeks and takes place during an academic recess.
Apply now for Spring 2024 CET courses!
- (spring 2024) GRM/GLS 270 The Holocaust Remembered, taught by Dan Reynolds. This course focuses on eye-witness testimonies, early journalism, memorials, museums, historiographies, and artistic representations of the Holocaust that contribute to the ongoing project of Holocaust remembrance. Course travel to Austria, Hungary, and Poland will take place after the semester in May 2024. This course is open to second- and third-year students. Apply here.
- (spring 2024) GRM/GLS 295 Love, Lust, and Laughter: Jewish Life in 20th Century Vienna, Budapest, and Krakow, taught by Viktoria Pötzl. This course seeks to recall the vibrant and diverse expressions of Jewish culture before the Shoah, as well as Contemporary Jewish Life. Course travel to Austria, Hungary, and Poland will take place after the semester in May 2024. Apply here. This course is open to second- and third-year students.
- (spring 2024) REL-295 Everyday Contemplation, taught by Caleb Elfenbein Contemplation is an enduring feature of human life. It is not, however, innate. Contemplation takes practice. Together, we will explore different contemplative traditions from a variety of perspectives and engage in our own contemplative practice. The work of Jewish artist Mark Rothko, who actively cultivated the contemplative dimensions of his non-representational painting, will be a case study, culminating with time exploring the development of his signature project, the Rothko Chapel. Course travel to Houston, TX and either Vence, France or locations in the United Kingdom will take place over spring break. This course is open to first- through fourth-year students. Apply here.
Course fee: There is a $1,000 course fee for participating in Course-Embedded Travel classes that will be added to the student’s bill during the first week of the semester. Scholarships are available for students who qualify for need-based financial aid at Grinnell and will be automatically provided in the amounts listed in the table below. If you have questions about your need level and scholarship eligibility, please contact Meg Jones at jonesmeg@grinnell.edu.
| Need-based financial aid level | Course fee | Scholarship amount | Net cost added to bill |
| Students with very high need | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 |
| Students with high need | $1,000 | $750 | $250 |
| Students with moderate need | $1,000 | $500 | $500 |
| Students with low need | $1,000 | $250 | $750 |
| Student with no need | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
Contact Ashley Laux lauxashl@grinnell.edu for more information.
Previously Offered Courses
CHI 498 Readings in Chinese Literature
This course is designed to increase students’ proficiency in reading, interpreting, and discussing Chinese literature in its original language, and thereby build upon the linguistic foundation acquired in both Classical Chinese (CHI 461) and the three-year language sequence. Literature for the course will consist of a thematically focused set of textual materials taken from both pre-modern and modern sources, including literary, philosophical, and religious texts. Conducted in Chinese. Instructor: Feng. Prerequisite CHE 332 and CHI 461.
CLS 395-01 Ancient Greek Sculpture: Style, Context and Ownership
An interdisciplinary course exploring classical Greek sculpture: its ancient context, style, and function; its ownership in modern times and its place in museum culture. Students will engage in stylistic analysis of architectural marbles from the temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Parthenon in Athens, and the temple of Apollo at Bassae. The class will travel to London and Greece over spring break, conduct a public campus debate regarding ownership of antiquities, and write research papers. 4 credits. Meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 9:50 am. Instructors: Monessa Cummins & Lesley Wright.
Prerequisite: ARH 103, ARH-195 (Museum Studies), CLS/GLS-242, CLS/ARH-248, ARH/CLS-250, CLS/HIS-255 or HIS-235.
PST 295-01 Unlocking Policy Neglect: Comparative Agenda Setting
Why are global challenges like climate change, human rights abuses, and inequality treated with little urgency by policymakers? This course examines how policy agendas are set in the public, the media, and ultimately in important decision-making institutions as well as why some problems face challenges in making it onto the policy agenda. The course will be taught from Leiden University College in the form of a small, online personal course. The course will be sponsored by Grinnell College professor Wayne Moyer. This class includes course-embedded travel during the first week of Spring Break to Leiden University in the Netherlands. Students will engage in dialogue on course materials and research projects with their Leiden University peers and with Professor Zicha. They will also conduct a few visits to local organizations that work in related policy areas. Participation is required.
THD /ART 295 Cross Just for You: Between Art and Performances
For this interdisciplinary course, eight students from Theatre and Dance, Art, and Music will explore the theoretical framework and creative process of staging performances for an audience of one as they work to blur the boundaries between the visual and performing arts. Students enrolled in the six-week short course will design and stage their own original work at the College during the first six weeks of the spring semester. They will then travel to Taiwan to collaborate with professors Craig Quintero and Andrew Kaufman and members of Riverbed Theatre in creating a site-specific performance/ installation at the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art. Enrollment is limited to eight students and requires permission from Professor Kaufman or Quintero. Participants will be selected based on an audition/portfolio.
ART 295-03 Art, Media & the Built Environment in Cuba
In his famous 1961 speech to artists, writers, and intellectuals, Fidel Castro proclaimed: “Within the Revolution, everything…” Castro was indicating not only the terms of censorship for the new socialist government but the ideological means of cultural production that would come to dominate the island nation in the following decades. This class analyzes art, media, and the built environment as they relate to concepts of revolution, utopia, and cubanidad, or “Cubanness.” Looking at material ranging from works by Cuba’s artistic vanguardia of the 1920s to contemporary debates regarding internet access and new media, we explore how the visual can be both symbolic of state interests and illustrative of subversions to the state. Prerequisite: ARH 103. Instructor: Rivera
BIO 365 - Microbiology
This course examines the structure, physiology and genetics of microorganisms. Emphasis is placed on studying the diversity of microbes and exploring how microbes shape the environments they inhabit. A significant component of this course will be the critical evaluation of primary literature, along with an emphasis on written and oral communication skills. In the laboratory, students conduct independent research projects involving culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Two lectures and one laboratory each week. Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262.
Note: Not offered every year. Fall 2017 only - This class includes course-embedded travel during Fall Break to Montana State University and Yellowstone National Park to engage with scientists studying unique microbial communities. Participation is required. Instructor: Hinsa-Leasure
EDU 217 - Comparative & International Education in South Africa
Prerequisite: ARH 103, ARH-195 (Museum Studies), CLS/GLS-242, CLS/ARH-248, ARH/CLS-250, CLS/HIS-255 or HIS-235.
PST 295-01 Unlocking Policy Neglect: Comparative Agenda Setting
Why are global challenges like climate change, human rights abuses, and inequality treated with little urgency by policymakers? This course examines how policy agendas are set in the public, the media, and ultimately in important decision-making institutions as well as why some problems face challenges in making it onto the policy agenda. The course will be taught from Leiden University College in the form of a small, online personal course. The course will be sponsored by Grinnell College professor Wayne Moyer. This class includes course-embedded travel during the first week of Spring Break to Leiden University in the Netherlands. Students will engage in dialogue on course materials and research projects with their Leiden University peers and with Professor Zicha. They will also conduct a few visits to local organizations that work in related policy areas. Participation is required.
THD /ART 295 Cross Just for You: Between Art and Performances
For this interdisciplinary course, eight students from Theatre and Dance, Art, and Music will explore the theoretical framework and creative process of staging performances for an audience of one as they work to blur the boundaries between the visual and performing arts. Students enrolled in the six-week short course will design and stage their own original work at the College during the first six weeks of the spring semester. They will then travel to Taiwan to collaborate with professors Craig Quintero and Andrew Kaufman and members of Riverbed Theatre in creating a site-specific performance/ installation at the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art. Enrollment is limited to eight students and requires permission from Professor Kaufman or Quintero. Participants will be selected based on an audition/portfolio.
ART 295-03 Art, Media & the Built Environment in Cuba
In his famous 1961 speech to artists, writers, and intellectuals, Fidel Castro proclaimed: “Within the Revolution, everything…” Castro was indicating not only the terms of censorship for the new socialist government but the ideological means of cultural production that would come to dominate the island nation in the following decades. This class analyzes art, media, and the built environment as they relate to concepts of revolution, utopia, and cubanidad, or “Cubanness.” Looking at material ranging from works by Cuba’s artistic vanguardia of the 1920s to contemporary debates regarding internet access and new media, we explore how the visual can be both symbolic of state interests and illustrative of subversions to the state. Prerequisite: ARH 103. Instructor: Rivera
BIO 365 - Microbiology
This course examines the structure, physiology and genetics of microorganisms. Emphasis is placed on studying the diversity of microbes and exploring how microbes shape the environments they inhabit. A significant component of this course will be the critical evaluation of primary literature, along with an emphasis on written and oral communication skills. In the laboratory, students conduct independent research projects involving culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Two lectures and one laboratory each week. Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262.
Note: Not offered every year. Fall 2017 only - This class includes course-embedded travel during Fall Break to Montana State University and Yellowstone National Park to engage with scientists studying unique microbial communities. Participation is required. Instructor: Hinsa-Leasure
EDU 217 - Comparative & International Education in South Africa
Education can be a vehicle for world peace, reducing poverty and creating greater equality in the world. Or such is the claim of a multitude of education projects funded by grassroots initiatives and transnational organizations, including UNESCO, the World Bank, and non-government organizations (NGOs). In this course, we learn to evaluate transnational education projects against their stated and implied goals while considering their impact on local economies, communities, and education systems. We also investigate how globalization and democratization implicate education in broadscale changes. Student interests influence the countries we use in our case studies. Prerequisite: EDU 101 or second year standing. Instructor: Michaels and Ketter
Updated August 2021
Updated August 2021