"Abroad-er Education: Leaving the Country and Learning More" was this year's first lecture in the monthly Agape Latte series held in Hillside Cafe. On Tuesday night, professor Francis Kilcoyne of the theology department discussed the cultural, societal, and political differences that students encounter when they visit another country, and stressed an understanding of educational travel that goes beyond "cultural tourism."
Kilcoyne stayed within the context of the Agape Latte series by integrating the importance of studying abroad and spiritual discussions.
He incorporated a slideshow that depicted archaeological expeditions that he has been involved in, including pictures of excavations.
His group discovered an Assyrian conquest site where they uncovered most of the skeleton of a woman.
Kilcoyne said of the moment, "It is a sort of privilege moment where someone long ago is reaching out to you."
This spiritual experience was a defining moment of his life because "[the discovery] gave me more vivid terms of the description of the Assyrian conquest in 604 B.C mentioned in the Bible that left the village in acres and acres of ashes and bones," he said.
It is these unique opportunities abroad that make traveling more than cultural tourism.
"An example of cultural tourism," Kilcoyne said, "is American students finding a local McDonald's and spending $60 on hamburgers. This is not expanding horizons, I think it is just dietary cowardice."
Sean Silbert, A&S '10, expanded upon Kilcoyne's point.
"I think a lot of people do [cultural tourism], specifically if you go to a country to drink. If I wanted to go get cheap drinks, I might as well go on vacation. It's called study abroad for a reason," Silbert said.
Having traveled extensively to countries including Greece, Morocco, Israel, and Mexico, Kilcoyne drew upon his eye-opening experiences to reiterate the importance of studying abroad.
2008 Woodie Awards
