Studies will come alive June 5-20 as the Art Department conducts its annual European Study Abroad summer program in Normandy, Paris and Barcelona.

Jean Donegan, art professor and department head, said that the trip is a wonderful opportunity for students of any discipline. She explained the magnificent educational value of students experiencing the art, culture and history of Europe.

The trip is open to anyone who would like to experience the history, museums, cathedrals, villas, excavations, beauty, cuisine and shops of Europe.

Ross Jahnke, art professor, said that the trip provides a unique look into another culture that everyone should experience.

“You really don’t understand the United States until you’ve left it,” Jahnke said. “Things are so different.”

Lance Ledet, art senior from Thibodaux, said his first trip to Europe changed his life. He has been with the program several times.

“It keeps drawing me in,” Ledet said. “There is something about Europe that just pulls you in.”

He explained that the trip to Europe provides more than the typical snapshot experience from a tourist’s perspective.

“You get to experience it,” Ledet said. “I know parts of Paris like I know parts of Thibodaux.”

Jahnke said that the trip covers a smaller region of Europe in order to explore greater depth.

“That’s important, because we’re trying to give people the experience of the culture, and you don’t get that if you’re seeing it through the window of a bus,” Jahnke said. “We use the metro system; we walk and spend some real time in places.”

“To live there for a few days, see the culture, eat the food, drink the wine and see the people is indescribable,” Tabitha Mire, art junior from New Orleans, said. “Going with the group was an amazing experience too. You won’t get lost, and if you do, it’s with a group.”

Heather Dupre, art senior from Houma, said she enjoyed seeing everything she has been studying in her classes at Nicholls.

“On this trip you don’t have to wait in lines,” Dupre said. “Everything is prepaid, and it’s all in advance. We’ll wait 10 minutes to get in somewhere, and people are wrapped around the building waiting.”

The European tour guide speaks seven languages and plans many of the excursions. Jahnke explained that he gives general information about the different places on the trip.

“He also makes arrangements for hotels, transportation and any side trips that we decide to take,” Jahnke said.

Donegan said she believes the college credit option is a great way for students to earn the arts and humanities requirement.

“The courses that we have developed have been developed specifically for foreign travel and so it really suits the pace of the trip,” Donegan said. “Free time is scheduled into the trip as well so the possibilities are limitless.”

“The class is taught a little bit differently than most trips,” Jahnke said. “Jean and I will guide students and help out by answering questions, but when we go on a tour, there is an expert there to show us very specific and unique things about that particular location. It’s like having guest lecturers for every day of class.”

Mire said that the coursework for college credit is not hard.

“You’re doing what you would normally do anyway, by writing in a journal or taking pictures,” Mire said.

Dupre said that she went on the trip to earn photography credit.

“It was good to see things from another perspective,” Dupre said. “I cried at the airport in Rome because I didn’t want to come back to the states.”

Donegan said that about 50 people are taken on the trip each summer, along with two faculty members.

The department of art is accepting applications for participants in the European Study Abroad summer program that it has conducted the past 17 years.

Donegan said that those who turn in an application before Nov. 1 will receive a free ticket to the top of the Eiffel tower.

She explained that the trip costs roughly $4,590, and the price includes airfare, first class to superior hotels, ground transportation, excursions, local guides, entry fees, breakfast, most evening meals and the professional European tour manager.

For more information and applications, contact Donegan at [email protected] or call the Art Department at (985) 448-4597.