June 21, 2015 - Ten King’s College students are participating in a three-week study abroad experience to Turkey and Bulgaria. The students will earn college credits to explore the meaning and influence of Western civilization culturally, socially, politically, and historically with excursions to Sofia, Veliko Turnovo, and Nesebur, Bulgaria, as well as Istanbul and Bursa, Turkey.
Program participants are Tamarah Abdelqader, Allen Bonk, Michael Kishbach, Matthew Kropp, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jessica Pacovsky, James Rose, Kruschef Sanchez, Jarred Stagen, and William Trowbridge.
Titled “Balkanization and Integration,” the program features a number of activities, including exploring the capital and historic places of worship in Sofia, the capital of the second Bulgarian kingdom and landmark of national identity; Veliko Turnovo; and historic architectural settlements in Nesebur, Bulgaria. While in Turkey, the group from King’s will visit Istanbul, the “gateway to the Asia and the Islamic world,” including monuments of the Ottoman and Byzantine empires, and will travel to Bursa, a global crossroad of commerce and cultural exchange.
This program is designed to broaden students’ cultural perspectives, while investigating the creation, transformation and enforcement of the boundaries of Europe, and the political, economic, and cultural relevance of these boundaries both historically and in the contemporary era. By examining the linkages between high politics and the daily lives of the people of both countries, student will have a better understanding of membership in, or exclusion from, the European Union.
Dr. Bridget Costello, associate professor of sociology, and Dr. Cristofer Scarboro, associate professor of history, are program directors. Renata Evan, coordinator of short-term faculty-led programs abroad, assisted in developing the program.
Participating in the short-term study abroad experience to Turkey and Bulgaria are, seated from left: Tamarah Abdelqader, Jessica Pacovsky, Elizabeth Montgomery, Kruschef Sanchez. Standing: Dr. Bridget Costello, associate professor of sociology; Jarred Stagen; Matthew Kropp; Allen Bonk; James Rose; William Trowbridge; Michael Kishbach; and Dr. Cristofer Scarboro, associate professor of history.