Cultures of the Caribbean:
Barbados and St. Lucia
REVISED ITINERARY -- NEW DATES! REDUCED FEE!
Jan. 6-15, 2006
Program description Itinerary Resource list
Program Leader Interview Register
Program Leaders: Jonathan Hill, professor of English, and Barbara Hill
The Caribbean has a lovely surface and great depth. It is a place of fine sand beaches, tranquil breezes, sapphire seas, rustling palms and rhythmic music. It is also a place of vivid and passionate history, an area in which the continents of the world, from the 15th century onwards, met in fierce, tragic and sometimes heroic colonial encounters.
We shall experience both the past and the present of the English-speaking West Indies in our visit to two strongly contrasting Eastern Caribbean islands. From the quiet pastoralism of Barbados, standing alone on the edge of the Atlantic, we shall travel to the fierce and dramatic terrain of Saint Lucia, a volcanic up-thrust rearing out of the Caribbean. On each island, we shall visit places of historic and natural interest, hear from local speakers on culture, history and the arts, move to the music, enjoy the food, get warm in the sun and cool off in the ocean. (Itinerary)
Program Leaders
This course derives from a month-long January Interim course, "Literatures of the Eastern Caribbean," that Jonathan designed and has lead half a dozen times in the past 10 years. While mainly specializing in literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he has long had an interest in Caribbean literature, one of the strongest contributors to the global rise of literatures in English. He looks forward to sharing his knowledge of Caribbean literature on this Study Travel program. (resource list) Barbara -- artist, cook, gardener, scuba diver and most recently fledgling Hindi speaker -- knows the Caribbean quite as well as Jonathan. Together they greatly enjoyed leading three St. Olaf Study Travel programs to England in the 1980s. Now they are eager to have a similar pleasure again.
Program Sites
Jonathan offers the following comments on the program sites:
Barbados was a British colony for 341 years. Towards the end of the 17th century its wealth, based on sugar, was greater than that of the 13 American colonies put together. It has the third oldest parliament in the world (after Britain and Bermuda). It was the first country to produce rum. Bajuns (as they call themselves) played a key role in settling and administering the Carolinas. Barbados was the only foreign country to be visited by George Washington. And these are only a few of its remarkable historical facts. The island's geographic position, history, cultural continuity, and benign climate and natural beauty give it a richness of interest out of all proportion to its size.
On the southwestern coast of Saint Lucia, there rear out of the Caribbean two gigantic volcanic spikes, the one as sharp as a needle, the other as thick as a fist. These are the Pitons, the Petit and the Gros. Their colossal size, their monumental silence, their sides dead-dropping into the sea, epitomize the natural wonder of this beautiful island. In the 18th century Saint Lucia was fought over so many times by the British and the French that it became known as the Helen of the West Indies. The island's present culture blends its African and Anglo-French legacies. It ranges from rich, multifaceted folk traditions (in music, dance, pottery, food, and Creole speech) to having produced no less than two Nobel Prize winners (Sir Arthur Lewis in Economics and Derek Walcott in Literature).
Comprehensive Fee
Unlike the typical Caribbean package of hotel and airfare, this comprehensive program fee of $2,850 per person (double occupancy) includes:
- Seminars by Jonathan Hill and guest lecturers
- Assistance by Barbara Hill
- Roundtrip airfare from Minneapolis
- Flights between Barbados and Saint Lucia
- All accommodations
- Breakfast daily and several other group meals
- Entrance fees
- Group tours
- Ground transportation
- Gratuities
The single supplement is $375. Reduction for the land only package (which includes everything except roundtrip flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Barbados and St. Lucia to Minneapolis/St. Paul, is $850.
After Sep. 1, 2005 the program fee is $2,950 and could be subject to additional airfare because space at the group rate cannot be guaranteed after this date. Payment schedule
Continuing Education Units
Approximately 36 continuing education hours are available.
Register Today
Go "behind the seen" with St. Olaf Study Travel. Register online, call toll-free 866-255-6523 or fax 507-646-8232. A $350 per person deposit guarantees your space.
