Travel
Voyages of Discovery
UNC faculty bring their expertise along on alumni trips
Class is in session — with the Acropolis obliged to attend his lectures while on the
off to the port side, or maybe the Roman cruise, Stumpf said he will try to work
remains in ancient Regensburg to starboard. around the cruise ship’s events to encourage
For some alumni, continuing their edu- participation.
cation beyond Carolina’s campus means “It’s an exciting route,” he said. “These
taking a cruise with a UNC faculty mem- are storied rivers, the Rhine and the
ber as their guide. Danube.”
Starting in late spring and running “… Cruising on a river is always a
through early fall, the GAA’s travel program leisurely way to see things — that’s the
is offering 10 trips hosted by UNC faculty appeal of it,” Stumpf says. “You get to sit
members. They will prepare lectures high- back and be a spectator, but somehow
lighting the history, culture and other you’re also involved. You get to breathe the
aspects of the various locales, ranging from air, see the scenery. You’re always seeing the
an excursion in Portugal to sightseeing in landscape and aware of the countries
St. Petersburg, Russia. around you.”
Thomas Stumpf, a professor retired since Dave Griffiths, a retired professor of
2006 after 41 years of teaching 18th-century Russian history at UNC who has been on
British literature at UNC, is joining the several GAA trips, tells of how GAA travel-
“Cruise the Face of Europe” trip Sept. 9-25 ers on a Danube River excursion in the
to provide commentary as alumni float mid-1980s embraced their surroundings.
down the Rhine and Danube rivers. “Because there was no dock space,
Starting in Amsterdam, the group will they docked us right next to a Russian
cruise as far as Budapest. Stumpf will provide cruise boat. We had to go through the
three lectures for the trip — two offered on Russian boat to get to ours,” Griffiths
the ship and one in Chapel Hill before recounts. “A large number of teachers on
departure. Talking about his preparation, the Soviet side, from the provinces, started
Stumpf sounds like he might be preparing exchanging presents with us, and we start-for any other class. “I’m in the process of ed handing them gifts and magazines
doing some research, and I’m writing the back. We all had a drink and started
first couple of lectures now,” he says. singing songs to one another — them in
Stumpf said he hopes to talk about the Russian and us in English. It was a true
contrasts between Amsterdam and Vienna, as representation of Gorbachev’s perestroika.
well as expound on the nature of river cruises They were extremely friendly, and the
in Europe. “I lived in The Netherlands for six Americans were amazed by the mutual
months when I was teaching English at affection.”
Leiden University,” he said. “I spent a cou- Dick Soloway, Eugene Merzbacher
ple of weeks in Vienna last year as a tourist, Professor of British history at UNC, was
and part of my family comes from Austria. invited on a trip to Scotland and Ireland
But this is the first time I’ve done this.” in 1982. The GAA has been offering travel
Stumpf said he would like to engage packages for decades, but featuring faculty
alumni travelers with discussion of the was a relatively new idea then. He said the
region’s art and museums, as well as the trip hadn’t originally been designed to
extent to which the Siege of Malta (which highlight a professor, but he was asked to
took place in 1565 after the Turks of the go along and provide on-site lectures and
Ottoman Empire invaded the island) is still other information. Based on his experi-on the minds of many Eastern Europeans. ence, he wrote a guidebook for other fac-
His advice to travelers sounds much like ulty. An attractive benefit: “I met a lot of
it might to college students. nice people I otherwise would not have
“The more you read about these coun- met,” he says.
tries, the better,” he said. “The more Bart Ehrman, UNC’s James A. Gray
rewarding the trip will be.” Distinguished Professor of religious studies,
Although the alumni travelers are not will guide travelers to Turkey and Greece
July 19-29. The
alumni trip he will
accompany, “The
Classical World in
the Time of St.
Thomas Stumpf, retired professor
Paul,” is a voyage of British literature, will “Cruise
to the ancient the Face of Europe” with alumni
in September.
shores of Greece,
the Greek Isles and Turkey.
“Turkey and Greece are important in the
spread of early Christianity and especially
the Apostle Paul,” he said. The author of
numerous books on the subject, Ehrman
said he is hoping to center his lectures on
the work of Paul in 50 A.D. with an
emphasis on his letters and missionary work
to convert non-Christians.
“Some people thought the Apostle Paul
was the most important figure in
Christianity next to Jesus,” he said. “But my
lectures do not presuppose belief, and they
are not just for Christians. My lectures will
be historical in nature — not something
you would get in church. It’s for people’s
pleasure.
“I have a heavily oral style. I try to give
very interesting, compelling oral presentations.”
In addition to the 40- to 50-minute
lectures that Ehrman will give on the ship,
the professor will double as a tour guide
of sorts when the alumni group is off the
vessel and exploring the regions’ important cultural centers and archeological
sites.
“The only alumni trips I’ve done before
have been to the Holy Land, no cruises,”
he said. “But I have been to Greece several
times, including last summer. It’s a fascinating place. Culturally, it’s about as important as it comes for the history of civilization.”
Ehrman said many of the early Christian
churches were based in Turkey, making the
itinerary an enriching experience for his
research interests.
“I think it’s going to be a great time,” he
said. “It will be very relaxing with a good
chance to meet people and make friends.
My favorite part is the scenery, food, people
and culture.” ■
COURTESY THOMAS STUMPF
