In the second year of the University of Dubuque’s January Term (J-Term) calendar, 798 students participated in classes in an intensive three-week study session. Of those, 82 used the opportunity to travel - both domestically and internationally. Courses with a travel component included destinations such as the Bahamas, Belize, China, England, Key West, New York, and Sri Lanka. 
Literature and Culture of China/Economic Policy
of Modern China
Ten UD students traveled with Nathan Faries, associate professor of English, and Eric Munshower, associate professor of business, to Beijing and Xi’an. Participants visited famous sites including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Terra Cotta Warriors at the tomb of China’s first emperor. They toured the new National Museum, watched a Chinese Police Chorus perform at the new National Center for the Performing Arts (“the egg,” so nicknamed for its shape), and attended a church service to experience the differences between our traditional Western worship and Chinese worship. Students spent virtually all of their time “on the ground” in China - living and traveling with the citizens of the country - instead of on a tour bus. They lived in a traditional “hutong” courtyard-style hostel - emerging each morning through a maze of alleys, bellies full of street food, ready to crowd onto the subways and walk the streets of Beijing. Focusing their trip on exploring just two cities allowed them to grow accustomed to China’s everyday life and conform to basic Chinese traditions. This enriching and challenging trip invited students to appreciate life in the US but also question certain American values--like individualism-- often taken for granted as unqualified goods; some participants professed a desire to live long-term in China at some point, and none who experienced authentic Chinese cuisine will be happy with American Chinese food again.
Student travelers included Lisbeth Meyer-Monhardt of Lancaster, first-year.