This January, student groups went on two-credit trips to Tunisia, the Greek islands of Crete and Santorini and Rome with the Geography, Geology and Classics departments, respectively.

Geology Professor John Craddock said that geology is a field-based discipline that is hindered by the Minnesota winter, as students get little field time without snow during the school year.

He said that J-term trips to lower-latitude locations give students opportunities for fieldwork experience.

“[Since they are] located on the tectonic boundary between Africa and Europe, Crete and Santorini are prime locations for observing tectonic changes,” Craddock said. He also said that the Mediterranean is unique because the area has been inhabited long enough for geological changes to be observed in a context of the human archaeological record.

Geology majors Brady Foreman ’04, Kirsten Fristad ’05 and Mara Brady ’05 are three students who went on the Crete trip. “Geology trips are fun, and you don’t have to be a major to enjoy them,” Foreman said.

Fristad said that one of the highlights of the trip was spending a day with Crete’s only resident geologist, who wrote the field guide the students used. Fristad said that she enjoyed the geological history of Crete that the resident geologist was able to provide.

Fristad is working with Craddock to organize a trip to Iceland in August before school starts or during fall break. Any interested students should contact Fristad or Craddock.

This year was Assistant Classics Professor Beth Severy-Hoven’s third time leading a J-term trip to Rome. She said Rome’s long, dense, history allows students to stay within a relatively small area during the two-and-a-half week course. “Students get to know the city and certain neighborhoods fairly well,” she said.

Severy-Hoven said that about one half of the students on the trip were not Classics majors, and that she tries to advertise to the broader student population. Severy-Hoven taught in Rome before teaching at Macalester. The J-term course is a shortened version of a course she used to teach.

“In order to effectively specialize in classics, one has to do field work in relevant locations,” Severy-Hoven said. The Classics Department will begin requiring majors to fulfill a study abroad requirement with next years’ incoming freshmen.

Sarah Russ ’06 went on the trip to Rome. She said that her favorite parts of the trip were excursions to Pompeii and the port city Ostea.

She also said that the Roman Forum, a historic center of politics, was a unique location that allowed for lecture as well as hands-on identification of architecture.

In addition to the two credits she received for the trip, she and other students have the option of doing an independent study for two additional credits.

Peter Gartrell ’05 went to Tunisia over J-term with Geography Professor William Rowe and two other students, Robert Spurlock ’05 and Brent Hecht ’05.

Gartrell said his group spent their days visiting museums, farms and cities. Gartrell called the country a “living classroom” because he was able to look at the surrounding cities while Rowe lectured on their geographies.

A highlight of the trip, according to Gartrell, was an excursion through a portion of the Sahara Desert.

Severy-Hoven said that while J-term is an optional teaching period, few professors use it to teach because J-term research weighs more favorably than teaching in tenure and faculty promotion decisions.