Faculty use break time to expand horizons
Bv Seth Peck
Special to the Kansan
Spring Break isn't much of a break for many professors at the University of Kansas.
Whether it's grading papers, working on research or leading students on expeditions to foreign countries,many professors will turn the break into an extension of school activities.
Some professors, like Pat Villeneuve have opted to leave the country with KU students to help the students gain experience that can't be found in the classroom.
Villeneuve, who is assistant professor of art and music education and music therapy and also curator of education for the Spencer Museum of Art, will be taking nine students to Belgium to tour art museums.
Jennie Zeiner / KANSAN
The trip is run by KU's Office of Study Abroad, which Villeneuve approached back in 1991 with the idea for a Spring Break tour of Belgium.
Excited for her upcoming trip to Belgium, Pat Villeneuve, assistant professor of art and music education and music therapy, stands in front of the few Belgian works in the Spenser Museum of Art. She will be accompanying students from various classes to Belgium during Spring Break.
Villeneuve chose to do the trip during Spring Break because the vacation is short. Some students don't have the time or money for a summer-long excursion, she said. She chose Belgium because she lived there for several years and is familiar with the country and its attractions.
"Everybody learns more from each other," she said.
Villeneuve said the trip allowed her to do something she enjoyed, while it also helped students.
"It is exhilarating to spend 10 days with people who are as interested in museums as I am," she said.
When traveling with the group, she tries to give them a real feel for the culture of the region.
She said she got students from different backgrounds who could share different perspectives.
"I try to create a typical European travel experience," she said.
The group stays in modest hotels and uses public transportation.
Villeneuve said that one fact about Belgium that interested many students was that Belgium had around 300 breweries that brewed their own types of beer.
She said her knowledge of the region helped her show the group areas that might not be covered in the typical travel guide. Keeping the group small allows students greater contact with the people of Belgium.
She also said that she allowed the students to help plan the itinerary, so that it was not a "hand-holding" excursion.
Another professor will be showing his students a different meaning to the familiar Rock Chalk. Paul Enos, professor of geology, will be taking his regional field geology class to the eastern Sierra Madre region of Mexico for eight days to study rocks from the Cretaceous period.
He will be taking six students,but they will be meeting up with students from across the country and two geologists from Amoco Corp.
His group, which will be camping most of the trip, will be studying chalk rocks and how they have been deposited in a variety of settings.
Enos has led a Spring Break expedition each of his 11 years at KU. He said he enjoyed getting the groups out into the field and called the trip a "step beyond the laboratory." He said that geology was a field science, meaning students get hands-on experience in studying rocks.
Enos said that students needed to get their hands dirty, build confidence and learn to draw their own conclusions based on what they saw in the field.
For Robert Goldstein, associate professor of geology, the break will be an opportunity to put the finishing touches on a book he has been working on for the past year and a half. His book "Fluid Inclusion in Diagenetic Minerals," is the culmination of a great deal of research on ancient fluids trapped in minerals.
Enos said that he got to know his students better and that everyone could talk and share experiences that were not necessarily related to geology. He said he also enjoyed seeing the students' enthusiasm for the field work.
"This is something I've been working on for almost a decade." Goldstein said.
He said his book could be an advanced textbook for graduate students and a field guide for active field research.
Goldstein said that he hoped to be in the final editing stages during Spring Break and that he planned to release the book sometime this spring.
Did you Know?
- Studies indicate that exposure to UV Light may have similar effects as exercise: a decrease in blood pressure and a 39% increase in the heart's output of blood. (University of Frankfurt, Germany, 1992)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), with symptoms such as sadness, insomnia, and carbohydrate cravings, is common in northern areas where exposure to sun light in winter months is significantly decreased. (National Institute Of Mental Health, 1985)
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March 16, 1994 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • SPRING BREAK
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