On Dec. 11, 2011, Dr. James Jordan, professor of anthropology, and Dr. Brian Bates, department chair of the department of anthropology and criminal justice studies and associate professor of anthropology, took 15 students on a two-week study abroad trip to England. Students participated in a course called "Archaeology of England in Prehistoric Roman and Medieval Times."
The students and professors stayed in youth hostels while in England. Jordan said the hostels are "really more like hotels." The class is taught anywhere and everywhere in England. Jordan said, "On a sidewalk when we we're walking along, on a bus when we're riding along out in the field when we're walking along. At Stonehenge, we teach the chapter on Stonehenge as we're walking around it. We don't have a classroom; our classroom is the field."
Administrative Assistant for Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Sharon Perutelli attended the trip as a non-degree seeking student. Perutelli said, "It was really cool for me to see classroom time being held in the ground floor of the London museum or classroom time being held on a corner in Greenwich. It was nice to see class being held out of a classroom setting."
Senior Lynne DeCora said, "Classroom out of the classroom means you can actually acknowledge that this stuff did happen and it does make you pay attention more when you can see what you are learning about right there in front of your face. You can talk all you want about a picture and what it means, but unless you go to the actual place and see how beautiful it is, you will never fully grasp it."
Perutelli agreed with DeCora and said, "I think when students get education handson and actually see the things they're learning about … it is so much more beneficial and it means more to them … you can really see them absorbing all the information."
Jordan stated, "There are some things you cannot learn on the Internet, and there are some things that aren't in the library … you have to go there, you have to stand at that place, you have to see the way the sky looks above you, you have to feel the ground … until you've seen some of these places and the people and stood on the ground, there are things that you won't and can't know until you have gone there."
DeCora said, "I went through my whole college career wanting to study abroad, but never did because I never had the money for it, so it took me four years to save up for it. And I didn't go to Thailand or anywhere exotic, but even to just study abroad for a short amount of time makes you think out of your scope of thinking. If anyone is ever hesitant or scared about studying abroad because of monetary issues, that should never be the case because there is always someway that you can do it."
The class visited Stonehenge, West Minster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London and British Museum, the city of York, the London Tower and tower bridge. Perutelli said, "It was a wonderful experience and I would love to do it again … I probably would have never been able to go on something like this on my own. Being that I was with two Longwood professors and 14 other students, it was a bit of a comfort zone."
Jordan began taking students to England in 2006 and has been going every year since. Jordan said he enjoys taking his students to England because "It recharges my batteries … it makes me want to teach another class." The average number of students who attend this trip is 15, but Jordan said, "The most we've ever had is 19 and the first year we only had nine people."
Jordan stated, "A classroom is not the real world. The real world is out there and when you have chance to get out into it, go."
