Back to School: Travel as the Best Teaching Tool
Molly Verlin | Molly’s Old South
As an Art History and Humanities professor, I am so pleased to resume lively face-to-face discussions with my students. There is nothing like discussing the political works of Cicero or the Declaration of Independence and being able to see students’ eyes light up when they come up with a new thought or see concepts from a different perspective.
But what is even more rewarding than studying the thoughts and motives of outstanding philosophers and impactful statesmen? Traveling to their part of the world. Stepping where they have stepped. Seeing and touching for ourselves where they formulated and expressed their ideas. Can you think of a better education than that? I can’t.
The Rostrum (far left) at the Roman Forum
Image | Trish Feaster
Imagine visiting the Roman Forum and reconstructing in your mind the rubble that lies before you. You view the Rostrum, or speakers’ platform, in front of the Capitoline Hill and realize this is where Cicero spoke out against Mark Antony and his dictatorial fellow triumvirs in the first century BC. Mark Antony had the orator’s head and right hand cut off for these remarks; both displayed for all of Rome to see right here at the Rostrum. The triumvirs eventually turned against each other, and Augustus emerged triumphant to transform the Roman Republic into an empire. Cicero, who had preached in favor of his beloved but dying republic here, was vindicated. Contemplating these ruins, we can consider that so much that still affects us today occurred on this small patch of ground.
The 18th-century mansion of Arthur Middleton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and slave-owner.
Image | Brian Stansberry, Wikimedia Commons
Stateside, I like bringing groups to Middleton Place Plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina (you may recognize it from the movie The Patriot). Its stunning formal gardens and imposing home, owned by Arthur Middleton who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, convey the incredible wealth of plantation owners in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is fascinating to ponder the notion of Middleton and many others clambering for “liberty for all” juxtaposed with the knowledge that this plantation’s opulence was achieved on the backs of slaves working the rice fields. What better place to contemplate this complicated issue than in this present-day idyllic spot, with grazing sheep dotting the pasture fronting the slave quarters museum commemorating those who toiled here?
Horsecart at Middleton Place
Image | Molly Verlin
That is why as rewarding as teaching in a classroom and as fascinating as reading about history are, there is nothing more fulfilling than the best education possible: travel, whether virtual or in-person. Where do you want to learn next?
