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Botanizing The Alps and the Mediterranean
(BIOL 3954)

Summer Session I, 2009

Course credits: 6 credits

Tentative schedule:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grading:

 

 The academic one will focus on exploring the vegetation and ecological aspects of the Southern Alps in Switzerland and contrast it with the Mediterranean region of Italy. We intend to follow the altitudinal change from Mediterranean Sea through Tuscany to the alpine region in the Swiss Alps. The area offers an incredible amount of diversity, both biologically and culturally. To expand the international aspects, we will interact with students and faculty at the Universities of Siena and Florence, Italy, and will have a colleague from Germany join us in Switzerland.  The cultural aspect will include lectures on history and culture, visits to various areas beyond historic Siena (our headquarter I  Italy) such as Florence, Rome, Tuscany (including a farm and a winery), Milan, Lugano, Como, and Bellinzona (UNISCO heritage). We will have a one-hour course during the preceding Spring semester to prepare you for the academic and cultural aspects of the course. We will travel to Italy and end in Switzerland. You will have a weekend off to travel to your choice destination.

Grading will be based on effective participation in the course at Virginia Tech and overseas, and on a term paper and class presentation. Details are in the syllabus.

Some of the areas that will be visited during the field trips.
The ecological and botanical diversity are extraordinary.
Date: May 21 to June 18, 2009
Who is eligible: Undergraduate and Graduate students from Virginia Tech, students from other commonwealth universities, and faculty of Virginia Tech. Should space be available, people from the Community who have a strong background in botany may enroll.
Scholarships: Information on scholarships can be obtained on the course website.
Housing: In Italy, apartments or hotels will be made available in the historic city of Siena for the first part of the course, and then hotel rooms suring our travel in Italy after leaving Siena. In Switzerland, accommodations and food will be available at the beautiful Virginia Tech facility in Riva Sant Vitale, a Swiss lakeside town situated in the Alps. Riva is a 15-minute trani ride from Lugano, and the two towns are connected by Lake Lugano.

The Virginia Tech Facility at Riva St. Vitale.
It is a very nice facility (villa) located between the mountains and the lake.

Professor Khidir W. Hilu

Course Director: Professor Khidir W. Hilu, Department of Biological Sciences, hilukw@vt.edu; 231-5407.
Cost: Estimated cost has not yet been determined for 2009. However, the cost in 2007 was $4500 (airfare plus food, accommodation, and transportation overseas).

Information on Course/Students' Perspectives/Explorations and Destinations/Course Outline/Syllabus/Class 2000/Class 2001/Class 2007 (.ppt)/ Siena Images/Florence Images/Tuscany Images/Maremma-Giglio Images/ Student Images / Plant Images

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