Katherine Adorati and Libby Boykin in the Bone Church
UTC’s Brock Scholars spent their summer exploring the streets and culture of historical European capitals Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic. The theme, A River Runs Through It was designed by a group of students to study the two cities formerly part of the Habsburg Empire, both steeped in history.
For Brock Scholar Jordan Flowers, this trip was his first experience outside of the States. A generous travel scholarship made the trip affordable, and provided him with an opportunity to gain new perspectives.
“You are taught so often in school about the tragedies surrounding the holocaust, but it is another thing to see first-hand the repercussions it had on the Jewish culture,” said Flowers.
He explained that a walk through a graveyard, where an estimated 60,000 victims of the holocaust were buried brought an air of silence among the group; a silence he described as, “One of awe and horror.”
Another experience revealed the tragedy far more than any history textbook. A museum collection of drawings made by children as they awaited transportation to concentration camps was devastating. Each drawing was labeled with the child’s name and if they survived.
“Of the hundreds of drawings in the room, I could only find two that said ‘survived’ on them.” Flowers continued, “It opened my eyes more to the perspective of other people and I have become more empathetic because of it.”
As the scholars navigated Budapest via buses, trains, and a boat ride on the Danube, they studied the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Underground Budapest, the history of central European Jewish Integration, and discovered the Hungarian State of today.
A night train took the scholars from Budapest to Prague, where their introduction to the Czech Republic’s capital began at 4:30 AM. Here the Scholars traversed the city on foot. They explored counter-culture responses to communism and the city’s rich Jewish history and tradition.
Lindsey Layman, Hayley Little, & Libby Boykin, overlooking the Danube with the Parliament Building in Budapest in the background
A day trip from Prague acquainted the Scholars with the town of Kutná Hora, an architectural gem that grew prosperous from silver mining. On the outskirts of town the group set their sights on the Sedlec Ossuary, better known as The Church of Bones. This haunting chapel is decorated with the bones of an estimated 40,000 human skeletons, including a chandelier made of at least one of every human bone in the body.
Flowers’s advice for fellow students traveling abroad is to approach your trip with no expectations and an air of flexibility. He explained, “I feel that when you have expectations, you shut down opportunities that are once in a life-time. Don’t be afraid to stray from your itinerary! I found that the times we were lost ended up with the best stories and experiences.”
Every year, the Brock Scholars program sponsors an international trip to provide an opportunity for scholars to study the culture of their destination. This trip partners with a travel seminar where participants earn a one hour credit in fine arts.
