West Windsor, N.J. -- Mercer County Community College’s Study Abroad program has announced three study tours for 2013, to Costa Rica, Poland and Amsterdam.  Registration is now underway for the trips, which will have an educational focus and be led by MCCC faculty members.

From March 15-23, 2013, Mercer professors Dr. Gianna Durso-Finley and Laura Blinderman will take travelers to Costa Rica for a 9-day trip to study the science and sociology of the Spanish-speaking country.  Tour highlights will include a zip-line tree canopy tour, snorkeling at Tortuga Island, and Latin and Spanish dance classes.  Also part of the trip are visits to Volcano Poas, a marine biology research station, and Curu Wildlife Preserve.  Associated courses are SOC101, SOC201, BIO101, BIO102 and BIO208.

For those with an interest in World War II history, Dr. Craig Coenen and Dr. Jack Tabor will travel with a group to Poland to study the Holocaust from May 24 through June 2, 2013.

On September 6, Study Abroad Program hosted a kick off information session for the Holocaust trip to Poland in the Mercer County Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center on the MCCC West Windsor campus.  In addition to faculty and students, the discussion featured Dr. Vera Goodkin, MCCC professor emeritus and Holocaust survivor (pictured third from left).

This is a unique opportunity to learn what life was like in Nazi-occupied Poland.  Travelers will walk along the Path of Jewish Remembrance to the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto, visit the Museum of the Historical Jewish Institute and Pawiak Prison, and tour Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau, two of the most infamous labor and death camps. In the evenings the group will partake in traditional eastern-European music and cuisine.  Associated courses for this tour are HIS215 and ENG239.

Those looking for a nontraditional trip abroad will enjoy the program “Amsterdam - Sex & Drugs: Cultural Acceptance and Pragmatic Social Policy!” led by faculty members Dr. Karen Bearce and Denise Ingram.  This 10-day tour takes place from May 25 through June 3, 2013.  Some of the cultural excursions include trips to Amsterdam's canals, Anne Frank's house, the Red Light District, The Sex Museum, the Hash, Marijuana and Hemp Museum, and Cannibis College.  Travelers will partake in field-based service learning experiences, and attend informative lectures in addition to opportunities to volunteer with community service organizations.  Associated courses are PSY215, SOC214 and STA101.

Costs for each trip will include round trip airfare, airport transportation, accommodations, two faculty guides, guided tours, seminars, travel insurance, and some meals.  While trips are associated with certain credit courses at Mercer, noncredit students are also encouraged to apply (for the Amsterdam trip, noncredit students will need faculty approval to travel).

Mercer Study Abroad information sessions will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at noon in the Communications Building, room 109, and 5 p.m. in the Communications Building, room 110.  Additional sessions will be held on Monday, Oct. 22 in the Career Center at the Trenton campus, room 248, as well as Tuesday, Oct. 23 in the Communications Building at West Windsor, at noon in room 109, and at 5 p.m. in room 108.  On Wednesday Nov. 28, two sessions will be held in the Communications Building, room 109, at noon and 5 p.m.  The last session will be held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at noon in the Communications Building, room 109.

More information on the Study Tours, along with application forms, is available online.  Forms are also available on the West Windsor campus, in the Business building, Room 109.