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The School of Journalism and Mass Communications recently announced the “Freedom’s Messenger” study abroad program for next summer.
It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for about 20 students to tour the former Soviet Union and learn about the rise and fall of communism from former CNN correspondent Charles Bierbauer, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Information Studies.
It will focus on the vital role media coverage played in communism in Central Europe and its inevitable fall during the 1980s.
The idea was first conceived by professor Richard Moore.
Moore says the first three weeks will be committed to the classroom, where students will learn exactly what happened during the Cold War.
“Most students aren’t old enough to remember all this, so we have to bring them up to speed on the matter,” he said. “We want them to understand what took place there and the significance of it.”
The remaining three weeks will be spent traveling to the cities Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Gdansk and Berlin.
Both Moore and Bierbauer will be traveling alongside the students.
Bierbauer worked as CNN’s lead political correspondent for more than a decade, and he covered five presidential races. Bierbauer has done nearly a dozen years worth of reporting throughout many countries in Europe as a correspondent for both ABC and CNN news.
“When Moore told me that he got the idea last year for this, I told him that he couldn’t do it unless he took me along,” Bierbauer said with a smile.
Gordon Smith, director of Walker Institute of International and Area Studies and University expert on the Soviet Union and Russia in particular, will be attending as well.
Bierbauer said the trip is a great chance for anyone to explore the concept of communism from an intellectual and historical perspective. The program is open to any undergraduate major, and possibly to graduate students too. The tuition will be between $3,700 — $4,000, but scholarships will be available to help reduce costs. The program will also grant six credit hours for those who attend.
“It’s an extraordinary opportunity for students to do two things: to travel to parts of the world with the most appealing places, and to gain knowledge from the years of experience from Bierbauer and Smith,” Moore said. “It’s a great learning opportunity in both ways.”
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