Students and faculty members of ACU in Oxford spread their cultural and intellectual wings last week as they toured the southern regions of Portugal and Spain.
The tour, which included visits to a Christian environmentalist group, Christopher Columbus sites and a Spanish dance performance, was designed to enrich their classroom experience in Oxford, said Dr. Ron Morgan, professor of history and director of ACU in Oxford.
The excursion began in Lagos, Portugal, where the students visited A Rocha International, a Christian environmental group committed to habitat protection through the theology of creation care, Morgan said. Part of the A Rocha’s work includes monitoring bird populations that find food and shelter in coastal wetlands as well as working within the legal system to protect the rare ecosystem from developers.
Along with the Portuguese director, Marcial Felgueiras, the ACU travelers viewed flamingos and herons in the wetlands and witnessed the technique of measuring, weighing and banding a variety of birds.
Dr. Dan Brannan, professor of biology currently teaching in Oxford, said he was impressed by the distinctly Christian way that A Rocha pursued both conservation of the wetlands and the scientific observation of migratory birds.
“Saving the planet by serving and conserving the garden is fulfillment of our first employment by the Creator,” Brannan said. “A Rocha serves as a great example of this.”
The ACU community shared a worship service around the theme of God’s creation and the Christian’s role as stewards at the end of the week, Morgan said. A number of students shared how the visit to A Rocha has opened their eyes to a neglected aspect of Christian discipleship.
Taylor Edwards, junior advertising and public relations major from Houston, said she had not given a great deal of attention to creation care or environmental causes but was impressed by the ways different cultures viewed their resources and chose to use them. A Rocha helped her see the connection between Christianity and conservation.
“While visiting A Rocha, it was made clear to me that environmental care is not something only some Christians are called to do. Rather, creation care is an integral part of the walk for every single person who chooses to follow Christ,” Edwards said. “The A Rocha visit heavily informed [my outlook], and I’m beginning to change the way I think about resource consumption.”
The week also examined human rights issues and Christian responses. In Portugal, students saw the first African slave market of the Atlantic slave trade. Also, as part of their international studies course, students studied a 16th-century priest named Bartolomé de las Casas, who defended Native American rights as a response to his conversion.
Morgan said Las Casas was chosen as a study topic to raise questions about power and domination in today’s world. After exploring his life, Laura Baxter, sophomore communication sciences and disorders major from Katy, said the priest reminded her of Old Testament prophets like Isaiah or Jeremiah.
“If this [Old Testament] message of social justice is what God wanted to get across to his people, what does this say about His concerns for the way we should worship and conduct ourselves?” Baxter said.
The visit to Spain included a close historical focus, capitalizing on Morgan’s research interest in Spanish and Latin American cultural history. The group toured a monastery where Christopher Columbus began to organize his first voyage. Would-be ACU pirates scrambled up the rigging in replicas of Columbus’s first three ships, Morgan said, and then came face-to-face with the famous navigator’s mortal remains in the Cathedral of Seville.
Caroline Nikolaus, sophomore psychology major from O’Fallon, Ill., was thrilled when the group attended a performance of flamenco, a genre of Spanish music and dance that Nikolaus studied last semester. She said watching the dance she’d studied and meeting the performer afterward helped her connect with the culture.
“You feel a part of something bigger when for a moment two cultures come together and understand the music and art that is being created and enjoyed,” Nikolaus said. “That night was sincerely emotional due to the present appreciation for art, music and culture. I will never forget it.”
The Oxford program is always looking for new ways to enrich courses through travel excursions, Morgan said. The program will have an excursion to Italy next semester and will return to Spain next fall for two weeks, where it will offer an Honors Colloquium titled “Soccer and Globalization.”
Morgan said Study Abroad and the travel excursions it offers allow students and faculty members to learn and grow through new experiences.
“One of the major benefits of off-campus programs like ACU in Oxford or Latin America is that the location becomes like a co-teacher, enriching the whole social, academic and spiritual experience,” Morgan said. “These experiences continue to enrich the lives and broaden the outlook of ACU students who choose to study abroad.”
