The Art & Cultures of the Mediterranean in Southern France and Morocco shortTREC was scheduled from June 5 to June 23, 2024, but on Feb. 9, students were abruptly informed that the trip was canceled.
The reasoning was “due to an insufficient number of applications.” According to Dee Cohen (‘26), this reasoning left students questioning how many more applicants were needed and why not enough people signed up.
Costs and fees, lack of interest and insufficient advertisement of the trip may have affected people’s decisions, resulting in the unfortunate cancellation of the shortTREC.
The cost of the trip would have totaled $4,700, which would have included tuition for four credits, hotels and homestays, most meals, local transportation, guided city tours and all museum and other scheduled site visits. It would not include flight tickets, which could have been another reason for disinterest.
However, most shortTRECs do not include flight tickets in their offer, and in comparison to other shortTRECs, this total cost is not unreasonably high.
The Paris shortTREC, for example, is $6,200, with the only notable differences being that the program counts for eight credits rather than four, and the trip is slightly longer.
Though the students who applied to the Southern France and Morocco shortTREC were offered a switch to the Paris shortTREC, some students have expressed that this program is not a viable option because it is more expensive and it requires a greater time commitment. The Paris shortTREC also focuses on language and culture, excluding the arts.
Many people may have been under the impression that the Southern France and Morocco trip required some French language background, deterring many non-French majors or minors from the trip.
However, this trip actually required less language background than the Paris shortTREC because it would have solely engaged in the arts and cultures of the areas.
Some Drew students have wondered whether the arts are becoming less prioritized, with few art TRECs being made available. Others believe that it was not the TREC itself that failed to attract applicants, but the advertisement that proved to be unsuccessful.
Cohen stated, “I think it’s a bit of the administrators’ and the students’ fault. I think that students don’t check their emails as much as they should, but I also think the organizers of the trip didn’t advertise as much as they should have. There were plenty of emails sent to people in the French community on campus. However, if you were outside of that community, then you didn’t know about the opportunities. There’s not enough people interested in France and French culture. A lot of people take a language not because they enjoy it but because they need it as a requirement; therefore, the people who genuinely enjoy it don’t get the opportunity because not enough people are signing up.”
When asked why they did not switch to the Paris shortTREC, Dee responded, “Well, obviously the Paris TREC is more expensive, but the main reason was I wanted an adventure and to explore a place that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. There’s so much about Paris but no one talks about the beauty of Morocco.”
For Dee, this opportunity was unique, and unfortunately, they will most likely not have the chance to go the next time the program is offered. The Art & Cultures of the Mediterranean in Southern France and Morocco shortTREC is only offered once every two years in the summer, so sophomores and juniors who applied will not be able to attend the next time it becomes available.
Lindsay Orr is a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in philosophy.
Featured image courtesy of Pexels.com.
