Scotland Spring Term
A group of 20 Alma College students traveled to Scotland for a 2007 Spring Term, studying with Scottish poet and author Kenneth Stevens and Assistant Professor of Political Science Britt Cartrite.
The class focused on political movements that start with literature as opposed to violence, reading a variety of books, and then visiting the locations in Scotland.
Students were in Edinburgh during the Scottish elections, and got to see different regions’ viewpoints on Scottish politics, Cartrite says.
“Traveling helped me to realize how the Scottish people differ in all the different geographical locations,” says Kelly Schwartzkopf, 2008 Alma graduate.
“The lesson was even though people speak the same technical language does not mean they can understand what the other is saying.”
“I learned a great deal from the trip, much of it centered on the vast diversity of the Scottish people, and how their differences impact the political process as Scotland inches toward independence,” says Nathan Jervy, 2007 Alma graduate.
“Scotland itself could be divided into at least four, probably closer to six, regions itself.”
Students culminated the experience with a Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish party.
“That’s when it became clear that a lot of students had gotten a lot out of the course,”Cartrite says.
Stevens lectures on writing and publishing. He says he was drawn to Alma because he wanted to visit Michigan. His latest poetry collection, Salt and Light, is dedicated to the people he has met here.
“There is a sense of family at Alma,” he says. “I have felt very much at home there and very cared for.̶
