In an effort to expose students to cultures vastly different from their own and to provide yet another dimension to Wittenberg's popular East Asian Studies program, Marcia Frost, assistant professor of economics, and Stephen Smith, professor of sociology/anthropology, traveled to western China for three weeks to lay the groundwork for a new course at Wittenberg.

Funded by the Freeman Foundation, Frost and Smith's trip offered them the chance to conduct extensive research for a forthcoming course on the Silk Road and the university's first summer study-abroad program involving this historic series of trade routes connecting major civilizations with China since antiquity.

Slated to begin next summer, the course will offer students the opportunity to study in Xian, the ancient capital, as well as the oasis cities of Dunhuang, Turpan and Hotan. Planned experiential learning projects will include a stay in a Kazakh yurt camp, a camel trip into the Taklamakan Desert, climbing the Great Wall, and learning such traditional crafts as felt making, paper making, silk weaving and jade working.