Students Travel to NYC and Receive Cultural Education

Posted by: admin on April 26, 2016, No Comments

Sixteen East Stroudsburg University students traveled to New York City on April 20 for a lesson in heritage, humanity, dignity and hope — a day of Remembrance, according to Kimberly S. Adams, Ph.D., professor of political science.

“We wanted to provide students with cultural experiences outside of the traditional classroom setting,” she said.

During their visit, the students received a guided 90-minute tour of the Jewish Heritage Museum, where they explored Jewish culture and history from the 20th century to the present from the perspective of those who lived it. Exhibitions included first-person accounts and personal objects that display Jewish life before, during and after the Holocaust.

Their day also included a trip to the African Burial Ground, the final resting place for the 419 African skeletal remains unearthed in 1991.  The memorial that was built there features several design elements including, to name a few, Wall of Remembrance, Ancestral Pillars, and Circle of Diaspora, which includes signs and symbols engraved in the perimeter wall inspired by areas and cultures throughout the African diaspora.

The trip concluded with a visit to the 9/11 memorial, which honors the 2,983 people that lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

“I hope that this trip enhanced their understanding of the past and will inform their decisions in the future,” Dr. Adams said.

For more information about the political science department contact Dr. Adams at ksadams@esu.edu or 570-422-3924.