Elon University professor Jason Husser couldn’t imagine curtailing the examination of American history to simply reading a textbook or sitting in a classroom.
In a new Winter Term course called “Discovering Dixie,” Husser, assistant professor of political science, led students in the International Fellows program from landmark to landmark in historical cities including Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans and multiple North Carolina locations.
“I enjoyed getting to know the International Fellows and helping them grow intellectually, both as scholars and future global leaders,” Husser said.
The students completed reading assignments and watched various films during the lengthy bus rides between sites, both of which related to the landmarks students saw along the way. For example, Husser, who is from New Orleans, said students watched several films about Hurricane Katrina so they could better understand what the victims of the storm experienced when they traveled there.
“We looked on an academic level at some of the themes we would encounter like race and the academic literature related to economic and social development of a particular region,” he said.
This critical examination provided context so students would recognize specific themes from films or reading material and apply those themes to something more tangible when they arrived at a location.
“It’s difficult to get a solid understanding of the United States without some sort of experiential learning component,” Husser said. “We can teach certain things in the classroom very effectively, but to have an intuitive and emotional understanding of a lot of content, you have to actually go through it.”
According to Husser, this is exactly the kind of understanding “Discovering Dixie” offers. Students look at the broader history of the United States through the lens of a particular region in the South.
Specifically, the course focused on the themes of politics, history and culture. Students who took the course learned the South has a more complex identity than what is captured by what media have often labeled “Small Town America.”
Students in “Discovering Dixie” also saw how geographic context affects how products are marketed. Many of the students who took the course this year are majoring in marketing, so this was a relevant subject.
Husser said when the group visited the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, they not only learned about a keystone of American consumerism, but also about the resurgence of the New South. This experience taught the students that in order to accomplish their goals, they need to have a broad understanding of the cultures they encounter, he said.
A historic tour of rumored haunted areas of New Orleans prompted students to make connections between the history of the city and its folklore. Husser said in some cases, the ghost stories of several different buildings were nearly identical. Picking out the common threads in the stories helped students identify what was important to the people with whom the tales originated.
Husser said he is excited about continuing this course in the future, and he’s open to changing certain aspects of the course to better suit student interests.
[box]Who are the International Fellows? Elon University students who are non-U.S. citizens or dual citizens Spend their four years at Elon immersing themselves in American culture through experiential learning opportunities Guided by faculty mentors in their study of U.S. culture [/box]
“If they are interested in one thing more than others, we would want to focus more on those things,” Husser said.
Ana Preciado, a sophomore International Fellow from Panama City, Panama, took part in “Discovering Dixie.” She said she gained a lot of important insight about the United States from touring parts of the South.
“I have learned that the South has a stronger identity than the one I thought it had,” Preciado said.
She said she also found learning about the Civil War, Hurricane Katrina and the Civil Rights Movement through firsthand experiences was far more interesting than she could have hoped.
Her favorite city along the tour was New Orleans.
“The buildings and roads are gorgeous, and I really liked visiting Café Du Monde, walking on Canal Street and seeing the Mississippi River,” she said.
Preciado said she anticipates studying abroad during her time at Elon, but she appreciated the opportunity to see unfamiliar territory in the Southern regions of the United States through “Discovering Dixie.”
“I feel like we’re not studying just one particular aspect of the United States, but rather we were learning about many of its aspects and understanding how they came together and influenced each other,” she said. “Everything, from traditions to history to culture to geography, was deeply interrelated.”
Preciado said she may decide to pursue a master’s degree or a job that correlates to her marketing major after college, and she predicts the experience and knowledge she gained through this Winter Term course will assist her with her goals.