Imagine visiting the ancient burial grounds of Saqqara with an Egyptologist who has created an intricate 3D model of the site, including a labyrinth where the mummified bodies of sacred bulls are interred and the tomb of Pharaoh Unas, which is filled with written magical spells to help him become immortal.
Or consider exploring London’s diverse culture, including its rich theater scene, with someone who has spent his academic life studying British playwrights, authors, and poets.
Those are just two of the experiences being offered by a new UC Santa Cruz alumni travel program that will link travelers with some of the campus’s best and brightest professors for a deep dive into a trove of fascinating places. Called Inspired Expeditions, the program has five trips planned, from Egypt and London to the Galapagos, Okinawa, and Chile, starting in October of this year.
“We find our alumni often travel by themselves, but the value we add, the mission we have (with these trips), is combining and highlighting our faculty expertise and really showcasing that,” said Nichole Silva, director of Strategic Travel and Experiences at UC Santa Cruz.
While local guides will be hired for all the trips, she said, faculty leaders will provide two lectures, suggest before-trip readings, answer questions on site, and provide a unique travel experience that doesn’t just involve drive-by views of landscapes and churches. The Galapagos trip, for instance, will be led by Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dan Costa, who has studied marine mammals and seabirds from the Galapagos to Antarctica and will share his knowledge of creatures found only at the location, from flightless cormorants to fur seals.
The benefit of these trips, said Silva, “is the educational component, with our faculty providing context and perspective that maybe you wouldn’t get from local guides.”
In 2020 for instance, Assistant Professor of History Elaine Sullivan will lead her group to the ancient burial grounds of Saqqara near Giza. Sullivan, who is just finishing the creation of a 3D model of the site as it evolved over 2,500 years, will provide commentary and insights as alumni walk through the monumental tombs built for kings and other elites. The tour will include a rare visit to the burial chamber of Pharaoh Unas with its carved star ceiling and 283 written magical spells to help the king join his divine father, the Sun God Ra, in the afterlife.
“You feel like you’re in a place outside of the world,” said Sullivan, who has been traveling to Egypt for work and study since 1997. “Unas’s burial chamber was just recently reopened after a restoration by the Supreme Council of Antiquities. I’m really excited to see it.”
She will also take alumni to Cairo and on a Nile cruise to see temples and the beautifully painted and carved tombs of ancient Thebans.
“This kind of trip will really focus on cultural heritage, archeology, and history in an intense way,” Sullivan said.
Meanwhile, Professor of Literature and Porter College Provost Sean Keilen will take alumni not only to the British Museum and The Globe Theater on a 2020 trip to London, but also to a contemporary play at the National Theater, and to the famous Borough Market, which will give visitors a literal taste of the ethnic and cultural diversity in the city.
“I was trained in English literature, and I’ve lived in London for long periods twice. In designing the trip, I wanted to focus on the famous places that visitors to the city love to explore—the museums, monuments, theaters, and stately homes—but I also want to help them discover London as it is now: culturally diverse, cosmopolitan, and in the process of reassessing its relationship to itself and the rest of the world,” said Keilen, who is director of the UC Santa Cruz Shakespeare Workshop.
For instance, not only will the group see a Shakespeare play, but also Keilen will talk about the times when Shakespeare was writing, a period of unprecedented changes in religion, politics, science, and the expressive capacity of English as a language.
“Shakespeare had an uncanny ability to take advantage of the creative opportunities that were unleashed with the chaos of these changes,” Keilen said.
He also plans to make time for travelers who wish to immerse themselves in local culture with visits to an area pub.
“There’s no better way to get to know a London neighborhood than to spend an hour in a pub,” Keilen said. “A pub is not just a bar. In Britain, a pub is a close cousin of the market square, the public park, and the village church: a meeting point where Londoners go to be with each other and talk about their shared concerns.”
“When we planned these trips, we were looking for the perfect storm,” Silva said. “We wanted destinations people could be excited about, research people can understand, and faculty who are dynamic and excited when they talk about the work they are doing.”
Other trip leaders include Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Ryan Foley, who will take visitors to various observatory sites before they witness a total solar eclipse in December 2020; and Professor of History and Cowell College Provost Alan Christy, who will lead a tour to Okinawa that will include a visit to caves that were once forts, an exploration of military bases and the American occupation of the island, plus a chance to sample local cuisine and learn to dance to traditional Okinawan music.
For more information, itineraries, and costs, visit travel.ucsc.edu.
