An Official Employee Publication From the Office of University Relations

A Czech festival at KU will serve as a springboard for an adult study tour of the former Habsburg Empire this summer.

KU Continuing Education and the Center for Russian and East European Studies are organizing the Jewels of the Habsburg Empire study tour, which will explore the cultural heritage of central Europe.

The tour, from June 2 to 17, will let tour participants learn, travel and explore three cultural centers: L’viv, Ukraine; Krakow, Poland; and Prague, Czech Republic. The cities were part of the Habsburg empire, or Austria-Hungary, which disintegrated after World War I.

“These were something of provincial capitals, or as we call them, ‘hidden jewels’ in the Habsburg empire,” said Bruce Berglund, a study tour leader and assistant director of Russian and East European studies at KU. “Within each city, and really throughout the area that used to be part of the Habsburg Empire, there’s a definite culture which is evident in the architecture and in the music.”

At each stop, participants will learn more about the history and culture of the city from local professors during morning lectures. Afternoons will include visits to museums, monuments and historical sites discussed in the morning.

Tour participants will also join Chancellor Robert Hemenway for a dinner at the 300-year-old L’viv National University, a KU partner institution.

For more information about the tour, contact Mary Heberling at (785) 864-4790 or Lyne Tumlinson at (785) 864-4236 or visit www.kuce.org/kufor/het or www.kuce.org/isc/courses/Habs/.

Registration closes March 26 and space is limited to 25 participants.