The Omrit Settlement Excavation Project (OSEP) is an interdisciplinary and experiential learning experience like none other.
That is why CSB|SJU’s Classics program (in the Department of Languages and Cultures) and the Office of Education Abroad have teamed up to offer a summer study abroad program in which students can earn academic credit by participating in the archaeological field school at Omrit, starting June 2015.
Now CSB|SJU students can learn all the basics of archaeological methodology, including how to properly excavate, record, draw, and analyze ancient architecture, pottery, coins, and other significant artifacts. Along the way, they learn how to integrate academic fields like Classics, anthropology, history, geology, religious studies, and political science, among others, in the applied work of cultural recovery and preservation. Archaeology demands an interdisciplinary orientation – the same kind of interdisciplinary orientation that these students will need to be flexible and successful in their chosen future careers, whatever they may be.
Other experiences at Omrit broaden their educational horizons further. Our students go on guided tours of many important archaeological and cultural sites around the Sea of Galilee, along the Mediterranean coast, in Jerusalem, and in the area of the Dead Sea. Such sites have included Banias/Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan, Nimrud, Gamla, Zippori/Sepphoris, Caesarea Maritima, Beth Sean, Tiberias, Masada, Qumran, the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dome of the Rock, among others. In addition, for much of our time in Israel we stay at a kibbutz with its own valuable history. All of these experiences together offer students an education touching on many ancient and modern developments in politics, religion, economy, and society that have shaped this important region. Check out the film by SJU student Conor Murphy, which captures some of what awaits students in these site visits!
At CSB|SJU we are a community rooted in central Minnesota, and we are also a community that invests in experiences like Omrit and its field school. Did you know that such a big world was right in your own backyard?
CSB|SJU|OMRIT 