For a College Summer Course Students Ride the Rails

And maybe spawn a new generation of train lovers.

Adelphi University held MBA and Accounting classes on LIRR trains years ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/1971/1...g-a-big-success.html

Great idea, thanks for sharing.

Bob

What with the current "on time" performance, riding Amtrak for over 100 hours, may not be as enjoyable as one might think. Especially when they run out of food.

The students do not need to take trains trips with a college involved and the tuition cost will pay for much of their trip.  They should be able to decide the carbon foot print, sustainability and global warming issues on their own without learning from biased professors.  They can gain more independence by planing and taking such trips on their own.

Our family took vacations by trains years ago and toured New York City by subway and Chicago by the L.  My sons family has taken his family of 7 on train vacations.  I had a single work colleague that took two week vacations to tour Europe several times.

Charlie

I don't know about "biased professors", but traveling cross-country is not likely to favor Amtrak in terms of emissions/carbon footprint.  Amtrak wins on the NE corridor (electrified) and short intercity trips.

Mark

The carbon foot print comparison was with flying overseas as many/most of these "study abroad" type courses do.

@Scotie posted:

A college professor has designed a course to teach students about sustainable tourism and regional planning. He wanted not to use air travel as many summer abroad courses do because of the carbon foot print. As he says "Combine my love of Amtrak with a desire to get students out of the classroom, and we found ourselves riding across the country to learn about sustainable tourism, landscapes and urban and regional planning."

Students rode Amtrak for over 100 hours and visited six locations. Wish I could have found a way to justify a course like this when I was teaching.

students-ride-the-rails-to-learn-about-sustainability-and-tourism-233304

Sadly, the political rhetoric surrounding this issue will cloud what is really an interesting take on the value of travel as part of higher educational studies.  One of the benefits of my college education was being taught to see the world through a different lens and challenge my preconceived notions of the world.  Contrary to some hyperbole that is often found online, I was not indoctrinated in college to see the world as my professors thought but taught by those same professors the tools and the knowledge to do my own research and form my own opinion.

Part of my education that had nothing to do with school involved riding Amtrak rather frequently to both of my "home" states of New Jersey and Arizona from Indiana during my college years.  Trains don't go through the best parts of town they simply go through the heart of towns and cities of this great nation, and it was an eye-opening and thoroughly enjoyable experience regardless of how well the train performed on schedule.  As I am close to my 28th year of professional registration as an Architect who is now registered in eight jurisdictions, I can say that those journeys of my youth have greatly informed me when it comes to urban and regional planning.

@RSJB18 posted:

Adelphi University held MBA and Accounting classes on LIRR trains years ago.

https://www.nytimes.com/1971/1...g-a-big-success.html

Bob

What an interesting idea.  You couldn't be late for that class.  It always had to begin and end on time.