\The Santa Fe Trail,"" a UW-Madison traveling classroom summer course, embarked June 2 for a two-week exploration of racial issues and history found within the U.S. West.
The course aims to broaden student perceptions of the West by visiting a range of famous and not so famous western locations on their bus tour.
The class will make 14 different stops in seven different western states. Activities range from visiting rural sugarcane fields in Houston, Texas, to meeting with Japanese American survivors of internment camps in Granada, Colo., in an effort to merge all different types of history.
The course's main goal is to create a comprehensive study of multiracial topics. ""The one question we want to get at is regions: What is the West?"" said Michel Hogue, graduate student and co-creator of the course. ""Matters of race are usually spoken of in terms of black and white, but in the West, it's a much more complicated picture.""
""All of the stops are of very different histories that aren't often put together in one course for such a small amount of time,"" said Tyina Steptoe, who was also instrumental in designing the course.
Of their planned stop in Eastern Oklahoma, Steptoe said, ""When people hear of places like Oklahoma, they're usually waiting for the punch line, but this is one of the places with such a unique history and I'm really excited to get into it.""
Drawing off her positive experiences in the summer 2001 UW traveling class ""Freedom Ride,"" which explored the U.S. South, Steptoe created the Southwest trip with Hogue.
The mixture of American culture calls for multiple teachers. According to a press release, four faculty members with research backgrounds in the American West are accompanying the 36 students taking the class. They include two history professors, a political science professor and a professor of ethnic studies.
""We have a wide range of teachers with different interests that can bring different things to the table"" said Steptoe.
These instructors will teach the 15-day class in a non-traditional manner. The chartered bus driving between destinations serves as a moving classroom where students hear lectures, listen to music of the Western region, and watch documentaries of groups the class is studying.
The class will also keep a journal of their experiences. ""We'll be dealing with subjects that are really heavy,"" said Hogue. ""It's important for kids to have an outlet for their thoughts and to process it.\
