poland, warsaw, rebuilt, eastern europe
Old Town Warsaw, a World Heritage site

Old World EuropeFrom Poland to the Czech Republic

Explore layers of history during this new small group journey to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic
Starting at $5,497
Including airfare, airline taxes & departure fees
Call 855-330-1542
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 Hugh Agnew
Hugh Agnew has been fascinated by Czech history and the Czech lands since first arriving in Prague as a graduate student in 1977. Now Professor of History and International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., he has taught courses and published books and numerous articles about the Habsburg Empire, the Czech national identity, and Czech heritage and history. His insightful talks on past Smithsonian journeys through the Bohemian countryside, on the Elbe and Danube Rivers, and in Prague at Christmastime have made him a favorite with Smithsonian travelers. Hugh will be on the September 7, 2013 departure and September 30, 2014 departure.

Carol Reynolds
Dr. Carol Reynolds weaves high energy, humor, and history into everything she does. After a career in Music History at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, “Professor Carol” and husband Hank began designing multi-media Fine Arts curricula. Her unprecedented Discovering Music: 300 Years of Interaction in Western Music, Arts, History, and Culture (2009) has reached students across the world. In 2011 she released a cross-discipline course called Exploring America’s Musical Heritage. She is now creating a curriculum on the history of sacred music from Jewish Liturgy to 1600. Her research interests include German Romanticism and the musical court of Frederick the Great. She is fluent in German and Russian and maintains a home in Weimar. Dr. Reynolds is a staunch advocate of Arts Education at every stage of life and speaks regularly at educational conferences across the US. A pianist and organist, she is a popular speaker for organizations like The Dallas Symphony, Van Cliburn Concerts, The Dallas Opera, Tulsa Symphony, Kimball Museum, Fort Worth Opera, San Francisco Wagner Society, The Davidson Institute. Carol will lead the September 28, 2013 departure as well as the May 2014 departure.

Thomas Emmert
Thomas Emmert, professor emeritus at Gustavus Adolphus College, is a historian of Central and Eastern Europe with a research focus on the former Yugoslavia. Professor Emmert has also had visiting appointments at the University of Zagreb, the University of Minnesota, and Stanford University. He received his B.A. in history from St. Olaf College and his Ph.D. in Balkan and Russian history from Stanford University. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he has been awarded research fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. His publications include Serbian Golgotha: Kosovo, 1389 (1990) and, most recently, The Scholars' Initiative: Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies (2009), a collaborative project of scholars from around the world dedicated to providing an objective analysis of what happened to Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century. Professor Emmert has taught American undergraduates in semester programs in Zagreb and Berlin and has accompanied several educational trips to southeastern Europe. Tom will lead the April 2014 departure.

Bertrand Patenaude
Dr. Bertrand Patenaude is an expert in modern European history and international relations at Stanford University, where he is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. Dr. Patenaude has lectured throughout Europe and has led several study tours on the Danube, including his first trip for Smithsonian Journeys in 1991. He first came to the region as a student in Vienna, during his Junior Year Abroad in 1975-76, and he spent a year as a graduate student at the University of Vienna in 1977-78. He received his BA from Boston College and his MA and PhD from Stanford University. Dr. Patenaude is the author and editor of several books on European, Russian, and American history. His most recent book is Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary, which was serialized for radio in Great Britain by the BBC. His first book, The Big Show in Bololand: The American Relief Expedition to Soviet Russia in the Famine of 1921 (Stanford University Press, 2002), won the 2003 Marshall Shulman Book Prize and has been made into a documentary film for Public Television. He taught for eight years in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where his outstanding performance as a classroom instructor was recognized with the Schieffelin Award for Teaching Excellence for two consecutive years. Bert will lead the September 2, 2014 departure.