FARMINGTON — A new program at the University of Maine at Farmington offers alumni and community members the opportunity to travel with faculty members leading the way.

Alumni already expressed their interest in trips to Iceland, Italy and Costa Rica. The Faculty-Led Travel Program was just launched, Jonathan Cohen, associate provost at UMF, said. It is a chance to travel to an interesting place with a guide who knows the territory, he said.

“They know what they are doing and I don’t know how to do it on my own yet,” alumna Diane Thompson, of Farmington, said of her interest in a trip to Italy in February 2016.

She thought about going this May under a student course but that would mean taking time off from her position at Mallett School, she said. It would also require the work and expense of taking a course.

Thompson has no set expectations.

“All of it appeals,” she said. “I don’t care what we see. It is all good. I just want to travel.”

When Kara Griswold was a junior at UMF majoring in special education, she took a student trip to Italy.

“My most vivid memory of the trip was sitting in the amphitheatre at Pompeii listening to a talk on the political structure of Pompeii,” she said. “It was something that could never be repeated in a classroom.”

That trip whet her appetite for travel, she said.

“I want to go back and see the changes in the last 15 years,” she said. “When you see it with professors, they navigate the countryside and have behind-the-scenes information.”

This time, there won’t be any course requirements to meet, she said.

The student trips to Italy, offered since 2000, usually attract up to 40 students. They are led by a combination of professors in political science, art, music and literature, who have studied Italy, professor Scott Erb said.

Erb lived in Italy for a year during graduate school, where he studied Italy’s history. He also has expertise in European politics.

“No one has ever said it wasn’t worth it,” Erb said. “An experience like this changes you. It stays with you for the rest of your life.”

The Italy trip from Feb. 11-21, 2016, explores Florence and Rome with possible side trips to Siena and Pompeii depending on interest.

Visits to the Vatican, Michenlangelo’s David, the Roman forum and the Pantheon are on the itinerary but participants will also explore some local neighborhoods and favorite restaurants.

“We’ve gone so many times, we know the places,” he said of local highlights and restaurants that are reasonably priced and good.

The trip to Italy will be with Erb of the political science department; Sarah Maline, art; Steve Pane, music; and Luann Yetter, literature and writing. Those interested may email scotterb@maine.edu.

A trip to Iceland with Cathleen McAnneny, geography, is planned for May 29 to June 8, 2015. The trip includes seeing glaciers, volcanoes and hot springs. To join the Iceland interest list, email her at mcanneny@maine.edu.

A Costa Rica trip is being planned for February 2017 with Drew Barton, botany, and Jeffrey Thomson, writing. Participants can observe the diversity of the rain forest. An interest list has started at barton@maine.edu.

There is also a trip to Ireland and Scotland planned for the summer of 2016, Cohen said.

The program developed through a group at UMF tasked with finding other possible revenue, he said. But costs were kept down. Instead of increasing revenue, they are looking at the program as a way to continue the connection between UMF and the community, he said.

They thought of the successful travel trips for students. They explored the idea of alumni and community trips where travelers benefit from faculty experience, he said.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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