International Study Trip to Poland

Students from the full time master’s degree program Sports, Culture & Events Management were in Krakow, Poland from May 14-18, 2018 to examine various elements of the fields of sports, culture, and events within the city and the surrounding areas for their 2018 International Week excursion.  The Study Trip allows students to gain insight into how the areas of the study program interact and to examine differences in their application across various locations.

Students planned, organized, and executed the entire excursion under the supervision of their faculty group leaders, Mark Romanelli and Torsten Wojciechowski.  The Study trip is a regular part of the curriculum and is often a highlight of students’ time spent in the program. 

During their week in Poland, students visited several sports organizations of various sizes and structures, including the Bronowianka Sportsclub, the Polish National Canoe Federation headquarters and training centre, and the Zakopane Ski Jump and Olympic training centre. The group received a private tour of the Tauron Arena event venue as well as hosted presentation and discussion session by the Krakow City Festival Office. Many of the historical features of the area rounded out the cultural side. The students also visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum and the former concentration camp to tour the facilities and participate in a lecture presentation workshop on the cultural symbolism of the memorial today, given by local university faculty. 

In commenting on the trip, Mark Romanelli said, “Krakow is a wonderful, thriving, and changing city, making it a perfect place to visit for an International Week trip.  Students had the chance to see both the similarities and differences of how areas such as sports management cultural institutions function in Poland and in their home countries.”