Tuesday, Feb. 28 will be the first informational meeting about a trip to Europe that allows for Colorado Mesa University students to get academic credit.

The trip caps at 40 students and does not require that students take academic credit to travel.

Suzie Garner, department head of art, will be the one taking students on the trip. She plans to show Europe’s art history to the students that participate. Students will go to Paris, Florence, Assisi and Rome, with excursions to the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Colosseum, Vatican City, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The trip will include other travel spots that have not been decided yet.

Students will have a chance to get academic credit for this trip.

“Students will need to sign up for both the trip and the J-Term course to earn the academic credit,” Garner said.

This trip is a great learning experience for the students looking to go. It gives students an opportunity to travel while seeing art in different countries.

“Students will see, first-hand, an overview of art history from classical Greek/Roman to modern art (1940-50) on the trip during the visits to the museums,” Garner said.

This trip will last 10 days. Students will leave on Jan. 2 and return Jan. 11, 2018. Itineraries can be picked up at any time during the informational meetings, held in room 302 of the Fine Arts building on Feb. 28, March 7 and March 14.

The trip is not limited to art students. Anyone that is interested in art and traveling is welcome to attend these meetings.

The trip is being offered though Explorica. There are several ways for students to fundraise if funds are a little tight.

“The company that we are working with to help set up the trip provides an optional crowd-funding page to each interested participant. When you sign up for the trip, you can choose this option and post the web link to your social media pages, send it to family and friends to help out, choose that as option for birthday or any other type of present,” Garner said.

This is not the first, nor will it be the last time Garner has taken a trip such as this.

“I have taken several trips with students in the past to France and Italy,” Garner said. “This is the first trip I have led for CMU since 2011, and I have been asked by students to do another trip. So here we are getting ready for another trip.”