USC Aiken’s Continuing Education Department will offer a trip to Ireland May 14–24, 2005. The 11-day trip will include stops in Dublin, Sligo, and Galway.

This trip’s highlights will include Dublin city center, Kilmainham Jail, Trinity College, Ireland’s horse country, the Japanese Gardens, Boyle Abby (a twelfth-century monastery), and Ashford Castle. There will be free time for a boat ride to the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, walking tours as well as bus tours, golf, horseback riding, or shopping. Several different evening activities such as pub hopping, plays, and Irish storytelling also have been planned for the trip.

The trip is limited to 30 people. There is a $350 per person deposit due upon sign up, and the final payment is due Feb. 25, 2005. An orientation meeting will be held Nov. 17. The cost is $3,250 per person; and expenses include roundtrip flight, hotel accommodations, all breakfast meals, and all dinner meals (excluding one night). Transportation in Ireland will be by motor coach bus and is also included.

Reservations for this trip are limited and are accepted on a first come, first served basis. For more information, contact Rossie Corwon at 56-3288 or rossiec@usca.edu.

Linda Wang, an associate professor of geography at USC Aiken, will lead a tour group to China in June 2005.

The 16-day tour will begin June 6, 2005, with a departure from the United States to Beijing, China. The tour will include visits to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the life-sized Terracotta Warriors. The tour also will feature a five-day cruise of the Yangtze River. The journey will conclude in Shanghai before a return trip to the United States.

Wang’s expertise in geography was developed over years of studies and travel. She received a degree in English literature and linguistics from Xi'an Foreign Languages University in China. In 1989, she came to the United States to pursue graduate studies in geography at California State University Northridge, and received a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

The tour will be offered through TraveLearn, which specializes in educational tours and travel. For more information, go to www.travellearn.com. Application forms also are available in the Continuing Education Office at USC Aiken.

10/04