Study Tours
Battlefields, ruins, and monuments from Canada's wars at home and across Europe are the classroom for our War and Society Study Tour Program.
Our study tours make the history of war and its impact on societies come alive by introducing participants to battlefields and historic sites in Canada, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
The Gregg Centre and partner institutions run a range of study tour programs for students, the general public, Canadian Forces members and high school history teachers.
The Gregg Centre works in conjunction with its partners to deliver the following study tours:
Local Study Tours
As the central research centre in Atlantic Canada for the study of war and society, the Gregg Centre organizes study tours of local points of interest for University of New Brunswick undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the war and society program. Featured regularly are visits to Fort Beausejour near Sackville NB, tours of surviving harbour fortifications in Saint John, NB and visits to Base Gagetown.
The Second World War in Italy
Developed as part of the University of New Brunswick's Intersession in Rome program, The Second World War in Italy is taught on location throughout Italy at important Canadian battlefield sites as well as points of interest for Italy's Second World War. Although the course is geared towards the undergraduate level, the general public can take the course as an audit.
The Second World War in Italy is taught every other year and is available next in May 2012.
Can/Am Staff Ride
The Canadian and American staff ride tour is designed for civilian graduate students and officers in the Canadian and American armies. The unique education and professional development exercise is conducted annually on location in Sicily and Italy. The objective of the tour is to bring together civilian graduate-level students and military officers from Canada and the United States with the aim of exposing participants to distinct national approaches of war that are both complementary and conflicting. The combination of civilian and military students allows for the interchange of academic and professional perspectives on the application of policy on the battlefield.
The Cleghorn War and Memory Study Tour
The Gregg Centre and the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS) at Wilfrid Laurier University have partnered since 2007 to deliver a unique opportunity for High School History Teachers. Held annually in July, the tour has brought high school teachers from across the country to important Canadian sites such as Vimy, Ypres, Passchendaele, Dieppe and the landing beaches in Normandy to hear the latest research on the wars by professional historians.
In 2012, with the support of John and Pattie Cleghorn, this tour evolved into the Cleghorn War and Memory Study Tour of France and Belgium to include BEd and MEd candidates, who can participate for credit towards their Education degrees. Active teachers from across Canada will continue to be sponsored.
The objective of the program is threefold: to introduce teachers to the latest and greatest research on the topic of the First World War and Second World War on the ground in France and Belgium, to allow them to focus on how they can integrate the new research into their classrooms, and to discuss with other teachers and prospective teachers across Canada how they can enhance their own teaching. Pedagogically and methodologically, the program is delivered to suit theories of historical consciousness as developed by Peter Seixas and others.
The program, formerly sponsored by Veterans’ Affairs Canada and by Historica (2006-2008) and then Historica-Dominion Institute (2009-2011), has been a huge success and has inspired many of its former participants to initiate their own study tours for their students. More importantly, however, nearly all of the former participants have reported that the program has drastically re-invigorated their career and has provided more options for the classroom and enhanced relationships between school and community.
Canadian Battlefields Foundation tours
Established in 1992, the Canadian Battlefields Foundation undertakes programs to commemorate and promote public awareness of Canada's role in the Second World War. As part of its mandate to raise awareness, the CBF has established battlefield viewing sites in Normandy and sponsors annual undergraduate study tours of Europe. The foundation sends twelve students on study tours of Europe each year.
The Gregg Centre is a partner organization to the CBF and sends both staff and students to participate on Foundation study tours.
March of Remembrance and Hope
The Gregg Centre has sponsored undergraduate students to attend the Canadian Centre for Diversity's March of Remembrance and Hope (MRH). This study tour enables students to explore first-hand one of the most tragic and important events in history. The MRH Canada is a weeklong study and leadership mission in Germany and Poland. Its goal is to educate students from all backgrounds about the horrors of antisemitism and racism, and to teach them about the consequences of hatred, bigotry and prejudice.
In addition to the study tour programs listed above, staff of The Gregg Centre also act as guides and historical expertise for other battlefield study tour organizations.
