At the end of May 2008, 15 JCCC faculty and staff members set off in a bus for a six-day tour of Kansas. Led by Dr. James Leiker and Dr. Jay Antle, both associate professors of history at JCCC, the group criss-crossed the state, focusing on Kansas history, ecology, economy and art. Dr. Deborah Williams, assistant professor, environmental science, and Dr. Allison Smith, assistant professor, art history, shared perspectives from their fields as well.

“We realized long ago that JCCC faculty and staff had a disconnect, like many folks in this part of the state, between what happens in the KC metro area and the rest of Kansas,” says Leiker. “We hear often about globalization and so we focus on ‘big picture’ teaching when the local and regional context is just as important.”

“We’re believers in experiential learning,” says Antle. “Immersing yourself in a place brings about intellectual development.”

JCCC’s Kansas Tour is an educational trip, not at all a tour of the swimming pools of Kansas. The days are full and not always easy, as the travelers dodge cow patties, keep an eye out for rattlesnakes and listen for storms. Yet Kansas is often a demonstration of hope over experience, evidenced in places like Greensburg and Nicodemus, built once on hope, hoping now for a rebirth and a future, with no guarantee of success.

The bus will pull away for the second Kansas Tour in May 2009. More information will be available throughout the year.