Unknown Austria Hidden In the Heart of Europe

Patrick McLean, M.A., Director, Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service, Albion College. Wednesdays. 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. February 5, 12, 19, 26. Ludington Collaboration Space.

Austria, a country located in the heart of Europe, is barely known by most Americans. If Americans do know something of Austria, it’s often from The Sound of Music, a 54-year-old film that, surprisingly for Americans, many Austrians have never seen.

With a population of 9 million, Austria has roughly the same number of people as Michigan in an area one-third as large. About 2 million Austrians live in Vienna, the capital, with the remainder scattered across eight other states (or “Laender”). Those Americans who have visited Austria have mostly visited Vienna and Salzburg, the home of the Family von Trapp from The Sound of Music and, more important to Austrians, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But there is much beyond the tourist meccas of the capital and Salzburg.

This four-week course aims to go well beyond the Hollywood version of this spectacularly beautiful country to explore the post war history and politics of Austria, the geography that makes it a fabulous travel destination, and the social and political climate that is moving in a direction similar to its eastern neighbors. The course will also examine the outsized role Austria has played in international diplomacy since WWII. Finally, we will spend some time on the classical music traditions of Austria, home of Mozart, Mahler, Schubert and Strauss, as well as its tremendous art history.