Why Travel Makes Us Better Global Citizens

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Rick Steves

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, best-selling guidebook author, and outspoken activist who encourages people to broaden their perspectives through travel. But, above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class on his college campus in the mid-1970s, and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted. Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a tour program that brings over 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. Rick spends about four months a year in Europe researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. The remainder of the year he lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

Publication(s) for this event

For the Love of Europe
by Rick Steves
Rick Steves (July 2020)
Purchase this publication

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About Us

Our Mission

The January Series cultivates deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day in order to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God's world.

Background

For over 30 years, the January Series of Calvin University has been one of the leading lecture/cultural arts series in the country. The series has been a three-time recipient of the Silver Bowl Award as the “Best Campus Lecture Series in the U.S.A.” by the International Platform Society. The diversity of presenters and topics has changed as the world of ideas has changed.

The foundation for excellence both in the classroom at Calvin University and at the January Series is the philosophy that an outstanding liberal arts education teaches students how to think, not what to think. We want our students to look at current ideas critically in light of history and creatively with an eye to the future. We support freedom of speech and expression; we encourage faculty, students and the community to listen to viewpoints that differ from their own. Bringing excellent speakers on a wide variety of topics to campus is one very valuable factor of education at Calvin.

Calvin University is a Christian academic community dedicated to rigorous intellectual inquiry. Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Calvin has an enrollment of 3,800 curious and inquisitive students. The dynamic liberal arts university has been named a “Best College” by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, The Fisk Guide, The Princeton Review and Washington Monthly. A Calvin education, marked by scholarly engagement with enduring questions and emerging concerns, prepares students to answer God’s call to live and serve in God’s world as agents of renewal.