Seminars
Travel for the discerning explorer.
Traveling with a purpose—or traveling to unwind—CSA trips offer you a villa residence or hotel residence surrounded by timeless history, architecture, and culture. Small group trips (15 travelers) are destined for unforgettable cities, seaside or mountain villages in Europe, China, and USA.
Every trip offers optional seminars and classes with distinguished specialists in the field who have more than 20 years experience teaching. Seminars are for 10 days or for 7 days. Classes are from 2-5 days.
Artistic Seminars for watercolorists, painters, and photographers
Steve Cushner CSA’s Artist in Residence is the principal director for all art seminars. Painting seminars will emphasize the building of a visual vocabulary in response to the student’s new environment, and developing it into a personal language of expression. Each of the ten-days will begin with an introduction and discussion of various material and technical possibilities, as well as general discussions about studio practice and working methods. Instruction will focus on general design, drawing, color, and composition; conceptual approaches to develop personal subject and content; and art historical and contemporary references. Each day will include a a period of experimentation with material, color, and markmaking, journal entries, and individual and group critiques. (2010)
Chan Chao, world-renown Photographer, leads a workshop on Photography in Paris each Spring offersing rich subjects to shoot, inspiring new directions, and providing daily critiques to sharpen the senses. Each day includes a discussion of composition and light, a review of techniques for both the traditional and digital photographer, and a conversation on experimentation. Internet access and film process allow for immediate view of photographs.
Literary and Historic Seminars
Lillian Bisson leads travelers through the intimate settings of Jane Austen’s England. Literary buffs will share their interpretations of the novels in their literary setting and over English country meals in Bath, Winchester, and London. Ten group attends one contemporary theater production and considers what Miss Austen would have thought of the characters. (2010).
Angela Iovino teaches Italian Studies including the middle ages, renaissance, and modern culture. She leads five day classes offering indepth study on a specific topics so the traveler learns while walking through neighborhoods, museums, and speaking with local experts. Dr. Iovino’s Jewish Rome class includes an understanding of the Jewish heritage from the Roman Empire to today. (2010)
Nature Adventures
Nature enthusiasts and those wanting to do sports in fabulous Mediterrean regions attend. Local guides lead hikes, biking, and forays into the countryside along the sea cliffs, through gardens, to slow-movement farms, volcanic mountains, and fascinating forests. These hikes are designed for everyone in good health and are rated moderate. For those more robust, CSA will offer a variety of outdoor sports. CSA travels to the Island of Corsica which has rugged mountains for canyoning, rock climbing, and hikes while its white-sand beaches provide fishing, sailing, snorkeling, and water-skiing in 2011.
Cuisine and Wine Class
CSA offers a two session optional class to learn about the region’s gastronomic history while cooking and discerning the flavors of the locale. How to pair up certain food with wine is a major focus. Our enologist Laurie Swindull will teach you the subtleties of wine and their characteristics. Some regions, for instance Sicily has a very unique quality of wine because of the climate being very dry and hot. Three discusions in our cuisine/wine class take place at the villa and local wineries for an extra cost.
Our goal is to make your holiday special and your experience extraordinary.
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