Iceland trip influences professor
In 2008, Dr. Greg Reinhardt, professor and chair of the anthropology department at the University of Indianapolis, received a Zerfas Travel Grant. In July 2009, he used it to go somewhere he’d never been before—Iceland.
“To apply for a Zerfas Travel Grant, you fill out a one-page form plus a description of what you’ll do with the grant money and submit it to the UIndy Sabbaticals and Grants Committee,” Reinhardt said.
According to Reinhardt, Zerfas Travel Grants can be awarded to any faculty member who applies. A person doesn’t need a specific reason for going—only the desire to travel.
Reinhardt originally planned to go to Scotland in 2008 but postponed the trip. By the time he decided to use the grant in July 2009, he changed his destination to Iceland because he had a friend working in archeology there, he had never been there before and he wanted to capture photographs of new foreign scenery.
Reinhardt shot close to 1,600 photographs in the 12 days he spent in Iceland. Most of Reinhardt’s trip was spent driving along the coast, but the city he spent the most time in was Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
Despite Reinhardt’s relatively short stay, he managed to witness several unique occurrences. During Reinhardt’s first few days in Iceland he witnessed a fire in a hotel of the oldest parliament building in Thingvellier, built in 1,000 A.D.
According to Reinhardt, six fire trucks showed up, but he only saw one of them pumping water, and that truck didn’t start pumping water until the fire had largely burned itself out and the place had burned down.
Everyday practices were uniquely interesting as well.
“One of the things that most fascinated me was driving,” Reinhardt said.
According to Reinhardt, Iceland is full of roads much different than those in the US. Roundabouts replace stoplights in rural areas, hairpin turns are much more common, there are no shoulders on the roads and the roads are built slanting upward in the middle and down to the sides. The lack of having roadside shoulders in combination with the built-up roads is dangerous due to the strong winds common in the area, causing cars to be blown off the road easily.
“They don’t seem to believe much in guard rails,” Reinhardt said.
City stoplights are slightly different than in the U.S. People can anticipate green lights in Iceland because instead of the standard yellow-red-green stoplights in the U.S., the lights in Iceland flash yellow again after red to let drivers know the light will soon be green.
Another difference Reinhardt mentioned was the hot water.
“The hot water supply is all geothermal,” Reinhardt said. “Everyone has hot water because it’s heated by the earth.”
Reinhardt incorporates many things from his trip into his classes, such as the differences in Icelandic and English languages, genetics, the Viking history, the roads, harbors and geology. He also uses an unpublished book with multiple pictures in his classes that deal with photography. It includes many pictures from his trip to Iceland.
“[Reinhardt’s] teaching style engages the students,” junior Taylor Owings said, a student in Reinhardt’s global problems class. “He makes you think for yourself and really think about the problems in the world.”
Reinhardt’s trip to Iceland changed his perspective on life by experiencing such a different culture.
“Most of the villages are on the coast because the people are fishermen and that’s a traditional source of Icelandic livelihood,” Reinhardt said. “Iceland changed my view of the world by reminding me that some countries are really tied to the land and sea.”
Reinhardt will present his photo-journal of the trip in a faculty forum at noon on March 3 in Schwitzer Student Center 004.
