From Saturday the 31st of May to Saturday the 7th of June, Palacký University Olomouc, Faculty of Education, again, hosted a group of visitors from University of Nebraska Kearney. This was the 3rd year such an event took place. This time, there were six students of Speech Language Pathology, accompanied by one academic from the Department of Communication Disorders, professor Ladan Ghazi Saidi, Ph.D.
On Saturday May 31, the group met in Prague and together traveled to Olomouc, where they got to their respective accommodations. On Sunday, one of the students from the Faculty of Education guided them through the city center and gave them a taste of the history of Olomouc and the Czech Republic. Another student then took them to the Holy Hill to get a closer look at the Unofficial Minor Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary.
The program officially started on Monday. The first stop was Základní škola a Mateřská škola logopedická Olomouc. The school staff was very well prepared and gave three hours of their time to show the Nebraskans the school premises, explain their work and have a rich discussion on how the Czech education system and speech therapy works. In the evening, the group had an informal dinner with the staff of the Office for International Relations, FE UP.
Tuesday was a day-trip to Vienna, the capital city of Austria, accompanied by former UP employees who offered their time to talk more about the history of Central Europe.
On Wednesday, the group went to Brno to a private speech therapy clinic LOGO to get a comparison between the SLP work in an educational and medical environment. The afternoon was then spent in Kroměříž and its beautiful Archbishop’s Chateau and Gardens.
Thursday was an Olomouc day. The group got a chance to visit the Support Centre for Students with Special Needs at the Faculty of Education and get a rich presentation by its staff. To further deepen their understanding of the university’s work in this field, the visit to the Support Centre was followed by a presentation and discussion with two Ph.D. students from the Institute of Special Education Studies who conduct research in SLP and one of whom works at the University Hospital Olomouc, Department of Clinical Speech Therapy. The afternoon program included another historically and culturally significant place, the Archbishop’s Palace in Olomouc.
Friday was devoted to Lednice na Moravě to visit one of the most beautiful Czech chateaus, State Chateau Lednice, and its Representative Rooms tour. The tour was followed by a short walk to the Minaret and back. The day and the program were closed with a second informal dinner and a conversation on several different topics. During the dinner, the students received their certificates of participation and headed to their respective accommodations.
On Saturday, everyone said goodbye to Olomouc as they set off on a journey to Prague where they’d spend the last day. Midnight meant the official end of the program, and everyone traveled to their own destinations – some back to the United States, some to other places in Europe.
We would like to thank UNK for this collaboration and we’re looking forward to hosting another group next year.