Wistful thinking
I'm so glad this seminar is happening again:
I went two years ago when it was on Machaut and in Italy.
IMO, this way this seminar is set up is the way graduate education should be. A concentrated topic with an assortment of experts teaching, each representing a different facet. The class is small and the setting friendly and intimate, with lengthy shared meal times to solidify relationships. (Food always makes life better.) As each faculty member presents his/her facet the picture begins to take shape. They interact together, inviting the students to join in. It's like what you get read an article and read the footnotes with it. Except it's in real life and for the benefit of the students who are encouraged to share their ideas in the conversation.
The graduate students just soak it in. There's not the pressure to become "mini-me" professors. If you have an idea, you're encouraged to bring it up and we all talk about it. It's a safe place to not know things, because everyone is there to learn, including the professors.
The European setting made it an exciting experience for me. As languages were flying around the room during class and across the table, you got the sense that the world of scholarship was so much bigger. The different questions and perspectives made it such a wonderful experience.
It's just too bad it's only a week. ....and so far away.