In Austria, no one skips Experience 101.

In 1991 about 100 students temporarily traded the hilltop campus of Franciscan University in Steubenville for the school’s new campus at the base of the Austrian Alps. When they returned a semester later, they were different: Foreign phrases fell lightly from their tongues; the affairs of Central and Eastern Europe concerned them immensely; Rome, Paris, London, Vienna, Assisi, and points East held a new fascination; and their view of the Catholic Church had become, well, more catholic. Since then, close to 1,500 have been similarly transformed.

Could one semester studying at a former monastery in the tiny town of Gaming, Austria, bring about such a dramatic transformation? The answer, according to students and staff there, is yes—and no.

"Students show up here every semester open to all the stimulation of being in Europe. They’re taking in the history, the culture, the scenic beauty," says Dr. Richard Fougerousse, Austrian campus director. "We don’t have to do much; experience does it for us."

The first experience almost everyone mentions is the pervasive holiness of the monastery itself. "It’s pretty amazing to study in a place where so many monks have lived and prayed," says Elizabeth Rowan, an education and theology major from Connecticut. "Everybody can feel the peace here; it’s so conducive to spiritual growth."

That almost tangible peace and sense of the sacred seems to emanate from the very walls of the Kartause Maria Thron, a 668-year-old former seat of the Holy Roman Empire. The current occupants hope to leave behind a holy residue of their own in the beautifully restored monastery that is once again becoming an international center for Catholic learning .

Student Life in Gaming offers festivals of praise, morning prayer, holy hours, confession, daily Mass—everything that’s offered in Steubenville—and the majority of the campus participates. In addition to the familiar Roman Catholic devotions, Steubenville students also gain insights into the Eastern churches and different rites from the 30-some students in the Language and Catechetical Institute (LCI), which is also housed at the Kartause.

"My roommate was a Byzantine Catholic seminarian," says Glen Gauer, who spent his final semester in Gaming. "When he told me he was getting married in August, I had to clarify, ‘Now, you are Catholic, right?’ I knew about the Byzantine Church, but I didn’t understand how it all fit. Living with him and going with him to Romania for the Byzantine Easter gave me a hands-on experience of that church. The faith of those people is rock solid because it’s been challenged; we have faith too, but we haven’t fought for it."

Richard Fougerousse says this broad "international" dimension is unusual in semester abroad programs: "Most send students from one country to a host country. To my knowledge, this is the only foreign study program that incorporates students from 15 or 20 different countries into a community with a common bond of language and faith."

That bond deepens as LCI students and Steubenville students eat together in the mensa and study, pray, and room together. Catherine MacFarlane, a mental health major, points to gratitude, a characteristic Steubenville students note in so many of their European peers: "My roommate told me that when her country was still Communist, her family was given one can of Coke, and they all shared it. She’s so grateful for an orange, for everything. People who grew up in Communist societies seem to have been spared the cross of materialism we Americans have." Robert Miller, a graduate philosophy student, concurs, "It’s been humbling to see how much I’ve been blessed with, how many opportunities I have compared to the Central and Eastern Europeans."

One opportunity shared by Steubenville and LCI students is a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi. "I feel a little like Hannibal crossing the Alps with my three busloads of students from 20 different countries, but it’s a wonderful point in the semester," Dr. Fougerousse says. "The students blossom and develop; they come to understand things they couldn’t understand except through this experience of Europe."

"Seeing the Holy Father, walking into St. Peter’s Basilica was like coming home, because it was my church. You see people from all over the world there, you see how universal the Church is," says Angela Dougoveto, an elementary education major from Michigan.

Traveling, whether to Moscow or Lourdes or Ireland, helps students mature. "I only knew a couple of people in the group before I went to Gaming, and I wondered if I’d get along with everyone else," says Monica Haggerty, a junior education major. "Traveling long hours, having dinner together, going through all those experiences together, I kept being surprised over and over again. I was able to find something wonderful about each person, but first I had to take another look."

With the Kartause in Gaming as homebase and all of Europe as their campus, students spend the entire semester doing just that—taking another look at themselves, one another, their studies, their culture, their Church, and their world—and being transformed in the process.

Austrian Alumni

"I felt very much at home in Assisi. You could almost see St. Francis walking along, playing with his friends in the courtyard, being baptized in San Rufino Church—it put me back in time."

—Joanna Cote ’96

"Gaming is a beautiful little town, even in the winter. The townspeople are unique too: Everyone is so friendly."

—Monica Haggerty, Manassas, Virginia

"You get used to being lost; you get used to being dirty. You learn that you can make it on your own."

—Mary Beth Schwalm, Albuquerque, New Mexico

"Everybody was concerned about their relationship with God so we all grew together. I made some wonderful friends."—Angela Dougoveto, Iron Mountain, Michigan

"For peacefulness, Medjugorje was the best; for beauty, I’d have to say Ireland was my favorite."

—Jason Solomon, Indianapolis, Indiana

"More than seeing the incredible architecture and art, you get to see the thorns from Jesus’ crown, incorruptible saints, the Chair of St. Peter, the Colosseum—things that are personally relevant, that make your faith tangible."

—Anthony Franzonello, Endwell, New York

Historical Overview

Founded in 1330 by Duke Albrecht II of Hapsburg, the Kartause Maria Thron became home to a thriving Carthusian community and enjoyed a reputation as a key spiritual center of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries. It fell into ruin in the early eighteenth century, changed owners several times, and then was sold to Austrian Architect Walter Hildebrand in 1983.

Since then, the magnificent frescos that earned the monastery the title, "Sistine Chapel of the North," have been restored to their original grandeur. So too have the splendid courtyards and chapels, and indeed, the entire complex.

Architect Hildebrand not only envisioned returning the monastery to its former architectural beauty, but to its spiritual significance as well. His dream was to make the Kartause a center for spiritual and intellectual learning, especially for Central and Eastern European students. Today, Franciscan University students share the Kartause with Language and Catechetical Institute students from former Communist countries and with American and European students in the International Theological Institute.

The three independent programs housed at the Kartause give Franciscan University’s semester abroad program a rich international dimension unlike any other. Students from 15 to 20 countries are incorporated into an intellectual community with a common bond of language and faith.

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