We live in a society
At its heart, social studies is designed to help us make informed, reasoned decisions about the world in which we live, and to participate in that world. But society can be unjust. It can hold us back as well as propel us forward. As a subject, social studies is the microscope we use to identify worldly wrongs. But it’s also the tool we use to correct them. It’s about justice, the climate, reconciliation and fairness. It’s everything – from a cup of coffee to civil rights.
- Civil rights and Martin Luther King, USA
- At apartheid’s end, South Africa
- A glance at the Life of Gandhi Ji, India
- Voices from the Cambodian past, Cambodia
- How to live long and prosper, Italy
- Trekking The Troubles, Ireland
- The culture of Cuba, Cuba
- The hidden codes of coffee, Israel
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Understanding the long march to freedom
For future sociologists, historians and politicians
Location: Atlanta, USA
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | All year round | Full day
We all recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as one of the most visible public figures of the civil rights movement. Before his fateful assassination in 1968, Dr. King projected a vision for freedom and equality in the lives of African Americans across the States, striving for the justice that many are still fighting for today. To 250,000 people he delivered his famed ‘I have a dream’ speech, encapsulating a vision that was instrumental in the eventual passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, legally ending racial segregation in the American public sphere.
With this inspiring experience, you’ll spend time with your guide, a non-violent freedom fighter who worked closely alongside Dr. King himself at the height of the civil rights movement. While learning about their life, you’ll visit some of the locations in Atlanta most integral to the movement.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in the USA. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a powerful tour of the locations in Atlanta most integral to the civil rights movement
- See the houses in which Dr. King was born and lived during the time of his assassination, the church he co-pastored with his father, and the mural of John Lewis on Auburn Avenue
- Stop at a local lunch counter to grab a bite of Southern soul cooking and meet others who participated in the movement
Leave informed and inspired about one of the most powerful social movements in the long 20th century, carrying the lessons of civil rights and social justice with you.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Make your way through the life and times of Nelson Mandela
For future sociologists, historians and politicians
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Fast Facts: All ages | November – April | Half day
At age 19, Christo Brand began work on Robben Island as a prison guard, becoming warder to none other than anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela. Over many years, they developed a close friendship that was built upon firm trust and mutual respect. Following Mandela’s release after 27 years, he served as South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999 and committed his government to tearing down the legacy of apartheid and fostering racial reconciliation in its wake.
This fascinating experience is a must for anyone with an interest in South Africa’s turbulent history. With Christo himself as your private guide, you’ll head out on a tour of Cape Town and visit locations key in the life and work of Nelson Mandela, including Pollsmoor Prison and the City Hall where Mandela made his first speech as a free man in February 1990.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in South Africa. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a journey around Cape Town alongside Christo Brand, exploring a number of locations key in the life and work of Mandela whilst learning about the city’s history along the way
- Begin at the V & A waterfront, where prisoners were registered and embarked on the perilous journey to Robben Island
- Travel to Pollsmoor prison, where Mandela was held from 1982-88
- See the house on prison grounds where Mandela held secret negotiations as well as other pivotal locations
Leave with a rare, first-hand grounding in the life of Mandela and the fight to dismantle the oppressive apartheid regime.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
The story of Indian independence and non-violent protest
For future sociologists, historians and politicians
Location: Delhi, India
Fast Facts: Age 14+ | 5-6 hours | Full day
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, made significant strides towards social and political progress in India throughout his lifetime. Lawyer, activist, and politician, he helped lead the nationalist movement against British colonial rule in India (whose end came in 1947). He is remembered today as the father of his nation and a man whose doctrine of non-violent protest inspired civil rights movements around the world.
With this reflective experience, you’ll learn about the fascinating life and remarkable work of a man honoured by millions. First, you’ll head to Gandhi Smriti, where he spent his final days, and hear a talk by an expert shedding light on his life, work and noble values. You’ll also visit the National Gandhi Museum and get acquainted with a variety of memorabilia associated with Gandhi and the Indian freedom struggle and learn about integration in Delhi after partition.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in India. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Visit Gandhi Smriti to hear a talk by an expert shedding light on his life, work and noble values
- View a display of photographs, paintings, inscriptions and sculptures
- Learn about integration in Delhi after partition
- Explore the rich collection of relics, books, journals, photographs at the National Gandhi Museum
- Drive to Raj Ghat, a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi at his final cremation ground
Leave with a deep insight into the life of Gandhi and his role in the wider movement for Indian independence.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
The haunting history of the Khmer Rouge
For future historians, sociologists and lawyers
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Fast Facts: Age 15+ | November – April | Full day
In 1975, the brutal Khmer Rouge regime took power in Cambodia, led by the iron grip of their leader, Pol Pot. In the following months and years, Cambodia was isolated from the wider world as its leaders orchestrated a series of brutal, regressive policies in which millions were murdered, displaced, and imprisoned, remaining one of the largest mass killings of the long 20th century.
This experience is just as hard-hitting as it is fascinating. You’ll meet with His Excellency Sovannarom Dim, Chief Spokesman for the ECCC, the court which began work with the UN in 2009 to try Khmer Rouge leaders, before meeting a survivor of Toul Sleng prison camp and – eventually – paying a sombre visit the Killing Fields themselves. To balance the day, you’ll also meet with representatives of Cambodian Living Arts, an organisation established to preserve Cambodian culture following the Khmer Rouge’s bloody rule.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Cambodia. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Converse with His Excellency Sovannarom Dim, Chief Spokesman for the ECCC, the court which has worked with the UN on the case of the Khmer Rouge
- Gain insight into the key figures of the Khmer Rouge, and learn what happened during the height of their absolutist rule and its aftermath
- Meet a survivor of Toul Sleng prison camp and visit the Killing Fields
- Visit with representatives of CLA (Cambodian Living Arts), an organisation established to preserve Cambodian culture following Khmer Rouge rule
Leave with an informed and rigorous understanding of the Khmer Rouge and its bloody legacies, while gaining a grasp of the international laws and local programmes that have helped Cambodia to recover in its aftermath.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Uncover the secrets of the Sardinian way of life
For future biologists, gastronomists, and anthropologists
Location: Sardinia, Italy
Fast Facts: All ages | May – October | Full day
A ‘blue zone’ is a scientific term describing a region whose residents live much longer than the average. As the first recorded blue zone, Sardinia is home to almost ten times more centenarians per capita than the US alone. Famous for their balanced diets, traditional lifestyles and closeness to friends and family, its residents tend to live long, healthy, and happy lives. So, what’s their secret?
On this enlivening experience, you’ll gain an interesting insight into the everyday lives of Sardinian people. On a local’s walking tour of one of its central towns, you’ll learn the links between lifestyles and long lives. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet the locals and taste the “magic food” that facilitates their longevity. Its components might (pleasantly) surprise you.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Italy. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a walking tour of one of Sardinia’s central towns in the company of a local guide
- Learn from a professional Biologist the connection between the land and the diet of Sardinia’s ultra-centenarian people
- Meet the locals and taste the “magical food” (cheese and wine!), part of the diet which contributes to their longevity
Leave with a fascinating culinary insight into one of Europe’s most long-lived and healthy regions.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
A guided tour through the sites and landscapes of 20th-century Belfast
For future historians, social scientists, and politicians
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | All year round | Half day
Until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland was riven by a decades-long conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations – an ‘irregular war’ whose violence can be traced through the landmarks and landscapes of modern-day Belfast. This was known as ‘The Troubles’.
Your guide to these spaces and places – and to the history that shaped them – lived and survived through these arduous years. They will give you a factual and fascinating insight into what it was like to grow up during the era and how its legacy can be felt to this day, where the city – and the country – works together toward reintegration and regeneration.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Northern Ireland. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Embark on a guided walking tour of the major sites, places and spaces of the era
- Understand the history and politics that led to ‘the troubles’, and discover how the conflict eventually led to a lasting peace
- Gain an insight into how landscapes and places can be ‘read’ and interpreted as documents of history
Leave with an intimate and insightful understanding into recent political history and of how landscapes can inform our thinking about the past.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
Gain a sociological understanding of this vibrant Caribbean island
For future anthropologists and sociologists
Location: Havana, Cuba
Fast facts: Age 16+ | December – May | Half day
Cuba has a long, complex, and enthralling history – one of indigenous cultures, settler colonialism, and radical revolution. It is a story told through sugar cane and tobacco leaves, of nuclear missiles and cold war posturing. And on this lettered experience, you’ll have an opportunity to meet with sociologist Dr. Marta Nunez Sarmientio for a deep dive into modern Cuban society: where it’s come from, where it’s at, and where – ultimately – it’s going. Together, you’ll cover the multifarious subjects of women and employment, gender studies, and the country’s future development.
Here, you’ll get a chance to contextualize your trip to this Caribbean island nation – learning about its political structures and social formation over the long and eventful years.
This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Cuba. We can also build your trip entirely around it.
Take this class
Class Highlights
During this class, you’ll:
- Learn firsthand about Cuban society from one of its foremost experts
- Have the opportunity to ask questions and pursue lines of inquiry and interest
- Understand the sources and resources that can be used to study societies; from the large to the small
Leave with a newfound curiosity for Cuba and the study of societies – across the world – more broadly.
Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.
