Kirsty Boardman, her daughter Isla, and dog Ren pose for a group photo with Syracuse London students and Lockerbie Scholar alumni after hiking up Grey Mare's Trail Waterfall near Lockerbie.
Learning in Lockerbie: Students Explore the Power of Cultural Exchange
Lockerbie, Scotland, is well known as a place of tragedy connected to Syracuse University through the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. But for a new generation of Syracuse University students, the small Scottish town is also an international classroom, a research laboratory and a second home.
In spring 2024, Anna Newbould received a happy call: She had been named a Lockerbie Scholar and would head to Syracuse University that fall. The same day, an orange calf was born on her family’s dairy farm. They named the baby cow Syra.
A few months later, Syracuse students met Syra during their visit to the low-carbon farm, which is part of Syracuse Abroad’s travelling summer course on .
The course exists because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fall 2021, students at Syracuse London expected to travel to Scandinavia for their course. Plans were cut short by the Omicron variant, as international borders closed abruptly once again. But thanks to Kirsty Boardman, a 2007-08 Lockerbie Scholar who now teaches geography at Lockerbie Academy, an alternative, UK-based itinerary was quickly created. Students instead traveled to Scotland, learning from former Lockerbie Scholars and their families about ecosystem restoration projects, Passivhaus housing developments and sustainable forestry.
Green Britain is just one example of Lockerbie opening doors to learning for Syracuse students at short notice. Inclusive education major Mason Burley ’27 was meant to spend summer 2026 in Ghana exploring education policy in diverse contexts as a
When the program was suddenly canceled, a team of Lockerbie Scholars and local teachers came together to host Burley in Scotland instead, enabling him to complete an independent study on civic education practices. A 2026-27 Remembrance Scholar, Burley is now supporting a special project to develop a music video celebrating the “” that have characterized the Lockerbie community since 1988.
These learning experiences are possible thanks to ongoing partnerships between the and community groups in Lockerbie. Each semester, students from Syracuse London travel to Lockerbie on a Remembrance Exchange program, which is made possible by the generosity of Trustee Mike Venutolo ’77 and his wife, Kim. The trips include workshops with local students, a forensic tour of impact sites and a community dinner. These weekends serve not only to build meaningful relationships but also to provide academic enrichment for education abroad.
Yida (Rick) Li ’26 first visited Lockerbie in February 2024 through the London program. He was so inspired by his time at Tundergarth Kirks Trust—a preserved church and educational charity located near a prominent impact site—that he returned two years later to conduct field research for his senior honors thesis.
“,” argues that traditional memorial architecture fails when it attempts to contain memory within a singular, formal object. Rather, sustaining a network of spatial, institutional, oral and ritual practices allows for remembrance to be a “living thing” that can continually be encountered. Li conducted multigenerational interviews, creative workshops and site visits to inform his thesis, which received an honorable mention in the creative category of the and won .
Last month, 23 Syracuse London students traveled to Lockerbie as part of the exchange. For Brynn Wisniewski ’28, time in Lockerbie brought to life “what I have been learning in my Death as Political class and previous political science classes about grief, mourning and the lasting impact of violence on communities.”
Conversations with first responders were especially meaningful for Mouna Toure ’28, a psychology student, who hopes that “my future role as a victim advocate will showcase the value of maintaining a relationship between Lockerbie and Syracuse University.”
Meanwhile, the trip encouraged John Fitzhenry ’28, a television, radio and film major, to consider the limitations of his chosen professional sector. “No piece of media can recreate the kindness that the Lockerbie community gave us. I realized the importance of putting the camera down sometimes.”
Wisniewski, Toure and Fitzhenry had the opportunity to spend time with the 2026 Lockerbie Fellows, 10 senior students at Lockerbie Academy who will soon be traveling to campus to participate in this year’s . Students in the U.K. will honor the victims through a parallel rose-laying event at the London campus, and later in the year will participate in a special Service of Remembrance held by the .
Learn more about , taking place Oct. 18-24.
Story by Becca Farnum
