Celebrating 50 Years of Global Learning: The New Orleans-Innsbruck Anniversary Summer

Center Austria’s director, Professor Marc Landry, speaks at the opening ceremony of the 50th UNO-Innsbruck Summer School in Innsbruck, Austria.
*University of Innsbruck*

For fifty years, the University of New Orleans (now LSU New Orleans) and the University of Innsbruck have shared an enduring transatlantic partnership, impacting the lives of thousands of students and faculty members. Over time, this partnership has grown to include art exchanges and led to a formal city sister agreement between New Orleans and Innsbruck.

From June 29 to July 3, 2026, the academic community, alumni, and distinguished guests gathered in the heart of the Alps to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the UNO-Innsbruck Summer School—a flagship study-abroad program that has served as a cornerstone of cross-cultural education since 1976.

The Symposium on Cultural Tourism

Professor Gordon “Nick” Mueller speaks at the International Symposium on Tourism.

Central to this week of festivities was the highly anticipated Symposium on International Perspectives and Partnerships in Cultural Tourism. Held on June 29 and 30, this two-day summit brought together scholars, practitioners, and policy stakeholders to explore the evolving landscape of international tourism. Key panels delved into critical issues such as the challenges of sustainable and sports tourism, mobility innovations, and the unique role of transatlantic educational exchanges as a vibrant form of cultural tourism itself.

Distinguished Dignitaries in Attendance

The symposium was elevated by the presence of a diverse and distinguished group of keynote speakers and leaders, including: Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, whose leadership has championed Louisiana's record-breaking visitation and cultural heritage on the global stage. Joe Pine, acclaimed cofounder of Strategic Horizons LLP, providing expert insights into the experience economy. Mark Romig, Senior Advisor for New Orleans & Company and the Ehrhardt Group, representing the vibrant tourism sector of New Orleans. Dr. Franz-Stefan Meissel, Vice Dean of the Law School at the University of Vienna and Director of the Sommerhochschule; Dr. Hermann Agis, Executive Director of Fulbright Austria; Karin Emprechtinger, Executive Director of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation; Dr. Michael Burri, Program Office at the Botstiber Institute; and Dr. Günter Bischof, Director Emeritus of Center Austria and former multi-term Academic Director of the summer school, whose legacy is intertwined with the program’s success.

Leadership at the Helm

A driving force behind the continued vitality of this partnership has been Dr. Marc Landry, Director of the Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies (Center Austria) at LSUNO, who played a pivotal role in the proceedings. Under his leadership, Center Austria has continued to serve as a premier hub for knowledge transfer between Louisiana and Austria. At the symposium, Dr. Landry’s expertise as the Marshall Plan Professor in Austrian Studies helped steer the dialogue, emphasizing the deep historical connections and future environmental and public history collaborations—such as the recent History Exchange podcast initiative—between the two universities.

For the 50th-anniversary milestone Landry also served as Academic Director of the Summer School, a role crucial to upholding the rigorous scholastic standards that define the program. By curating a curriculum grounded in the Austrian and European setting of the program, and focused particularly on the themes of Democracy and Transatlantic Partnership this year, the academic director ensured that this anniversary was not just a nostalgic reunion, but a forward-looking academic exchange. 18 faculty from LSU New Orleans, the University of Georgia, the University of Innsbruck, LSU A&M, Tulane University, University of Mississippi, and TCU offered 35 courses in the humanities, and the natural and social sciences.

The program was anchored by a speaker series that included guests such as American political analysts, experts, and scholars James Carville, Jonathan Martin, and Betsy Fischer Martin and former Austrian Ambassador and neutrality expert Dr. Franz Cede. LSU New Orleans’s dedication to assembling distinguished faculty and integrating real-world cultural immersion continues to make the LSU New Orleans-Innsbruck program one of the most preeminent American summer schools in Europe.