The Wisconsin Idea Seminar was launched 23 years ago by the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a way to introduce new faculty members and academic staff to the state and to the widespread connections between the university and the people of Wisconsin.
The annual five-day traveling seminar emphasizes the “Wisconsin Idea”: that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state.
This year, 33 faculty and staff members, plus several lecturers and trip organizers, traveled by bus from Madison to Baraboo, Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Oneida, Door County, Green Bay and Milwaukee to visit agricultural, educational, ethnic, manufacturing and business sites and talk to the people who work to make them a success.