Dr. Chris Mackowski, professor of journalism and mass communication, wrapped up the holiday break with a trip to New Orleans as the host of a virtual field trip filmed for the American Battlefield Trust.

Aimed at middle school and high school students, the virtual field trip is intended to tell the city’s story through expert interviews and visits to its most famous and most historic sites.

As part of the project, Mackowski visited Jackson Square, had special access at the historic Cabildo, tromped across the Chalmette battlefield where the Battle of New Orleans took place, cruised down the Mississippi on a riverboat, made gumbo at the New Orleans School of Cooking, ate beignets at Café Du Monde, explored historic “cities of the dead,” snapped along to live jazz, went behind the scenes at Confederate Memorial Hall, and toured the National World War II Museum.

This was the third virtual field trip Mackowski has hosted for the Trust; in June, he hosted a trip to Boston and, in October, he hosted a trip to Charleston.