Dr. Craig Pilant has been an avid traveler, having spent part of his senior college year in Rome. Since 2010, he has given numerous presentations on cruise ships, dealing with art, culture, and history, on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Viking, and, most recently, Princess. He has spoken on a variety of topics and has accompanied excursions.

Professor Pilant is currently a resident of the state of Rhode Island, but also spends half of each year as well as the Côté d’Azur in southern France. A native of San Francisco,He received his bachelor’s degree (political science – major – and philosophy – minor) from Loyola University of Chicago, and was in residence at the University's John Felice Rome Center. He subsequently attended the University of Illinois where he obtained his Master’s in Medieval and Reformation history with a special focus on the art history of the period. He also did studies in religious history and theology at the University of Notre Dame.

During his doctoral studies, Prof. Craig Pilant was the recipient of a scholarship in Jeffersonian studies from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

After a teaching stint in Austin, Texas, Dr. Pilant moved to the Bronx, where he taught high school for seven years while he was obtaining a degree in educational administration and his doctorate in historical theology. He received his doctorate in 1997, and completed his studies at Fordham with the M.B.A. in marketing and information systems. Since that time, he has also participated in MOOC courses, most recently in Renaissance architecture with the Università di Sapieza in Rome.

He was an adjunct lecturer for over three decades at both Fordham University (NY) and Saint Peter’s University (NJ).

Since that time, Dr. Pilant has worked extensively in the field of enrollment management at several local graduate institutions of higher learning, including Rutgers and Fordham. Always knowing that teaching was his first love, he left management career and joined the faculty of the County College of Morris with the rank of Assistant Professor in 2005, focusing on early and medieval European history. While there, he taught honors’ division courses, as well as Early Modern and Modern European history. He subsequently added courses in the History of Russia and Middle Eastern history. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in April 2011, and full Professor in 2017. He went on on sabbatical in southern France during the Spring of 2018. During that time, he worked on materials and talks dealing with European art history, as well as on the development of Christianity in the Mediterranean world.

Over the years Professor Pilant has had memberships in several professional societies, including the American Academy of Religion and the American Catholic Historical Society. He has published articles for edited essay collections, book reviews, and continues to do research for several potential projects. He has given public talks on a variety of historical and cultural subjects, both at the County College of Morris and for the Great Horizons Project, sponsored by the Morris School District. He has also done editorial work, creating instructor manuals and testing materials for Norton Publishers.

During his time in New Jersey, he organized and led eight European tours of students, guiding them through Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, Lichtenstein, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

He has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including Teacher of the Year and the Bene Merenti award from Fordham University, as well as national recognition with the NISOD award from his tenure at the County College of Morris. He retired from full-time teaching in 2022 and now currently devotes his time to European studies, perfecting his French language skills, and, of course, to sharing his experience and knowledge with the many travelers on the great ocean cruise ships.

Cruise talks having been prepared and delivered in the past include:

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ART

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Italian Art and Architecture
- Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo
- Michelangelo and his Terrabilità (artistic temperament)
- Why Michelangelo Matters
- Three Ages of Michelangelo
- Michelangelo's Rome
- Rome: City of Faith and Fountains
- Saint Peter's (San Pietro in Vaticano)
- The Development of Saint Peter's Square
- Venice - La Serenissima
- Five Venetian Churches Not to be Missed
- Ravenna: Byzantine Treasure
- Saint Peter's Basilica: From Shrine to Tour Buses

Spanish Art and Artists
- Antonio Gaudi and Modernisme
- La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
- Salvador Dalí: Madman, or Crazy Like a Fox

Late 19th/ Early 20th Century Art and Artists
- The early career of Vincent van Gogh: The Netherlands to the South of France
- The late career of artist Vincent van Gogh in Provence
- Mediterranean Light: Picasso and Matisse
- Henri Matisse: Master of Light
- Henri Matisse: Tragedy and Triumph
- Vence: Matisse's Accidental Masterpiece
- Star of Málaga: The Early Career of Picasso
- Picasso from Guernica to the Côte d'Azur
- Claude Monet and his Gardens at Giverny

Western Art History (General and Topical)
- Gothic Architecture: the First Cathedrals
- Romanesque Architecture
- Gothic Architecture
- Renaissance Architecture
- Ivan Mestrovic: The Rodin of Croatia
- A series on Modern art, including Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso

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HISTORY (Cultural, Political, etc.)

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Ancient Egypt/Alexander the Great
- Egypt: Gift of the Nile
- The Valley of the Kings from Land and Air
- Egypt: The Great Pyramid of Khufu
- Alexander and Alexandria
- A series on Egypt and its three kingdoms

Judeo-Christian History
- Three Patriarchs of Ancient Israel: Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph
- The Abrahamic Religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
- Who was Paul? The Travels of the Apostle
- Constantine and the Challenge of Leadership

Greek and Middle Eastern History to 1500
- Hagia Sophia and ancient Constantinople
- The Lost Kingdom: Ancient Petra and the Nabateans
- Trade and the Ancient World
- Crete and the Palace of Knossos
- The Legend of Minos, Daedalus, and the Minotaur

- Homer and the Historians
- Greece: It all began with an apple
- Fate and Destiny in Ancient Greece
- Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece
- Wonders of the World: The Colossus of Rhodes
- The Mysteries of the Parthenon

- The New Acropolis Museum
- Santorini: Living on the Edge
- The Mediterranean's Big Bang
- The Silk Road and Trade
- Ephesus: the Roman Empire’s Second City

Greece/Middle East since 1500
- Becoming Sisi: The Empress Elisabeth of Austria
- The Suez Canal
- Troy: Excavations and Homeric Legends
- The Trucial States and the history of the Emirates

Ancient Rome and Pompeii
- The Origins of Ancient Rome
- Roman Kings and Emperors: From Etruria to the Empire
- Split, Diocletian, and the Division of the Roman Empire
- Pompeii: City in Cinders
- Everyday Life in Pompeii
- Ancient Split and the late career of the Emperor Diocletian

General Western European/Mediterranean History
- Sicily: What the Greeks (and Everyone Else) Left Behind
- Malta: Crossroads of the Mediterranean
- The Great Plague

- A series on the French Revolution and its aftermath
- Climbing the Walls: The Delights of Dubrovnik

Italian History and Historical Sites
- Sicily: Crossroads of Cultures
- Death in the Cathedral of Florence, concerning the murder of a Medici prince
- Florence and Brunelleschi: To Build the Impossible Dome
- Unusual stories concerning religious events and sites in Rome
- Venice: La Serenissima

Great Britain
- Victoria and Albert: The Creation of Osborne House
- The Duke of Windsor: Reluctant Exile

The Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe
- The Uniqueness of Amsterdam
- The Hanseatic League
- The Vikings: What they were (and what they were not)
- Scandinavian Delights: Three Northern Capitals
- Stavanger, Norway: Growth and Expansion
- Flåm: Fjordland
- Bergen: The World's Village
- Oslo: From the Vikings to the Nobel Prize
- The Kingdom of Norway: The Search for Independence
- The Nobel Prizes: From Dynamite to Human Rights
- Hans Christian Andersen and the Uses of Enchantment
- The Fall and Rise of the Warship, Vasa

Spain/Portugal/Iberia
- The Alhambra and the Moorish Moment
- Prince Henry the Navigator and Portuguese Exploration
- The Golden Age of Spain
- Christopher Columbus: After Discovering America, What then?
- The history of Gibraltar

Russia/Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
- Death on the Neva: Rasputin and the Romanovs
- The Brothers Grimm
- Ruthless Leaders: Peter the Great
- Ruthless Leaders: Lenin
- Ruthless Leaders: Stalin
- The Rise of Russia
- The Free State of Danzig (Gdansk)

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In Preparation in anticipation of future voyages:

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European History and Art
- Napoleon Bonaparte’s Early Years
- The Pirates of the Barbary Coast
- Carthage: The Other Mediterranean Superpower
- The Reconquistà: 1492's Other Event
- The Alhambra: Glory of Andalusia

- Karl I - Europe's Last Emperor:
- Christopher Columbus: After Discovering America, what then?:
- Salvador Dali -- Madman or Crazy like a Fox?
- Ephesus: The Roman Empire's Second City
- The Road to Abdication - The Short Reign of Edward VIII

- The Scots and the Royals: A Brief History
- Hemophilia: the Royal Disease
- The First Wife - Katherine of Aragon
- From Northmen to Normans
- Thomas Becket and the Balance of Loyalties:
- The Kingdom of Norway - The Road to Independence

North Pacific and Asia:
- Russian Colonies in the Pacific Northwest
- The Alaska Purchase of 1867
- Vitus Bering and the Kamchatka Expeditions
- Kodiak Bears
- Whaling in the Pacific Northwest

- Admiral Matthew Perry and the Opening of Japan
- Osaka: From Portuguese Trading Post to World City
- Hiroshima: From Foundations to Post-Nuclear City
- Nagasaki: From Jesuit Outpost to the Modern Era
- Hong Kong: From Open City to the Hand-Over

- Marco Polo and the (Re-)Discovery of China
- Matteo Ricci in China
- Ho Chi Minh: Father of Modern Vietnam
- Angkor Wat, Wonder of the World
- The Real "Anna and the King of Siam"

I have given series of talks on nine previous cruise before the Pandemic, from 2011 to 2018, on Celebrity and RCI — ranging from European history and events, to art and cultural history — on cruises from the Baltic to the Middle East. Topics are varied and have included the oil industry in Norway, events leading up to the demise of the Romanovs, art in the south of France, medieval cathedrals, Petra, and the Suez Canal. Since the COVID pandemic, I have resumed speaking, giving talks on Viking, Celebrity, and Princess Cruises.

GUEST SPEAKER AND TRAVELLER:
Since 2005, Craig Pilant has made numerous trips to Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central America. In July 2009, Professor Pilant voyaged to the Baltic region of northern Europe, visiting Saint Petersburg, Tallinn (Estonia), and the Scandinavian capitals. In 2010 he travelled to Central America, this time traversing the Panama Canal. In July 2010 he travelled to Beijing, and subsequently to the Western Mediterranean.

In July of 2011, Professor Pilant successfully delivered a series of five extended talks as a destination lecturer on the Celebrity Equinox, on a round trip from Rome to Istanbul. During the first half of July 2012, Dr. Pilant delivered a series of six extended talks as a destination lecturer on the RCI Independence of the Seas, during a voyage from Southampton, England to Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy and back. His topics ranged from the murder of a Medici prince in the Cathedral of Florence, to unusual stories and sites in Rome, as well as the history of Gibraltar and the late career of artist Vincent van Gogh in Provence.

Since that time, Prof. Pilant has given talks on the history of Adriatic and Mediterranean ports (2013), and continued to do so during the Summers of 2014 (Norway), 2015 (the Mediterranean), and 2016 (the Baltic countries, including Russia). He gave a series of talks on Egypt and the Middle East on the Celebrity Constellation from Abu Dhabi to Rome, via the Suez Canal in 2018, as well as transatlantic talks on topics from Henry the Navigator to the post-abdication career of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

TRAVEL GUIDE
In January of 2011, Dr. Pilant led 21 students and several chaperones on a guided student trip to Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Paris, Versailles, and London. Spring break of 2012 found him leading another group of students to Spain, beginning in Madrid and culminating in Barcelona, with a special focus on cities in Andalucía. Subsequent trips brought his student trips to Greece and Italy (2013), and to Great Britain and Ireland (March 2014). Thirty-five travelers accompanied him on tour in March 2015, for an intensive ten-day trip from Venice to Rome, including Pisa, Siena, Florence, Ravenna, and Assisi. Large numbers of travelers also traveled to Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland in March 2016, and to Paris and Spain in March 2017. For the 2018 annual trip for students, the itinerary took his group from Munich (Germany) to Lucerne (Switzerland), Verona, Venice, Ravenna, Assisi, and, finally, Rome (Italy). Since that last trip before the onset of the COVID pandemic, Craig Pilant has retired and is devoting his energies speaking on cruise voyages in Europe and elsewhere.

Craig Pilant divides his time residing part of the time on the Côte d’Azur of France since 2017. He currently maintains his home in northern Rhode Island near the city of Providence.

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.