The nine-day journey, which was a year and a half in the making, saw Professor Robert Pahre and his students arrive at two sites that were closed entirely, while three others were technically open — but with the museums and other buildings inside shuttered. Caves inside national parks, it turns out, are classified as federal buildings. So when University of Illinois students in Poli Sci 224 arrived at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico for their long-awaited field experience earlier this month, the caves were closed, thanks to the federal government shutdown. read more