English Theater, Literature, and Art in London

COURSE OF STUDY: 18 CREDITS

ENGL 278: SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND (6 Credits)

This course concentrates on the relationship between Shakespeare’s works, the world in which he lived, and the vitality of performance. Particular attention will be paid to Shakespeare-related sites (in Stratford-upon-Avon these would include Hall’s Croft,

Anne Hathaway’s House, Mary Arden’s House, Nash Place, the Birthplace, King Edward VI school, and Trinity Church. In London: The Globe, the archeological digs at the remains of the Rose, the Curtain, and the Theatre, Southbank, Westminster Abbey, The Inns of Court, and the city’s many museums and other locations) as students explore England through the lens of Shakespeare’s plays and the plays through the lens of Renaissance England.

Instructor: Pierre Hecker

ENGL 282: LONDON THEATER (6 credits)

Students will attend productions of classic and contemporary plays in London and Stratford-on-Avon (about two per week) and do related reading. Class discussions will focus on dramatic genres and themes, dramaturgy, acting styles, and design. Guest speakers may include actors, critics, and directors. Students will keep a theater journal and develop several entries into full reviews of plays. Instructor: Jane Edwardes, former Theater editor for Time Out [London]

 

ARTH 261: THE ART OF TUDOR AND STUART BRITAIN (3 credits)

With a focus on the intersections of art, culture, and literature, the course explores various aspects of art in the English Renaissance, including patronage, politics and power, religion, and the role of the artist

in society. Students will research specific artworks (for example, Holbein’s The Ambassadors, Henry VIII’s tapestries at Hampton Court Palace, The Banqueting House, St. Paul’s Cathedral), visit historical sites and museums, and work with local experts as they develop their understanding and appreciation of Elizabethan and Jacobean art.

Instructors: Juliane Shibata and Pierre Hecker

ARTS 262: VISUALIZING THE RENAISSANCE (3 credits)

What did the English Renaissance look like?  Through on-site observational drawing, watercolor and gouache painting, and/or digital photography, students will investigate the paintings, ceramics, woodwork, metalwork, textiles, fashion, heraldry, architecture, and landscape gardening of early modern England. The critical observation and artistic rendering of these objects and spaces will afford students a window into the culture of the English Renaissance as they acquaint themselves with the visual vocabulary of the past.

Instructor: Juliane Shibata

CLASS SCHEDULE

Classes will meet Monday through Thursday mornings in a seminar room at the Swedenborg Society, a short walk from Pickwick Hall. Field trips to London sites and museums will occupy some afternoons as well. London theater performances will be scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and/or Thursday evenings. Students are expected to attend all classes and performances and all scheduled group trips.

EXCURSIONS

In addition to frequent class meetings at London museums, historic houses, and other sites of literary and historical interest, group excursions will include trips to sites associated with the English Renaissance, including Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Kenilworth Castle, Hampton Court, Chastleton House, The Royal Observatory, and others. There will be a mid-term break that will allow time for individual travel. Students may also wish to travel independently before or after the program as well as on weekends when group travel is not planned.