Program Description

COURSE OF STUDY: 16 CREDITS

ENGLISH 290: DIRECTED READING (4 CREDITS, S/CR/NC)
Students will read selected books and essays on English history and culture to provide background for the program; a list of required works will be provided in the fall of 2008 to students accepted to the program. Readings must be completed by the beginning of the Winter term program in London, when a “take-home” exam essay on them will be due.

ENGLISH 380: LONDON THEATER (6 CREDITS)
The group will attend productions of classical 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, production and direction decisions, acting styles, and design. Guest speakers will include actors, critics, and directors. Students will keep a theater journal and develop entries into full reviews of plays.

Instructors: Greg Hewett and Jane Edwardes (Theater Editor of Time Out.)

ENGLISH 381: READING LONDON, WRITING LONDON (6 CREDITS)
 The course will center on the neglected genre of the essay. We will read and discuss historical and contemporary British essayists for an understanding of rhetoric and aesthetics, for insight into London and as models for writing. Each student will write a series of creative nonfiction essays based on cultural artifacts and sites from various periods in London’s history, including the present. These may include portraits from the Tate Gallery, sculpture from the British Museum, churches by Christopher Wren, manuscripts from the British Library, pubs, clubs (both of the old-fashioned gentlemen’s and the dance variety!) and Harrods department store. In the tradition of the essay, the writing for this course will combine personal and critical perspectives. Through workshops and revision, each writer will learn strategies for effectively establishing his or her own voice in order to confront the vast tableaux of history with confidence.

Instructor: Greg Hewett

HOUSING

Students will stay in double, triple or quadruple rooms at Pickwick Hall, 7 Bedford Place, London WCIB 5JE, conveniently located in central London (the Bloomsbury district), near the British Museum and within walking distance of a number of London theaters. Students will have breakfast at the hotel and eat lunch and dinner on their own with an allowance provided by the program. The hotel includes a common kitchen, a lounge with high-speed Internet access and two computers, and laundry facilities.

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 all scheduled group trips and theater outings.

EXCURSIONS

Group excursions will likely include trips to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, to Bath, and possibly to the Lake District, as well as visits to London museums, historic houses and gardens, and other sites of literary interest. There will be a one-week mid-term break that will permit time for individual travel. Students may, of course, travel on their own before or after the program and during weekends when group travel is not planned.