Program Description

DIRECTOR

Professor Constance Walker

Constance Walker is a member of Carleton’s English department and regularly teaches classes in Romantic poetry and prose, Jane Austen, and British comedy. She has previously directed the London seminar in 1990, 1994, 2000, and 2005.

PREREQUISITES

The seminar is open to students of any major at Carleton. Prior to the start of the program, all participants are expected to have completed English 110 or 111.

OVERVIEW

Literature, theater, and the arts flourish in London. The city has a rich literary and cultural past and present and is arguably the pre-eminent world city for theater. The goal of the London program is to provide Carleton students an immersion experience in this rich milieu; to see and discuss a wide variety of the best performances on offer; and to make use of local museums and other sites to enrich their understanding of English literature and culture.

COURSE OF STUDY: 16 CREDITS

ENGLISH 290-07 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 2010 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. Instructor: Constance Walker

ENGLISH 282: 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 several entries into full reviews of plays. Instructor: Constance Walker

ENGLISH 281: REGENCY LONDON (6 CREDITS)

The British Regency (1811-1820) was an era of extraordinary political, intellectual, and social volatility and vitality. With London as our classroom, we will explore the history of the Regency by means of its magnificent public and domestic architecture, its fashion and décor, its fine arts, and its literature, including the poetry of Byron, Shelley, and Keats, the essays of Hazlitt and Lamb, and the novels of Austen. Field trips will include visits to the Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Library, Sir John Soane's Museum, Dennis Severs’ House, and the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Instructor: Constance Walker

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 hostel and eat lunch and dinner on their own with an allowance provided by the program. The hostel 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, to Chawton, and to Portsmouth, as well as to London museums, historic houses, 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 independently before or after the program and on weekends when group travel is not planned.