London Winter

This class is a unique opportunity to study the principles of intercultural communication while exploring real-life settings in one of the world’s most diverse cities. Class time includes discussing readings from communication and anthropology and taking field trips to some of London’s ethnic neighborhoods, including a few Hollywood movies! Imagine a scavenger hunt to find ethnic shops, cultural cuisine, street markets, festivals, theaters, and local institutions. Collect, identify, and catalog cultural artifacts while immersing yourself in these communities and engaging with locals. Enhance your understanding of cultures and how to communicate across diverse cultures. Gather new insights and skills to make you an excellent world traveler.

You've read the books and seen the movies. Now explore the Harry Potter phenomenon in contemporary British culture on-site in London. In our course, we will analyze and write about the film adaptations of Harry Potter and how they illustrate the issues involved when literature is converted into movies. We’ll also explore sites in Oxford and London that inspired the books and provided unforgettable locations for the movies, such as the London Zoo and Hampton Court Palace, in addition to touring the Harry Potter exhibit at Warner Brothers London studios. Muggles and wizards welcome!

We will encounter vampires, ghosts, murder, and cemeteries--in Gothic literature and in person as we explore London. Readings by Stoker, Walpole, Keats, Mary Shelley, Coleridge, Rowling, and Stevenson will inform our adventures in Highgate Cemetery, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London. In addition to exploring Jack the Ripper sites, we will experience Gothic architecture. If you enjoy sublime scenery and gruesome acts, join this journey through the Gothic tradition.

Explore the history of London by focusing on the people of London at key moments in the city’s history between 1600 and 1830. We’ll read their eyewitness accounts and then visit city sites linked to their stories. We’ll imagine Shakespeare’s London while visiting the Globe Theatre and appreciate how London recovered from the Great Fire from under the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. We’ll grasp what medieval London was like at the Tower of London and recreate Victorian London at Dickens’s House. Exhibits on London’s history at the Museum of London and the British Museum will further enrich our understanding of what Londoners have experienced over the centuries.

Witness first-hand the management and administration of arts and culture organizations in London and learn how those institutions compare with their counterparts in the U.S. By visiting such sites as the Globe Theatre, the Royal Albert Concert Hall, the National Gallery, and the British Museum and Library, gain unique insights into the preservation and conservation of national culture, as well as a comparative understanding of the financial challenges faced by non-profit institutions. In addition, the influence and impact of tourism will be explored during visits to acclaimed historic sites, such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Stonehenge.

Bram Stoker's novel Dracula relied on new ideas in scientific psychology. In this class, we will explore developing ideas about hypnosis, sexuality, paranoia, hysteria, masochism, spirituality, and evolutionary continuity while examining how they were employed in Dracula. We will visit locations relevant to Stoker's life as well as his writing of Dracula, including Highgate Cemetery, the London Zoo, the British Museum, the Lyceum Theater (where Stoker worked), and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

As depicted in the 2014 film The King’s Speech, King George VI famously declared, “I have a right to be heard. I have a voice!” And thanks to speech therapy services in 1920s London, the king did indeed find his voice. This class explores the changing world of healthcare through the lens of speech-language therapy services. You will meet with therapists and advocates for speech therapy while also visiting the Royal College of Speech Language Pathology. This class will help you understand the experiences of speech-language patients and provide perspectives on aspects of the British National Health Service to compare and contrast with the “open-market” healthcare system in the U.S.

Discover the thrilling world of London and explore English culture through professional theatre. Experience a diverse range of current productions, from the classics to the cutting edge; we will examine cultural trends and social issues through the lens of the theatre. The influence of English history will come alive as students visit theatres, museums, historic sites (e.g., Stratford-upon-Avon, the National Theatre, the Globe Theatre, Westminster Abbey, and more), and attend notable and dynamic theatre productions. Group discussions will be a vital part of class time in London, and guests from the field will visit the class on location.