Literary London

Important Info

Application Deadline:  March 1, 2013.

Payment Deadline: April 15, 2013

Approximate Program Fee:  $2700 plus tuition and fees (appr. $1500 in-state for undergrads, $2400 for grads).  Students can apply for financial aid.

The program cost covers round-trip airfare from Buffalo to London, all travel costs in England, all fees for museums and excursions, dorm costs, and daily breakfast and dinner.   Applications are available in the International Studies Office in LoGrasso Hall, and can be downloaded from the International Education website here.

The London Program provides students with the opportunity to study in London with two faculty members. The program involves two separate courses, one on Women Writers whose work focuses on London and a second course that varies each year.  Past courses have included Postcolonial Studies in London, and  Major Author study of Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens. The two-week course involves daily discussion sections and outings to study archival materials and related historical, art and design exhibits in London museums. Students will also take day trips to various locations, such as Oxford and Stonehenge, and have a chance to live and study in the heart of Bloomsbury.

More photos are available in the Study Abroad photo gallery.

Literary London: Mapping Englishness

July 5-July 21, 2013

The London Program features two separate courses for undergraduates and graduate students, and a variety of content-related learning experiences in central London.

ENGL 404.01/520.01 "Transnational Identities and Spatial Politics"
Professor Jeanette McVicker

"Englishness" is often dated back to the mythical days of King Arthur. This course will focus on the way literary texts utilize spatial politics in the construction of English identity, taking a transnational view that starts with Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the origins of Stonehenge from stones mined in Africa! From Camelot to the cosmopolitan capital of London, the course will include texts by Thomas Malory, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, Ian McEwen and Hanif Kureshi, among others.  

ENGL 404.02/520.01 Women Writing London
Professor Adrienne McCormick

National identities intersect in complex ways with gender. In this course, we will examine texts that explore how gender intersects with nation as both a geographical space that women and men occupy in distinct ways and an imagined community that is also largely informed by gendered ideas of citizenship.  Texts will include contemporary poetry, drama, and fiction, and will treat a range of moments in London's history, from Roman Londinium to the turns of the 20th and 21st centuries.  Authors may include Bernardine Evaristo, Carol Ann Duffy, Caryl Churchill, Zadie Smith, Monica Ali, Moniza Alvi, Penelope Lively, and Ali Smith.

Excursions of interest feature an angel tour at Highgate Cemetary, research on Roman London and militant suffragists at the Museum of London, and on Virginia Woolf at her home in Sussex, and in the holdings of the Women’s Library. Other excursions may include trips to view the design history and fashion trends in Britain at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Textiles and Design, exploring the Indian and Bangladeshi communities of London at Brick Lane, as well as related exhibits at the British Library, the British Museum, and the Tate Modern. Students will also get to visit Oxford, touring the campuses and seeing what college life in England is like. We will also take a day trip to Stonehenge, Avebury, and the West Kennet Long Barrow. Time in London will also be allowed for general sightseeing, so that students can experience the London Eye, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tower of London and the like. 

Please contact Adrienne McCormick for additional information.


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