Literary Studies Abroad: London, Stratford and Edinburgh
| Course(s): |
LITR 100, 210, 279 or 314 |
| Credits: |
Three (3) |
| Eligibility: |
Open to all EMU students in good academic standing and guest students. Must be at least 18 years old at the time of travel. |
| Budget: |
Click here for budget information |
Program Overview
This program is an intensive study-abroad seminar for students interested in literature and history. Students will be introduced to important English literary texts from the sixteenth through twenty-first centuries, with special focus on urban experience in London and Edinburgh. By contrast, student will also tour Stratford-Upon Avon. We will ask big questions about literature, history, and how authors from different social backgrounds, identities, and eras shaped and responded to the changes wrought by industrialization, climate change, world war, and imperialism. While visiting the British museum, for example, we will ask what it means to collect and display four hundred million objects (many stolen from other countries). Students will learn how monuments, museums, and memorials inspired writers to think critically about beauty, violence, injustice, national identity, and mortality.
The premise of this program is that touring other countries is its own act of reading: while visiting another world we take in the sights and sounds that have been preserved and constructed for us. England has preserved its traditions by carefully maintaining its historical monuments and architecture, marketing a particular view of English heritage by linking rituals to icons and stories. The second urban location of Edinburgh, Scotland will enable us to consider in depth how English identity and language have always depended on imaginative constructions of mystery, “otherness,” and romantic wildness exemplified in the countless ballads, myths, novels, films, and TV about fearless highland chieftains, “weird sisters,” and the Loch Ness monster. More than fuel for these flights of fantasy, Scotland played a vital role in the unification of England with its surrounding countries (Ireland and Wales). At its height of power in the late nineteenth century, the British Empire spanned a quarter of the world’s land and ruled over 458 million people.
Students will be expected to read most of the texts before the beginning of the trip that forms the basis of the study abroad experience. We will meet as a group approximately four times before traveling to London. These meetings will provide students with an overview of British literary history from the medieval through the contemporary period and give ample time for discussion and getting to know one another before travel. Students will have additional time for reading and writing while traveling.
Program Highlights
- London: Westminster Abby, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, Globe Theater, St Paul’s Cathedral, National Portrait Museum
- Stratford-Upon Avon: Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Trinity Cathedral, Guildhall School, Ann Hathaway’s Cottage
- Edinburgh: Royal Mile Walk, Writer’s Museum, St. Gilles Cathedral, Dunbar’s Garden, Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle
Instructor Information
Professors:
Craig Dionne (Ph.D.) teaches Shakespeare and English Literature at Eastern Michigan University. He has published on Shakespeare and early modern London.
Meg Dobbins (Ph. D.) teaches 19th Century and Victorian English Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies at Eastern Michigan University. Her research focuses on the history of capitalism, gender and sexuality, and the environmental humanities.
On-Campus Class Meetings
This program has mandatory class meetings during Winter semester prior to departure. Meeting dates will be determined and announced to students accepted into the program.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Financial aid and many EMU scholarships may be applied to the tuition and fees for this approved program. Visit the
Office of Financial Aid for more information on how to use your financial aid and scholarships to help cover the costs of studying abroad. Find information on national and EMU scholarships specifically for students that wish to study abroad at
emich.edu/abroad/financialaid/scholarships.