CREDITS: 6

COURSE DESCRIPTION: VICTORIANS AND OTHERS

The great Victorian-era authors were the popular entertainers of their time. Readers eagerly awaited their books-especially when the books were released in serial installments-just as we anticipate the next big Hollywood blockbuster sequel. Over time, most of the serial novelists have been forgotten, but a few authors have gained lasting literary credibility.

The central goal of this class is to closely analyze Victorian novels and our experiences of them as readers. We consider elements of structure and content, characters, ideas, themes, motifs and more-searching for the unique combination of artistry and entertainment that still endears these works to modern readers.

In order to facilitate our discoveries, we immerse ourselves in the worlds of the authors and their stories by studying Victorian society and customs. Perhaps more importantly, we also immerse ourselves by stepping out of the classroom (flying over the Atlantic!) and studying in and among the places where these writers lived and the places they wrote about. We study and enjoy these works experientially, going where the traditional classroom cannot take us. We attempt to revive and revisit the real worlds that dwell inside the printed page.

VICTORIAN LITERATURE GRADING:

OnLine Message Boards-50%

Final Paper-20%

Participation during the on-site course-30%

Journal

For two weeks prior to the departure date and for two weeks after returning (allotting a one-week recuperation period), students will answer online essay questions for each texts and will respond to each other's answers in a message board format.

Essay Exams

During our stay in England, students complete two essay exams worth 15% each.

Final Paper

After completion of the program and return to the US, students are required to write a 7-10 page formal paper focusing on one work or author.

Participation

Participation grade depends on attendance, focus, vigorous scholarship, and positive contributions to classroom discussion throughout the course.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: BRITISH CULTURE AND SOCIETY EXPERIENCE

Although your main focus of study will be on Victorian Literature, an inevitable and valuable byproduct of your time in England will be your encounter with contemporary British culture and all facets of British history dating back to the Anglo-Saxon and Roman periods (and even earlier). To facilitate and enrich your experience with British culture and history, you will read Hibbert's The Story of England prior to departure, and you will keep abreast of current events in online UK news sources. While in England you will visit famous historical and contemporary sites and you will keep a comprehensive but informal written journal of your encounters with British history and culture.

BRITISH CULTURE AND SOCIETY EXPERIENCE GRADING:

Journal-50%

Essay Response to Hibbert's Story of England-25%

Participation during on-site program-25%

Journal

You will keep a hand- or type-written journal of your experiences during the three-week program. Minimum requirements are seven pages per week (handwritten on normal 8x10 aper or double-spaced typewritten), for a total of 21 pages minimum. Specific assignments such as theater critiques, news story responses, museum analyses, and observations about site visits will be assigned.

Essay Response

The final essay of 4-5 typewritten pages will be due August 1, 2006. This essay will be a synthesis of information from Hibbert's text and your own experience visiting historical sites in England.

Particpation

All students will be expected to be intellectually engaged with the program sites and excursions and be able to draw connections between history and experience during group discussions.

COURSE READINGS (BOTH COURSES):

All course readings should be completed prior to departure.

Note: Please purchase the exact editions mentioned below (ISBN numbers provided). They may be more expensive than some other editions, but they provide excellent introductions and notes; also, precise editions will make in-cass discussions much easier to facilitate.

Required:

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens (Penguin Classics)
ISBN 0140435220

Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy (Penguin Classics)
ISBN 0140431268

Middlemarch, George Eliot (Penquin Classics)
ISBN 0140439548

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (Penguin Classics)
ISBN 0140434186

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll (Penguin Classics)
ISBN 0140433171

Poems and Letters, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Everyman's Library Pocket Books)
ISBN 1400040221

The Story of England, Christopher Hibbert (Phaidon Books) ISBN 0714826529

Recommended References:

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Daniel Pool
ISBN 0671882368

READING SCHEDULE

  • Oliver Twist and Madding Crowd should be read before May 11, 2006.
  • Wuthering Heights should be read before May 18, 2006.
  • The Story of England should be read before departure on May 25, 2006.
  • Alice and Looking Glass should be read by June 7, 2006.
  • Poems and Letters should be read by June 26, 2006.
  • Middlemarch should be read by July 1, 2006.

    ITINERARY

    LONDON: A modern Metropolis, and one of the greatest cities in the world, London is a vast collection of distinct neighborhoods. The program begins with approximately a week in London researching and revisiting the Victorian era, the antique aura of which can still be evoked in areas like Paddington and Bloomsbury (the 19th Century squalor, thankfully, shall remain mainly in our imaginations). Special emphasis is placed on Charles Dickens and his works. We will tour the Dickens House, Westminster Abbey (Dickens' final resting place), and the British Library. Course time is also reserved for other sites such as the British Museum, The Globe Theater, and the Tower of London. "Free days" are also reserved for students' personal interests.

    DORCHESTER: A picturesque rural city, Dorchester is just miles from the Dorset coast in southern England, steeped in sheep-grazing countryside. Dorchester is known as Casterbridge in Thomas Hardy's novels, and here we visit the Thomas Hardy Museum and Hardy's home, Max Gate. We also tour sites throughout Dorchester that directly or indirectly evoke the work of Hardy, particularly concerning Far From the Madding Crowd. OXFORD: The University center of Oxford is a majestic collection of colleges (39 of them) built among the busy market streets. Oxford is over a thousand years of intricate architecture and towering golden spires, and it's also a summer haven of green lawns and leisurely boating on the Cherwel and Isis Rivers. We explore the academic atmosphere and customs that inspired and confounded Lewis Carroll's absurd imagination.

    HAWORTH: This remote Yorkshire village evoks the Victorian Era most vividly, with its stone houses, sooty mills and steep cobblestone streets. Perhaps even more striking are the foggy moorlands surrounding Haworth, the perfect atmosphere to conceive Emily Bronte's gloomy Wuthering Heights. Here we hike the moors, tour the Bronte Museum and visit other sites of Bronte interest.

    NOTE: Due to the mobile nature ofthis course, we often travel on foot, sometimes a few miles a day, sometimes on uneven countryside. Please plan accordingly with proper attire, fitness, and disposition. Waterproof hiking shoes are essential. However, if you cannot participate in these events, please let me know so we can make alternate study arrangements.

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