Study Away in the UK—Fall 2010

This is the next edition of a Study Away program that has been successfully conducted since 1969. Its purpose is to acquaint students of English, Theatre Arts, and other interested departments with aspects of the culture, literature, and theatre of the British Isles, and to give them “on the ground” life experience in the UK.

Program Faculty:
Dr. Srdjan Smajic, English
Dr. Jay Oney, Theatre Arts

Who is eligible? Furman undergraduate Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores majoring primarily in English and Theatre Arts, but Furman students of any declared major may apply and be accepted to the program. Priority is given to rising Seniors and Juniors; a few exceptional rising Sophomores may be accepted to the program. Essential qualifications include being in good standing academically and socially on campus, having adequate grade point average (3.0 and higher preferred), and demonstrating (in written application and personal interview) a serious interest in the announced program of travel and study.

Orientation sessions will be conducted during Spring Term 2010 at times and in places to be arranged. No time during Fall Term 2010 will be spent on campus.


RESIDENCES:
During the Ireland-Britain coach tour, at selected hotels
In Dublin at Trinity College
In Stratford-upon-Avon, at selected bed-and-breakfasts
In London, at the Royal National Hotel, near Birkbeck College and the British Museum
During Independent Travel, at hotels, hostels, or bed-and-breakfasts of the student's choice


FEES:
The Program Fee will be the University's standard fee for tuition, room, and board during Fall Term, 2010.
Included within the Program Fee are:
tuition for sixteen credit hours of course work
round-trip air transportation from U.S. to London
inter-city coach, train, or air transportation within the UK except for the independent travel period
hotel accommodations during coach tours, in Dublin, in London, and in Stratford, but excluding the independent travel period
breakfasts daily in hotels except in Dublin and during the independent travel period
dinner meals in Stratford-upon-Avon
tickets and admissions to all required class-related activities and performances
a food allowance of $2400, WHICH WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM UNIVERSITY FEES NOT PROVIDED TO STUDENTS IN CASH ($30 per day for 80 days, excluding 10 days in Stratford, where breakfasts and dinners are provided, 10 days independent travel, and departure/arrival days to and from the UK)
a health insurance policy that will be honored in U.K. and European health-care systems

Expressly excluded from the Program Fee are the following:
local travel between home or Furman and the point of international travel departure
all expenses incurred during the independent travel period
local transportation during the London, Dublin, or other residences
expenditures on meals exceeding the $2400 meal fee remission
incidental expenses for food, entertainment, travel
personal care services or products, gifts, books, newspapers, items purchased to be shipped or carried home, customs duties, etc

All scholarships typically credited to a student's semester costs at Furman will apply towards total program cost. This includes federal, state and Furman institutional financial aid. Students receiving third-party scholarships should confirm with the funding source that the aid does not carry any restrictions related to study abroad.
Typical experiences in past years suggest that students will need approximately $2000-4000 in discretionary funds to cover expenses for meals not included in the University's fee, local transportation, independent travel expenses, and incidental personal expenses. Additional funds should be taken for gifts at the discretion of the student and parents or guardian.


INDEPENDENT TRAVEL:
The week-and-a-half independent travel period will allow students to travel to Europe or within the British Isles as part of a self-designed plan. Travel is subject to U.S. government prohibitions. Students are encouraged to travel in small groups for purposes of safety and mutual support. Larger groups are discouraged. In the interest of making the independent travel period a truly independent study experience, parental accompaniment of the student during independent travel is discouraged unless it is understood that the student will take the lead in directing and arranging the travel.

SELECTION PROCESS:
The application deadline is Friday, January 15, 2010. Drs. Smajic and Oney will review applications and interview applicants during the remainder of January and early February and will announce selections by February 12, 2010.

DEPOSIT: Students selected for the program should be prepared to pay a non-refundable deposit of $500 along with a completed Financial Agreement form (template available online at www.furman.edu/international) by Friday, February 26, 2010.

FINANCIAL AID: There are a few scholarships available for Study Abroad. Inquiry may be made to the Financial Aid Office.


PROSPECTUS: All information contained here is of a prospective nature, and is subject to change for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, faculty and administrative approvals, political considerations, and changes in transportation scheduling and operating expenses.


APPLICATION FORMS may be obtained in mid-November from Ms. Wendy Bremer in the English Department office in Furman Hall.


INFORMATIONAL MEETING FOR PROSPECTIVE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: 
Thursday, 19 November, 2009 at 4:30 pm in McEachern Hall in Furman Hall, second floor.

Summary of the Program:

10-day residence and study program in Stratford upon Avon
1-day coach travel and ferry from Stratford to Dublin
8-day residence and study program at Trinity College, Dublin
10-day coach tour of Northern Ireland and western Ireland. Stops may include Belfast, Derry, Donegal, Sligo, and Galway. Sites visited may include the Giants Causeway, the Aran Islands, the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, a peat bog, and Clonmacnoise
14-day coach tour from Ireland to Bath. Stops may include Carlisle, the Lake District, Hadrian’s Wall, Edinburgh in Scotland, York, Richmond, and Durham
1-day coach tour to London via Stonehenge and Winchester
44-day residence and study program in London
12-day period for independent travel
2 days in London before departure
102 days total (including departure and return days)
At each tour site specified above, there will be lectures, briefings, and visits to places of literary, theatrical, and cultural significance

Course offerings:

ENG 342, 4 credits, Modern British & American Drama, Smajic, Oney
ENG 343, 4 credits, Drama in Stratford, Oney—VP GER credit pending
ENG 306, 4 credits, Victorian Literature and Culture, Smajic—TA GER credit
ENG 345, 4 credits, Travel Study in the British Isles/Pre-Raphaelites, Aesthetes, and Decadents, Smajic
THA 350, 4 credits, Travel Study in the UK/The English Playhouse, Oney

All 5 of these courses are regular catalog courses. All students will take ENG 342 and ENG 343, which provide major credit for both English and Theatre Arts. They must choose 2 or the 3 remaining courses for a total of 16 credits. ENG 345 and 306 provide English major credit. THA 350 provides Theatre Arts credit. Visual and Performing Arts credit for ENG 343 is pending.

ENG 342, Modern British & American Drama is a playgoing and review writing course where the group will attend/discuss performances in Dublin, London, and elsewhere. Some plays will be required reading before departure.

ENG 343, Drama in Stratford is an intensive study of Shakespearean performance conducted by the Shakespeare Institute, which is affiliated with the University of Birmingham. The group will hear from scholars, actors, and technicians and also attend many performances. Currently scheduled are King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, an adaptation of Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar. Students will read the Shakespeare titles before departure.

ENG 306, Victorian Literature and Culture, is the study of Victorian fiction, poetry, and prose with an emphasis on major social, cultural, and political concerns and debates in nineteenth-century Britain: industrialization and modernization, ideologies of class and gender, evolutionary theory and religious ambivalence, new developments in aesthetic theory and literary form. Authors studied may include Carlyle, Ruskin, Dickens, Eliot, Browning, Tennyson, Pater, Morris, and Wilde.

ENG 345, Travel Study in the British Isles/ Pre-Raphaelites, Aesthetes, and Decadents will focus primarily on the visual artwork of ground-breaking Victorians in comparison with their literary output.

THA 350/Travel Study in the United Kingdom/The English Playhouse will examine historical and current English theatrical performance venues. Site visits will include the outdoor staging route of the York Mystery Cycle plays, cathedral staging of liturgical plays, the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe, the Whitehall Banquet House, where Jacobean court masques were staged, a restored 18th-century playhouse, tours of Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres, as well as examination of all performances spaces where the group sees productions. Students will keep a detailed diary concerning each venue they visit.