London, England

Linda Robertson, Rhetoric (Fall '01)

Hobart and William Smith students outside of St. Paul's Cathedral, London; 1999

The fall semester program in London is one of the oldest international programs sponsored by the Colleges. It is designed to provide students with a variety of academic and cultural experiences in one of the world's leading cities. As with the last four programs the term in London will include a required internship with a local business, agency or organization (see information below).

PROGRAM DATES
August 29 to December 16, 2001

ACCOMMODATIONS
Students will reside in flats with full kitchen facilities in central London. Students will travel on public transportation -- underground (the "Tube") and bus -- to and from the residences and classes and to and from the residences and internship locations. In this way they will be able to experience life in a large urban setting and live and commute to work as Londoners.

EXCURSIONS
The following field trips are tentatively being planned: Battlefields and Monuments of the World Wars: The Somme and Normandy; The Globe Theater; a walking tour of Shakespeare's London; British Imperial War Museum; other optional excursions may also be organized.

ELIGIBILITY
In addition to good academic standing with a GPA of 2.5 or above. Students will be required to submit a strong personal statement that outlines clearly why participation in the program would help fulfill academic and personal goals.

APPROXIMATE COSTS
Students will be charged a basic program fee that is equivalent to the normal on-campus semester tuition, $500 administrative fee, and the normal room charge, $15,182, plus the cost of a public travel pass in central London. This fee will provide pick up at the London airport, the housing, the courses (including the internship), and excursions. Not covered will be the roundtrip airfare, the cost of meals, personal items and individual travel. We estimate those costs at $3400, but they will vary according to individual tastes and needs.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Students will take the following four courses:

Shaping Memory and Desire: World War 1 in Great Britain (Robertson) A course on history and memory of World War 1, intended to reflect upon the formative influence of the Great War on the Twentieth century. In Great Britain, there were two Myths of the Great War. The one which emerged from the War Poets was that it was promulgated by old men who betrayed a generation of idealists. The Official Story was that it constituted a defense of "civilization" against the "barbarian". What have been the cultural and political consequences of this contested understanding? How have these differences crossed the Atlantic and affected the public understanding of the role of the United States, which emerged from the twentieth century as the major military and cultural power in the world? How are we in the twenty first century to negotiate these differences between history, memory, and propaganda to form our own vision of the desirable role of culture in shaping social consciousness? What is the role of the artists and the propagandist in shaping both memory and desire?

Shakespeare Now! (Robertson) The reproduction of the Globes Theater as a venue for mounting Shakespeare's plays in their "original" setting offers a rich array of opportunities for investigating the understanding of art in an era that hungers for reproduction as a sign of the authentic. The course will take several of the plays under production at the Globe as tests; and will allow students as well to gain an insight into how the theater and its historical aura affect the production, design, and direction of the plays staged there. The aim of the course will be to trace both the cultural value assigned to "Shakespeare," as well as the role played by the audience in shaping contemporary understanding and interpretation of Shakespeare's plays.

Mass Media and Society in Great Britain (Robertson) The issues confronting Great Britain in an era of electronic communication are similar to those confronting the United States, including the wholesale retreat from government regulation to prevent monopoly control over information. The differences in tradition and regulation are of considerable interest to anyone interested in the relationship between the mass media, culture, and information in an open society. Great Britain, for instance, as with Europe in general, retains a significant portion of the broadcast band in government control and charges subscriber fees to support programming generated for those channels. There is also greater tolerance for government subsidies of the arts in Great Britain. How does the political economy of the publishing industry, the press, the arts, and television relate to the representation of significant cultural and political values in Great Britain-particularly as they relate to government subsidy and regulation? What challenges are facing the traditional role of the government in subsidizing the performing arts, museums, and television programming for education and entertainment? What light do these differences and similarities shed on the role of the government in these areas in the United States?

Equiv. 455: Internship The internships are arranged by Euro-Employ, a non-profit educational organization acting as the Colleges' agent in London. Students will be matched as far as possible with their particular field of study/interests and the internship placement by Euro-Employ. Students will normally work three days per week and the entire group will meet periodically in a seminar setting to discuss work experiences. Internship positions are available in: advertising and public relations, arts administration, architecture, banking, businesses - accounting, marketing, personnel, planning and retailing, etc., education, health care, law firms, medical research, museums & art galleries, politics, pressure groups, publishing, social services and theater, and urban planning. The internships should be of particular interest to media and society majors who are required to complete an internship as a course equivalent.