2024 London Seminar in Literature & Culture

London is a city that is at once ancient and modern, and students who pursue the English Department’s London program learn about the city’s history by exploring its present. The topics of the courses we offer in London change every year, but exploring and learning about the city itself is a constant. Every course prominently features London’s many museums and collections—from Tate Britain and the National Gallery to the British Museum, the V&A, and Sir John Soane’s Museum—and introduces students to a range of London’s iconic neighborhoods. Students live and study in Kensington Park, one of London’s most beautiful and exclusive areas and an excellent home base for exploring the city. The cost of the program includes a transportation pass that allows students to travel freely within Central London (zones 1 and 2) by underground and bus.

We believe that the chance to experience London and travel independently is just as important as our course activities. To this end, our classes in London meet Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and program activities are generally scheduled Monday through Thursday, leaving long weekends open to allow students to explore the city and travel beyond it. What London students explore and learn is limited only by their imaginations and interests. In recent years, students in the program have devoted their free time to seeing West End shows at reduced student prices; seeking out experimental theater in and around London; visiting tourist destinations like St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, Greenwich, Hampstead Heath, Kew Gardens, and the palace of Henry VIII at Hampton Court; exploring the city’s underground comics scene; rock climbing in the London suburbs; and traveling to Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, and beyond.