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Curriculum

It is preferred that students taking this program have completed English 10A, 10B and 10C or the equivalent.

Required Courses:
10 quarter units

English 169A: Special Topics in British Studies (5 units).
English 181E: Specialized Studies in Romantic Literature (5 units).

English 169A. This course will provide students the necessary contextual and historical framework with which to understand the cultural developments of the Romantic period in Britain, with a strong emphasis on the early part of the period (1789-1805). Readings will include fiction and poetry as well as significant exposure to noncanonical writing, such as revolutionary ballads, pamphlets, handbills, journals, and songs. The course will combine readings and lectures with first-hand explorations of the period's traces in London, through visits to galleries and museums, the surviving gathering places of writers and revolutionaries, and walking tours of various London neighborhoods.

English 181E. This course will focus on the poet, engraver, artist and printer William Blake (1757-1827), who remains the least understood figure of the Romantic period. For much of the twentieth century, scholars considered Blake to be an enigmatic visionary working in isolation from the rest of the universe. Recent scholarship has, however, revealed the nature and extent of Blake's connections to the worlds of printmaking, religious enthusiasm, and revolutionary politics in the 1790s and later. Through a variety of readings and visits to museums, field trips to Blake's surviving homes, as well as visits to the London collections housing some of Blake's greatest work in their original form (most of which are not ordinarily on public display), we will explore Blake's writing in relation to the turbulent period in which he produced his most exciting work.

Optional Course:
4 quarter units

English 199: Directed Research (requires instructor consent)

Students who wish to supplement the learning process covered in the two required courses may seek the instructor's approval to expand their paper into a longer project, which will require additional research and writing. There is an additional fee for this independent study course.

Grading

Grades for both courses will be determined by student attendance and participation in discussion as well as an essay that will integrate and address themes and materials from both courses. Papers will be due by the end of the summer quarter.

Schedule

All schedules, itineraries, and group activities are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.

Each week will include one classroom day combining lecture and discussion (3-4 hours total), one walking tour day, and one day for visiting museums, galleries and archival collections. In their free time students will be encouraged to explore London on their own.

Textbooks

Textbook information will be available at a later date. You are responsible for purchasing your own textbooks. We strongly suggest that you read as much of the text material as possible before you depart.