England Semester 2012 Informational Meeting
Curriculum:
Victorian Studies, 4 units—team-taught; fulfills post-1800 historical requirement for
the English major.
21st C British and Irish Theater, 4 units—team-taught; 4 units of credit toward the
English major. Everyone will attend all the plays; those enrolled in this course will
write the papers.
Major author, 4 units—Cheri; fulfills major author requirement for the English
major.
Literature, Pilgrims and Literary Pilgrims, 2 units—team; required of all students
British and Irish Culture and Politics, 2 units—Chris; required of all students, fulfills
communicating cross culturally (part B of Competent and Compassionate Actions GE
requirement)
Leaders:
Dr. Cheri Larsen Hoeckley—professor of English, specialist in Victorian literature,
with research interests in Catholic/Protestant relations and women and property.
Dr. Christian Hoeckley—director of the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts and
adjunct associate professor of philosophy, specialist in philosophy of science with
interests in religious diversity and the ethics of war.
Cost:
Westmont tuition room, board and fees, plus an additional charge for activities and
travel within the Great Britain and Ireland. We are still finalizing that additional fee,
but we expect $2,500 (plus airfare to and from Great Britain).
A day in the life of an England Semester student:
Well no two days are alike, but here are some possibilities
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Lots of reading (really great reading)
Lots of writing (we hope it’s great)
Great discussions of that reading and your ideas in class and over meals
Theater in London
Hiking in the Irish countryside
Worshipping with Benedictine brothers
Visiting Wordsworth’s home
Getting beat by Cheri at name-that-tune, nertz or just about any other game
England Semester 2012 Informational Meeting
Locations
Extended stays:
Bungay (actually outside of Ditchingham which is outside of Bungay), a medieval
village in the Suffolk Fens of eastern England, near the city of Norwich and the North
Sea coast. (The fens are extensive wetlands crisscrossed with rivers and canals and
dotted with windmills.)—two stays totaling five weeks. We’ll stay in a former
convent, now Christian conference center.
London—three stays totaling three weeks. We’ll stay in student housing for our first
stay; the others are yet to be determined.
Northern Ireland in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains—three weeks. We’ll stay
in cottages in the countryside adjacent to a Benedictine monastery committed to
Catholic/Protestant reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Birmingham—two weeks. We’ll stay in stately manor home which now serves as a
Quaker retreat center. Gandhi stayed here on his one visit to England.
Shorter stays:
Edinburgh—for the Fringe Festival
The Lake District—we’ll stay in an ancient manor house adjacent to Wordsworth’s
home
York—home to one of England’s most beautiful gothic cathedrals
Stratford-upon-Avon—Shakespeare’s home and home to the Royal Shakespeare
Company. (You just might pass Patrick Stewart on the sidewalk.)
Canterbury—destination of pilgrims for centuries; we’ll stay on the grounds of the
Canterbury Cathedral
Oxford—we’ll be taking on their debate team ;)
The west coast of Ireland
Day trips:
Coventry—a ruined and resurrected cathedral
Dublin—where the top site is, of all things, a prison
Cambridge—maybe for a little punting
Haworth—home of the Brontë sisters
and many more…