Course Description
The much-debated and highly publicized June 2016 “Brexit” referendum, in which a narrow majority of British citizens voted to leave the European Union, made newly apparent what has, in fact, been a centuries-old dynamic between the British Isles (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales) and the European continent. This messy divorce, now surpassing its tenth anniversary, has also revealed tensions within the UK itself, such as the uneasy question of Scottish independence from England, and anxiety over Northern Ireland’s position in the UK vis-à-vis the Republic of Ireland. Other divisions abound too, typified by “Megxit” and the near breakup of the beloved English Premier League a few years back. Add into the mix racial, class and religious tensions; a weakened Labour Party; and concern about the vaunted, beloved National Health Service (NHS) as it continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the future of the House of Windsor under the leadership of King Charles III, while everyone (eagerly?) awaits the eventual succession of Prince William and his consort, Katherine: everywhere you look, questions emerge and divisive challenge abounds. Can the United Kingdom hold itself together?
Honors College students enrolling in the UK program will have the opportunity to answer this question first-hand. In the spring semester, in IDH 4007, we will emphasize both coherence plus unity, and division and tension, as we study the dual strands of English and Scottish history, culture, religion, literature and art, and advances in science, technology, medicine and engineering from the pre-Roman and Roman eras, through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Restoration and Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, Victorian and Edwardian ages, the World Wars of the last century, and right up to the present. This learning about the United Kingdom, England and Scotland, will then be tested and extended in situ, as participants travel in the summer, under the IDH 4008 rubric, observing first-hand, in London and Edinburgh, Inverness and Manchester, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, if despair and dismay over Brexit and Megxit is real, or not. “United we stand. Divided we fall”: does Churchill’s famous formulation, spoken in June 1941, still apply in speaking of the UK today?
In this, the seventh year of this Study Abroad program, we will begin our travels in London and the southeast, for our first two weeks. Then, over two more weeks, we will journey northward, first to York and Yorkshire then on to Edinburgh and Inverness. Following a few days in the Scottish Highlands, we will head to the English Lake District, followed by visits to the important and vibrant northern cities, Manchester and Liverpool. We will conclude our month of travel and learning in Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and the Cotswolds.
There is too much in London and the whole of the UK and Scotland to ever encompass it “all” in the space of just one month; that said, your travels in London and the southeast, and then in the north, Scotland, and the Midlands will provide you an excellent introduction to the UK, vastly deepening your understanding of this fabled nation-state and its current position in the world.
For more information on the travel portion of the two-semester program, please refer to its Study Abroad page.