Oxford University Summer School Popular with Vacationing Americans

02-15-2011

 

Oxford, England, February 15, 2011—The Royal Wedding may not encourage American visitors, but Oxford University certainly does.  The Oxford Experience—a summer school designed for anyone who would enjoy a one-week course at Oxford—is open to all and is hugely popular with vacationing Americans.  There are no requirements, no papers, no exams.  It’s just an interesting and pleasurable way for Anglophiles to spend a summer week: picnicking in Christ Church Meadow, lolling by the River Cherwell, visiting a stately home and learning something new at the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

 

The program takes place during five weeks, July 10 to August 13. Participants live and study at Christ Church, one of the most prestigious and beautiful of Oxford colleges.  They stay in student accommodations (some with private bath) and dine in the magnificent Tudor Hall made famous by the Harry Potter films. Three meals daily are included in the program: a full English breakfast, a buffet

lunch and a served three-course dinner.  Those who sign up for two or more weeks—and there are many who do—get free bed and breakfast over the intervening weekends.

 

The courses cover some 50 subjects, including: The Challenges of War—Life in Britain 1914-18;  Why Did King Charles Lose His Head?; Opera in the Age of Bel Canto; Ethics—Questions of Life and Death; Shakespeare’s Late Romances; Golden Mycenae, Epic Poetry and Helen of Troy; The Novels of Thomas Hardy; Cotswold Folk Traditions; The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England; The 19^th-Century Crime Novel; and William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

 

Most courses include excursions, which may be to a stately home, a cathedral, or a museum, and on other afternoons there are tours of Christ Church, the city of Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Broughton Castle.  In the evening there may be a pub walk, a lecture on thatching, a whisky tasting, Pimms and croquet in the Masters’ Garden, a performance by traditional Morris dancers or Evensong in the college chapel, which is also the Oxford Cathedral.  Once a week each student is invited to get dressed up and dine on “High Table,” and on the final night everyone gathers for drinks in the flowering Cathedral Garden and a gala farewell dinner in the Hall.

 

The price of a one-week course—including tuition, accommodations and all meals (except those on excursions) is £1,090, or approximately US$1,747.  Excursions and private bathrooms are extra.  The deadline for registration is May 1, but early application is recommended as some courses are already full. Registration is open at http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience.  Information and an application form may also be obtained by writing to The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford  OX1  2JA, U.K.

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