European Literary Trails: Study  Abroad  Program
Director: Professor Jolanta W. Wawrzycka

Program Curriculum & Cost Program Rules Final Project Travel Chest

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Curriculum; Duration: Cost; Materials.

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ENGL 201 Masterpieces of World Lit. ENGL 201 fulfils general education literature requirement in Area 4: Humanities. 

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ENGL 314 Topics in Literature. ENGL 314 may be used to meet the optional Area 4 requirement if you wish to take nine instead of six hours in Humanities.  It should also be of interest to you if you are an English major and minor, IDSE with an English concentration, or if you are Art, Design, History (etc.) major and take elective courses in English.  ENGL 314 may be taken twice for credit when the topics differ; you can, therefore, enroll in the course again, even if you have already received credit for ENGL 314.

  •  ENGL 470, ENGL 498, ENGL 680, & ENGL 698 can also be arranged (see Courses).

Attention Honors Academy students: you can CONTRACT either ENGL 201 or ENGL 314 and receive Honors credit.

APPLICATION FORMS for the program are available from the International Education office.  The DEADLINE for deposits is December 1.

Course Description:  you can preview sample itinerary by checking out calendars for Maymester 2004Maymester 2005, and Maymester 2006.
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In Ireland (current destination), we travel to Dublin, Sligo, Galway, and Aran Island, the literary sites associated with James Joyce, G. B. Shaw, W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory and the Irish Revival.  We also visit Glendalough, the site of the 6th-Century Celtic monastery of St. Kevin.  To be arranged--a possible  lecture at the University College, Dublin, and/or other schools. Readings: Dubliners  by James Joyce; poems by W. B. Yeats (poetry to be downloaded from iTunesU by registered  participants each  Spring semester); Course Pack on Ireland and on "Irish Revival" (current for Maymester 2008).

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In Italy (current destination), we travel to Tuscany, the cradle of European late medieval and Renaissance cultures: in Florence you can trace the steps of Dante Alighieri (Divine Comedy) and visit the Uffizi, the Academy, the Duomo & Baptisery, etc. Possible side trips to Siena and San Gimignano offer invaluable insights into Tuscan history.  Readings: Course Pack on art and literature:, on Italian Renaissance, on Florence and on Tuscany (current for Maymester 2008).

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In England (last traveled--2002), we stay in that famous suburb of London (overshadowed by the British Museum) called Bloomsbury, where British Modernism—fostered by Virginia Woolf—was born.  Among London’s many other literary-historical sites, we visit the Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner, St. Paul Cathedral, the Tower of London, and the Globe Theatre to see a play by William Shakespeare. Time permitting, we also visit the Canterbury Cathedral, site of the13th-Century murder of Thomas-á-Beckett (and the subject of a play by the Modernist T. S. Eliot).  Readings: Course Pack on London and on Bloomsbury (Maymester 2002 only).

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In France (last traveled--2002), we stay primarily in Paris and visit the Left Bank literary sites associated with James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and many other Modernist writers.  Visits to Notre Dame, the Louvre, D’Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower provide additional attractions, as does a field trip to the Palace of Versailles. Readings: Course Pack on Paris and the Literary Left Bank (Maymester 2002 only).

Final Projects:  I invite you to treat this program as a sophisticated field trip. Your final project will be to compile an interdisciplinary electronic Travel Portfolio, i.e., a web site, that presents your journey and that logs-on your literary/cultural experiences. The project will be due approximately two months after we return, at the end of RU Summer III.  You will be evaluated on the following bases:

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in ENGL 201, you will submit a web site with travel photographs and descriptions of places you visited, all in the context of reading/writing assignments that anchor your personal and cultural experiences abroad.

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in ENGL 314, you will submit a website that presents reading/writing assignments, photographs, and personal literary logs, as well as  research component in the form of additional information about literary/cultural places (with links to those sites).

  • All other courses will be customized according to students' interests.

Course-Related Activities: Prior to departure, each Spring semester, you will have to attend all mandatory pre-departure sessions.  Individual sessions will be arranged if you wish to contract a course for honors credit. During a mandatory Friday afternoon workshops (November through April, every 3-4 weeks, as needed), you will hear lectures relevant to our trip and pick up Course Pack materials for study prior to departure.  Your participation in pre-departure sessions will be reflected in your grade (missing all or most of them will result in removal of your name from the Program). 

Duration of Study Abroad Program: the program will start around mid-May each year and end in the first week of June.  The final deadline for submitting your final projects will coincide with the end of Summer III, though an "Incomplete" option allows you to submit your project any time during the Fall semester.

Cost:  It varies from year to year, depending on the Euro/Dollar exchange rate. The current cost estimate for 3 weeks in 2 countries is about $4,800.00 -- $5,000.00  (but PLEASE SCHEDULE A MEETING with me to see the details) and it includes tuition (3 credit hours); all accommodations; most meals; round trip airfare to Dublin, Ireland; round trip airfare from Dublin to Rome; all ground transfers and transportation; and all admissions.  Since you purchase your own transatlantic ticket to and from Dublin, you are likely to save additional $$$ (which makes the estimated figure much smaller). When reservations are being made in January & February; the total cost may need to be adjusted by additional $100-150.00 by February 15 due to dollar/euro exchange fluctuation.  Financial Aid is available to all qualifying students. You get a detailed, updated Cost Sheet when you enroll in the program.

Eligibility: open to all RU students and all Academic Levels, though there are the following prerequisites:

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for students enrolling in ENGL 201, demonstrated completion of both English 101 and English 102;

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for students enrolling in ENGL 314, demonstrated completion of all English general education requirements.

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"Statement of Purpose" (fulfilled by answering questions on the Application Form).

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Personal Interview with the Program Director (pending clean record with respect to conduct and academic performance).

Materials:

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James Joyce's Dubliners and poetry by W. B. Yeats

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Course Pack with reading materials and an iTunesU poetry download available to registered and pre-paid participants each Spring.

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Notebook for your journal.

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Travel guides.

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