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July 1, 2011

Reducing the size of the world through the British Studies Program

(NOTE: This article is the first in a series about student opportunities at ULM to take their classroom learning to another level by studying in another country. The series is in celebration of July's upcoming "Study Abroad" month.)

Big Ben. The London Eye. Millennium Bridge. Buckingham Palace. The River Thames. All this and more awaits the students of British Studies Summer Program in London.

The British Studies Program gives students the opportunity to spend four weeks studying abroad in England while earning six credits at University of Louisiana at Monroe.

The program is sponsored by University of Southern Mississippi, of which ULM is one of several affiliate universities involved in the program.

The classes offered vary in topics and are taught by a consortium of professors from around the United States.

Associate Art Professor Joni Noble heads the British Studies Program at ULM.

She said the opportunity to study abroad in London is one that should not be missed by students.

"It's a great cultural experience," Noble explains. "Not only are the students centered in London, but they also get a chance to spend a week somewhere else.

For the students in my photography class, "The London Eye: Developing your Photographic Vision," we spend a week exploring the galleries in Paris."

Each class has its own specified excursion on the "London Away" educational experience.

For example, students focusing on the music industry may spend a week exploring the business and music life in Amsterdam.

A course on World War II explores the shores of Normandy in France and multiple historical warfare grounds throughout Britain.

The Classics of Children's British Literature class will spend time in Edinburgh exploring sites related to JK Rowling's popular Harry Potter series.

Regardless of which class a student takes, a rich cultural experience will be the result, according to proponents of the program.

In the British Studies Program, students are in the heart of London at King's College, a stone's throw from the famous Waterloo Tube Station.

In addition, weekend excursions are possible and such trips include the white cliffs of Dover, Canterbury, a weekend in Paris, and a jaunt to the Stonehenge, among others.

"This is the most life-changing course of study that any student can possibly experience," Noble said.

"My students return to ULM as changed individuals, with more global perspectives. In one month of study abroad, the world becomes suddenly smaller and more accessible."

The program is available to undergraduate and graduate students.

For more information visit www.britishstudiesprogram.org, contact Noble at noble@ulm.edu, or attend upcoming information sessions to be scheduled this fall.

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