About British Studies at Oxford
British Studies At Oxford is one of the most respected summer programs in Oxford, celebrating its 39th session this coming summer, with the last 29 years in our host college in Oxford, St John’s. The collegiate context – living, studying, socializing together as a community – is an essential part of what makes this experience so vital and fertile.
The aims of British Studies At Oxford are simple: to give students the best possible educational experience in one of the great centers of learning; to offer a varied and rich insight into the arts and history of Britain; and to ensure that the experience is highly enjoyable and genuinely memorable.
Each year British Studies At Oxford takes a different period of British culture as its subject:
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Britain in the Ages of Enlightenment, Revolution, and Romanticism (2008);
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Empire and After: Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (2009);
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Early and Medieval Britain: From the Roman Britain to the Coming of the Tudors (2010); and
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Britain in the Renaissance (2011)
No lectures or seminars are repeated from year to year, making it possible for students to select the era of greatest interest to them, or to return in following years.
Each student is a member of two seminars concentrating on an aspect of the period being studied. These are chosen from an extensive list – in 2008 there will be 23 seminars to choose from – drawn from a wide variety of disciplines, such as art history, music, literature, social and political history, political science, and history of science. Each of these seminars carries 4 credits.
In addition to the seminars, students participate in a interdisciplinary activities, including lectures, workshops, visits to theatres and concerts, and study excursions to sites of particular relevance.
British Studies At Oxford is offered by Rhodes College in affiliation with “The Associated Colleges of the South”. However, its aim is to attract students and faculty from a wide range of colleges and universities. The character of British Studies At Oxford is national rather than regional – students have come from over 200 colleges and universities, from virtually every state, and from several different countries.