PEL sysllabus 2005

In Summer 2010 you will have the opportunity to visit two of the most exciting cities in the world and earn two course credits, one each in The London Seminar and in The Paris Seminar. One of these counts as a Global Peersective and the other as an Aesthetic Perspective. This two week trip offers you the chance to visit these cities as informed travelers and to gain an appreciation of what each has to offer. The program is structured so you have a blend of common events and free time to explore on your own.

In London we will use the Eckerd College London Study Center at 35 Gower Street as our base. In Paris we will stay on the Left Bank about a 20 minute walk from Notre Dame.

In London we will visit Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, the National Gallery, The Museum of London and other places. In Paris we will vist the Louvre, Orsay, Carnavalet (museum of the city of Paris), Cluny (medieval museum), St. Chapelle and other sites.

We will meet three or four Sundays in the late spring in St. Pete for reading and discussion about London and Paris so while we're in these cities we can spend our time out exploring and on excursions.

Program costs includes room and breakfast in London and Paris
Travel between London and Paris on the Eurostar
A play in London
A group dinner
In-city travel cards for London and Paris
Museum pass for Paris
Program visit and excursion entry fees
Tuition for two courses
Program costs: to be determined

For information about the program contact Diane Ferris (ferrisdl@eckerd.edu) in the International Education Office.

You can also call (866-1251) or email (oberhot@eckerd.edu) Tom Oberhofer for details on the academic dimensions of the trip.

This summer you will have the opportunity to take two classes and earn a Global Perspective (British Seminar) course credit and a Humanities course credit. The two courses are The British Seminar and The Paris Seminar. The program will be structured so that we have three or four meetings in St. Petersburg before we travel to London and then we will spend a week in London and five nights in Paris. The time in London and Paris will be spent in activities outside the ouse/hotel. The class time in the U.S. will be spent developing background material for the two courses.

You will be responsible for the following readings. Hibbert is available from the PEL office. Hibbert is a check out book, with the expectation you will return it. Cole is available from Amazon.com or your local book store.

Robert Cole, A Traveler's History of Paris
Hibbert, London: The Biography of a City

You are expected to do all the appropriate reading before each of the April and May class meetings in St. Petersburg.

The British Seminar is a course designed to investigate historical, institutional, and contemporary issues of London in particular, and of Britain in general. The course is taught on location in London and uses the city as the primary classroom. As such, the course is "activity" oriented, and regular visits outside the classroom and guest lecturers from London are incorporated into the course. Required readings and class discussions are used to enhance the London learning experience. The required text is Hibbert, London: The Biography of a City.

We will focus on the historical development of London from Roman London to the present day. We will examine two primary institutional structures of Britain: The Monarchy and the Church.

Evaluation: The course is designed to actively acquaint you with London and British history, culture, institutions, and issues. Therefore, traditional examinations are not anticipated and will only be used if the students fail to meet their research responsibilities. Students are expected to keep a journal on the course, integrating the material into a meaningful understanding of London and Britain today. 40% of the grade will be determined by your journal. This journal will be a record of your activities and learning experiences while in Great Britain. A good journal will record, explain, and interpret all of your learning experiences while in Britain. It is essential that daily aspects of your experiences pertaining to the British Seminar be included in this journal. Please note: this journal is not a diary and should not include undocumented personal opinions, gossip, other non-academic items. This journal will be continuous in nature and will be collected for grading at the end of the course. I will spot check your journal while we are in London, including towards the end of the last week, and give you feedback while it is still a work in progress. A minimum expectation for any A journal is that it will be substantially complete when you leave London.

In addition, each student write a 5 - 6 page paper on some facet of London history and culture. This will be due after your return to the US This work is 30% of the grade.

20% of the evaluation is based on your leadership of a section of our St. Petersburg class before departure and participation in our St. Petersburg activities. The remaining 10% is based on participation in class activities in London.

This is a companion course to be offered in conjunction with the London Seminar for PEL students. The Paris Seminar will focus on the history of Paris. We will trace the development of the city and its growth along the banks of the Seine. We'll study the modern design of the city, the work of George Haussman in the 19th century, and set both the modern and historical city in its historical and cultural context. There will be special efforts to link the similarities and differences between London and Paris. Both cities evolved along major rivers, bear the strong impact of the Church and the monarchy, and are the cultural centers of their respective countries. Our text will be Robert Cole's A Traveler's History of Paris. You are encouraged to identify another supplemental text, be it a history or comprehensive guide book, for yourself. The course will take advantage of being in Paris, and we will visit major cultural and historic sites during our stay. Evaluation will be based on a journal, which should be integrated into the London journal (25%), a paper comparing some dimension of London and Paris (35%), leadership of a part of a St. Petersburg class (20%) and participation in Paris activities (20%). The paper should be 6 - 8 pages excluding the bibliography (which should include other than class texts) and title page. All A papers will include sources beyond Hibbert and Cole.

The journal should, of course, be taken very seriously. As you will be living in London for three weeks, it is certain that you will learn a great deal just by being adventuresome and observant, but it is also expected that you will use the journal as a private forum for recording and responding intelligently to these experiences. What constitutes a good journal? One with insight; one which describes an ambitious personal itinerary, and one well-written and well-assembled. Let us draw a picture of a poor entry:

"We went to Westminster Abbey yesterday. It's maybe the biggest church I've ever seen, and very old. There were so many people there it was hard to really appreciate. The tour guide took us to some places that the normal tourist couldn't see, and that was nice. There were statues and tombs of kings and queens everywhere. I remember an old wooden throne with a stone stored under the seat. There was so much to see, I couldn't begin to describe it all. Me and the other guys were getting sort of hungry, and I developed a huge craving for a Big Mac. The tour seemed to go on forever. Plus it was getting dark and hard to see. Still, it was great seeing all the windows and all that stone and wood carving. It was incredible. I don't see how anybody has the patience to do all that work..."

"We went to Westminster Abbey yesterday. The exterior is imposing, but marred with the stains of years of urban pollution. Inside the cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece, with soaring vaults and delicate tracery, and marvelous stained glass. Hibbert called it "perhaps the finest example of Early English in existence, though the multitudinous array of effigies, tombs, statues, memorials...distract the eye from its impressive grandeur."1 There were certainly elaborate tombs and monuments everywhere, and tourists wandering this way and that, so the atmosphere of the Abbey did seem a bit more like a crowded museum than a sacred place of worship. I suppose it's sacred as much in memory of the Kings and Queens and Poets of England as it is in the worship of God. It was eerie to see those reclining figures of royalty, dressed in their robes of stone or bronze, and to realize how much of England's past was in this single building. I saw the memorial to William Blake in the famous Poet's Corner; he seemed to be such an odd figure, his huge eyes staring off into his visionary world. He kept good company, of course: Shakespeare and Milton and Longfellow, and Dryden, and a number of others. Nearby was the wooden Coronation chair, which has been used for coronations for nearly 700 years! Encased in the throne is the Stone of Scone, which according to legend was the stone upon which the Biblical Jacob slept and dreamed his dream. The choir and choir screen were incredibly elaborate: gilded wood, bristling with decorative embellishment. The church is laid out in a typical cruciform shape, with a nave and transept. Parts of the church actually predate the Gothic era by several centuries, but in 1220 Henry III rebuilt a great deal of the church in the Gothic style of pointed arches. His work was added to by Henry VII, who built his own chapel with wonderfully intricate fan-vaulting; this chapel has been described by some as "the most beautiful in all Christendom."2 Surprisingly, the towers of the church were not built until long after the Gothic era; they were designed by Wren and Hawksmoor in the 18th century. There is so much of history here, more history than religion perhaps. When I was standing there in the Chapter House, however, I did get a very different feeling, perhaps because by some miracle I was nearly alone, and in the midst of that quiet symmetry and beneath those enormous gothic windows I felt suddenly a sense of...(etc.)"

St. Petersburg April x Orientation to the program
Overview of London and Paris
Presentations on London, from the Hibbert book, as assigned

Each student is asked to lead us through the highlights of their assigned reading. I'll made alphabetical choices since we won't be together before hand to express preferences. You can switch with another person, assuming it is mutually agreeable. You are asked to organize the material in your section for us in a way that makes some chronological or thematic sense. You should prepare a handout for those of us in the class. The handout is likely to be several pages long, and might include graphics. You should expect to lead us in discussion and by posing questions for us. Our assignment is to read all of the assigned readings before the start of a particular class. See the general questions attached to this syllabus for an overview of Hibbert. You want to have a thoughtful answer for each. If your presentation and the general discussion per chapter runs 20 - 30 minutes, this is not too long.

St. Petersburg April x Hibbert continued if necessary
We will start talking about Paris here
Introduction to Paris
Presentations from A Traveler's History of Paris

The guidelines for these presentations are similar to those for the Hibbert book. In addition, it would be useful for us to develop some critical time lines comparing activities in London and Paris so we can see parallels and contrasts. A Traveler's History is a simpler book, also arranged chronologically, but without the social scope of Hibbert. There is, in fact, no book that does for Paris what Hibbert does for London, at least in English.

Reading both these books is easier if you have a city map with you, so you can get a sense of the geography of both towns. There are general Paris maps in The Paris book, Hibbert has maps throughout.

Monday, May 31:    AM: On site orientation and small group walking tours
                                PM: Walking tours continued
                                4:30: Sherry and reprise of the day

Tuesday, June 1: AM: (10:00) Museum of London - Group
PM: Museums on your own, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum

Wed, June 2:           AM: (10:30) Group tour of the National Gallery: Meet at the Sainsbury Wing info desk
                                PM: Free
                                Evening theater

Thur, June 3: AM: West End walking tour
PM: (2:00) Group visit to Westminster Abbey

Sunday, June 6: Taxi to Waterloo, Eurostar to Paris, arrive mid-afternoon. Remainder of
the day free - walk to Notre Dame for those interested, dinner in the Latin quarter

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What are the common characteristics of these cities with other major cities in the world?

What are the significant tensions that have occurred during the development of these cities?

You read many place names in the story of London. What do the place names tell us?

If you could choose to visit the city in any era, which would you choose, and why?

If you could choose to meet any significant figure in the history of the city, who would you choose and why?