History Abroad - syllabus/itinerary - Harlaxton and London

British Rulers and the British Ruled (Class and the History of the British People since 1700)

Syllabus/Itinerary (as amended)

pre-trip meetings at EIU
- discussion of trip; discussion of assignments
pre-trip blog assignments:
- 14 May, first paragraph answering question on blog on The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain, by David Cannadine, chapter 1
- 23 May, second paragraph answering question on blog on The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain, chapter 2
- 28 May, third paragraph answering question on blog on Moll Flanders, by Daniel Defoe
- other works assigned: Jane Austen, Persuasion; Charles Dickens, Hard Times; George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London; Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain, 1900-90. Program is only five weeks, but course credit is 6 c.h., so I strongly advise some reading of as much of this work as possible before travel (only Cannadine must be purchased in advance, however, as copies of all others works will be made available to you when we arrive at Harlaxton)
week 1 (what is social class now?; what was it circa 1700?; who ruled?; who was ruled?)
- Sun 4 June
  - Flight from Chicago
- Mon, 5 June
  - A C Williams coach collect from London Airport together with English group
  - Travel to Harlaxton; Refreshments at Harlaxton; Orientation
    - map of Harlaxton/Grantham area (a few decades old)
    - map of central Grantham and the Harlaxton Road to the southeast (a decade old)
    - map (schematic) of main BritRail lines (Grantham between Newark and Peterborough)
    - map of rail lines throughout UK
  - Evening meal
- Tues, 6 June
  - Class: 9.90am-12 noon (Cannadine) Lunch
  - Afternoon class (Cannadine/Defoe)*
  - 7.00 pm guided house tour of Harlaxton Manor--together with English group--(meet in Schroder Lounge)
  - Evening meal
- Wednes, 7 June
  - Class: 9.00 am-12 noon (Cannadine), Lunch and evening meal
- Thurs, 8 June (packed lunch)
  - 8.30 am Harlaxton mini-bus for visit to Cambridge and tours of Darwin and Emmanuel Colleges
    - visit University of Cambridge, the town, and colleges, including, Darwin, my alma mater
    - (own arrangements) Lunch and evening meal
- Fri, Sat & Sun - 9, 10 & 11 June
  - Student independent travel
  - Return to Harlaxton for evening meal Sun
  - Weekly blog question-response due
week 2 (18th-century England: the social, cultural, political, and economic importance of the landed elite's country house; the problem of "the gentleman-tradesman"; riots as a political voice of the poor)
- Mon & Tues, 12 & 13 June
  - Class: 9.00 am-12 noon (Defoe), Lunch
  - Class: 2-4.30 pm (Defoe, Thompson),* and evening meal
- Wed & Thurs -14 & 15 June (packed lunch) overnight trip to Norwich (a cathedral, walled city with a Norman Castle [Norwich Cathedral dates from the 11th/12th centuries]; 2nd largest in the seventeenth century), with visits to Houghton Hall (large estate of Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Prime Minister), and Holkham Hall (large classical estate of agricultural improver)
  - Wed 14 June
    - 8.30 am coach to Norwich
    - staying overnight at The Great Western George Hotel (query: Best Western George Hotel, Norwich?)
    - 11.00 am visit to Houghton Hall en route to Norwich
  - Thurs 15 June
    - Morning visit to Norwich Cathedral
    - followed by visit to Holkham Hall
- Fri, Satur, & Sun 16-18 June
  - student study, independent travel
  - Return to Harlaxton for evening meal
  - Weekly blog question-response due
week 3 (18th- & 19th-century Britain: the role of education and the church in social class; the role of class in the history of education, culture, and sport)
- Mon, 19 June
  - Class: 9.00 am-12 noon (Austen), Lunch
  - Class: 2.00-4.30 pm (Defoe, Austen),* evening meal
- Tues-Thurs.: 20, 21 & 22 June, two-night trip to Bath and Wales (Tintern Abbey, Raglan Castle, Wye Valley, 19th-century Cardiff Castle)* (packed lunch)
  - Tues, 20 June
    - 7.00am EARLY BREAKFAST
    - 7.30am A C Williams coach for visit to Bath with an overnight at the Express Holiday Inn, Bath
    - 2.30 pm Walking tour of Jane Austen's Bath
    Wednes, 21 June
    - Depart Bath for Wales with an overnight at The Royal George Hotel, Tintern
    - 12.30 pm visit to Cardiff Castle
  - Thurs, 22 June
    - 10.00 am visit to Tintern Abbey,
    - depart Wales through Wye Valley
    - return to Harlaxton for evening meal
  - Fri, Satur, & Sun - 23-25 June
    - student study, independent travel
    - Return to Harlaxton for evening meal
    - Weekly blog question-response due
week 4 (19th-century Britain: the rise of the middle class; the role of middle class values in history; the industrial rich and the industrial poor; the industrial revolution
- Mon 26 June
  - Class: 9.00am-12 noon (Cannadine, Dickens), Lunch
  - 1.00 pm coach to Stamford together with English group
  - 6.00 pm picnic in the grounds of Tolethorpe Hall and 8.00 pm performance of Coriolanus
- Tues & Wed - 27 & 28 June overnight to Ironbridge Gorge, and the colliery, factory and other museums of the first industrial revolution
  - Tues, 27 June (packed lunch)
    - 7.00 am EARLY BREAKFAST
    - 7.30 am Coach to Ironbridge Gorge Museum (visits to Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Rosehill House, Coalport China Museum and Tar Tuneland)
    - overnight at the Best Western Valley Hotel, Telford
  - Wednes 28 June
- Thurs 29 June
  - Class: 9.00am-12 noon (Dickens, Cannadine), Lunch
  - Class: 2.00-4.30 pm (Clarke and Orwell) and evening meal
- Fri, Satur, & Sun- 29-30 June & I July
  - student study, independent travel
  - Return to Harlaxton for evening meal
  - Weekly blog question-response due
week 5 (20th-century London: the metropolis as an imperial city; East End London [Brick Lane, Petticoat Lane and the other East End markets], West End London [from Chelsea, to St. James's and its park near Westminster, to Hampstead]; mixing races, genders, and classes in London streets; the rise and decline of class in 20th-century London)
- Mon 3 July
  - Class: 9.00am-12 noon Exam, Lunch
  - 1:00pm depart Harlaxton together with English group by A C Williams coach for London and four overnights at the Royal National Hotel
- Tues, Wednes, Thurs, 4-6 July (tours of British Galleries of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Westminster [site of Houses of Parliament [not currently open to foreign visitors], local government, and Westminster Abbey, by a Tory councillor/professor, tour of East End and former docklands; tour of the Thames down to Greenwich hospital, observatory, and park)*
  - Tues 4 July (Clarke)
    - Tour of Westminster government area (Parliament, Whitehall, Downing Street, guest lecturer: Dr. Peter Catterall, Queen Mary College, University of London)
  - Wed 5 July (Clarke, Orwell)
    - Tour of South Kensington/Exhibition Road area (especially V & A British Galleries, with guest lecturer)
    - Tour of City of London (especially Museum of London, guest lecturer for both: Dr. Angela McShane Jones, Oxford Brookes University)
  - Thurs 6 July (Orwell)
    - Tour of River Thames, Greenwich, and East End (boat trip down Thames from Embankment to Greenwich, Greenwich Observatory, then back via light railway, and London Transport through East End, walk through Smithfield, etc.)
- Fri, 7 July, flight back to "sweet, home Chicago"
post-trip
- re-entry meeting (on campus and/or online) and presentations
- final papers due 2 Aug.
  - Quotes from the readings with additional thoughts on class reflections

*trips that will be in conjunction with the English Dept. Harlaxton trip (Run this year by Dr. Dagni Bredesen, EIU English, this program on Literary Masterworks has been run at Harlaxton for several years [see student photos from previous trips] and will be run at Harlaxton at the same time as our group's course)

why this course? (additional information)
pre-application form
registration
about/contact Dr. Newton Key
next informational meeting

What: British Rulers and the British Ruled (Class and the History of the British People since 1700), HIS 3970 (or HIS 5997), 6 c.h.

Where: Harlaxton Manor and London

When: 4 June–7 July 2006

With: Dr. Newton Key, Professor of British History, Eastern Illinois University

How Much: $3,750 (includes all airfare, room and board, transport and event fees)

Who: All University Majors

How:

Harlaxton Manor (front entrance)

last updated on October 25, 2006