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When talking about London, Suzanne Westfall, professor and head of English, cites Samuel Johnson’s famous line: “He who is tired of London is tired of life.” She will lead a new semester-abroad program in fall 2010 that will give students ample exposure to the vibrant United Kingdom capital.
“The city provides educational resources in museums, theaters, and historical sites that complement the classroom work,” she says. “Museums in London are mostly free, and theaters offer reasonable reduced rates for students so that we can take great advantage of many programs they would never have access to here. In addition, London is a banking and political center for the European Union. Over 300 languages are spoken in the city, so we have an opportunity to interact with many different immigrant groups and study postcolonial issues.”
Students will live and study at Goldsmiths College of University of London. They will take a variety of liberal arts classes including Westfall’s Alternative Londons course focusing on the literature, culture, and arts of multicultural London and its marginalized populations.
“We will explore the neighborhoods, interact with local organizations, read the literature, see the plays, and speak to the people who represent postcolonial London,” she explains. “Students will help design the class and will determine its focus. I generally require students to research and lead walks through various areas of the city, teaching their classmates about the history and culture of the neighborhoods and introducing them to specific tensions, problems, accomplishments, and uniqueness of the area.”
Her students also will design a project that connects with the course readings. Students may study a geographical area of the city, subculture, community organization, architectural feature, health care system, environmental issue, technological problem, social service, or political struggle.
Goldsmiths will offer field trips, and Westfall is planning group trips to important sites in London and around the country. She encourages students to stretch their comfort zones from the start.
“Study abroad changes their lives, allowing them to shift their paradigms and examine their assumptions about the world as they integrate themselves into cultures and countries that do not always share their attitudes. In foreign countries, they have the opportunity to begin to understand how other countries view us, how America fits into the world,” says Westfall, “We are committed to giving our students the skills to understand their world from a variety of perspectives using a variety of methodologies from a variety of disciplines–the key to a liberal arts education.”