Magdalene College

SUMMER 2010

Offered every summer

PROGRAM DATES: *   June 27 - August 6, 2010  ELIGIBILITY: *   Students in good standing *   Jrs, Srs, possibly some well qualified sophs LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION: *   English LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: *   Private room in quayside dormitory  APPLICATION DEADLINE: *    February 1, 2010

The Program
Course of Study
Residential Facilities
Independent Travel
Program Costs
Financial Aid
Eligibility Information
Application Information
Additional Program Information 

                  
The Program
The University of Cambridge, one of the world's oldest and most distinguished academic institutions, is currently celebrating its 800th birthday. Davidson's Summer Program in Cambridge will be returning in 2010 (its own 29th anniversary) just as the university inaugurates a new century. Dr. Daniel Aldridge of Davidson's History Department will accompany the group to Cambridge as this summer's resident director.

Jointly sponsored by Davidson's Departments of English and History, the six-week program explores the history and literature of Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These turbulent times witnessed crucial stages in Britain's transformation from an early modern to a modern nation, and provide rich ground for an interdisciplinary study of its history and literature. Themes to be considered include: the British response to revolution abroad and the nature of reaction at home; the rise and influence of Romanticism; the creation of a British national and cultural identity; the experience of travel, empire, and scientific discovery; and the effects of industrialization and urbanization on work patterns, class relations, gender roles, literary expression and the British countryside. Attention will be paid to music, the visual arts, architecture, and landscape design as well as historical and literary topics.

The program is designed to immerse Davidson students in British culture. To that end, all teaching is done by British scholars, most from the Cambridge University community, and the curriculum replicates the British educational system by combining lectures and tutorials. Topics of study are specifically chosen which take advantage of the students' presence in Britain and ability to experience their subjects first-hand.

Course of Study
Successful completion of this P/F course will carry one Davidson credit, awarded in either English 370 or History 390 (to be determined by each student). These credits will count toward major requirements in the English and History Departments.

At the heart of the course of study is a series of lectures. Each week, all program participants will gather to hear four morning lectures on a broad range of topics. United by their relation to a set of assigned texts, each week's lectures are conceived as a mini-unit. Thus, for the week in which a Jane Austen novel is assigned, lectures might address such themes as Austen and her writing, the culture of the provincial society in which she lived, and the musical and artistic styles popular when she wrote. Some of the program's lectures will even be delivered "on site," with the Davidson group traveling, for example, to Bath to study its eighteenth-century building program first-hand (and to mingle at the Assembly Rooms, drink tea and eat "Bath buns" in the Pump Room, and promenade along the Royal Crescent -- all as Austen and her characters did.) Other organized study trips might include visits to country houses, landscape gardens, and London museums.

Students will also meet twice per week in small groups for tutorials led by Dr. Tom Stammers (History) and Dr. Laura Davies (English), spectacular young scholars who will be returning in 2010 for their fourth year with the program.

The goal of each tutorial session is to discuss a set of texts and to draw connections between those texts and the lectures series and study trips. Tutorials are the most elastic component of the course, and their format may vary depending on the students' interests and needs. Usually, however, the English and History tutors work as a team, leading interdisciplinary discussions with a mixed group of English and History concentrators. All students, regardless of area of specialization (and course credit), will thus attend the same lectures, read the same texts, and discuss those texts from various disciplinary and methodological perspectives.

Students will write three papers during the course of the program, and may select paper topics that reflect their particular disciplinary interests. All papers will be graded by the tutors.

Residential Facilities
Davidson's base of operations at Cambridge University is Magdalene College (pronounced Maudlin), a historically-rich college in the heart of town. Situated in the famous row of colleges which stretch along the River Cam, Magdalene is the home to such wonders as the seventeenth-century Pepys Library.

Magdalene College began life as a Benedictine hostel in 1428, and was re-founded under a grant from Henry VIII in 1542. It served as the site for Davidson's Cambridge Program from 1995 to 2002, and we were delighted to return in 2008 to occupy Magdalene's recently refurbished quayside residence, Basing House. We could not have a better location - intimate yet centrally located!

Independent Travel in Britain
One of the most popular aspects of the program is the freedom it affords participants to explore Britain. As Friday classes generally end by noon, students may spend long weekends as tourists. Moreover, the fourth week of the program is completely unscheduled, providing an opportunity for more extensive independent travel. Cambridge and the surrounding countryside are especially attractive and culturally rich, but more ambitious travelers can easily find their way, thanks to Britain's national railway system, to points throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Perennial favorites include London, Canterbury, York, the Lake District, Edinburgh, the Scottish Highlands, Ireland and the Welsh coast. Such outings are left to the students to plan and finance.

Program Cost
Britain is an extremely expensive place; most things tend to cost almost twice as much there as they do here. Great efforts are therefore made to keep the program cost as low as possible and to take advantage of the constantly fluctuating international exchange rate. As a result, the program is difficult to budget far in advance. A final program fee will not be announced until the end of the application process. (That said, the following information might prove helpful. Thanks to tight budgeting and a favorable exchange rate, the program fee stayed at $6,100 for the last two years in a row. The norm, however, is for annually rising costs to dictate a modest tuition increases. A 2010 fee slightly above $6,100 is thus anticipated.)

The program fee will cover tuition, organized group study trips, and life at Magdalene College. Each student will have a private room, will be furnished with linens, and will benefit from the limited services of a housekeeper. Substantial weekday breakfasts and lunches will be provided, but at night, over the weekends, and during the week-long break, there will be no board contract. The great advantage of this meal plan is its flexibility, combining as it does the fellowship of the Magdalene dining room, the opportunity to explore Cambridge's pub and restaurant scene, and the economy of "cooking" (microwaves, refrigerators, and utensils are provided, but stoves are not) for oneself in the dorm.

Transportation, both round-trip to Britain and for local travel once there, is not provided. Nor does the program cover passport fees and other travel-related incidentals. Practical assistance, however, will be offered to all students in finding cheap flights, acquiring Britrail passes, etc.

Financial Aid
The Cambridge Program, in conjunction with the departments of English and History, offers some need-based aid, and has in recent years assisted approximately one-third of all program participants.

Admission to the Cambridge Program is need-blind! Upon acceptance to the program, any student may apply for need-based financial aid.

Davidson's Dean Rusk Program also awards grants for student experiences abroad. The application deadline for such summer grants is February 25, 2010. Candidates must therefore begin work on a Dean Rusk application before learning of their acceptance into the Cambridge Program. Applications are available both in the Dean Rusk Center and on the Center's web site.

Even combined aid awards from the Cambridge Program and the Dean Rusk Program will cover only a part of the Cambridge Program fee. All students with financial need are therefore encouraged to think creatively about locating aid sources beyond the Davidson community.

 
Eligibility Information
The Cambridge Program is designed for rising juniors and seniors. An exception might be made for especially well-qualified members of the class of 2013 but they must consult the Program Director before applying.

Students interested in the Cambridge Program are strongly urged to take at least one specified Davidson course to prepare for their studies abroad. Such preparation will significantly strengthen both a candidate's application to the program and his or her enjoyment of the material presented in Cambridge. The following Davidson courses are recommended: English 260, 361, 362, 363, 371 or 372, and History 120, 225, or 325. Please note that not all of these courses are offered every semester or even every academic year.

While it is common practice for those seeking an English credit on the Cambridge Program to take an English course at Davidson in preparation, and likewise for would-be History concentrators take a History course, other approaches are also welcome. Given the program's interdisciplinary nature -- all students will attend both literary and historical lectures and read in both areas -- there are advantages to choosing a preparatory course beyond one's usual field of study or, even better, in both departments.

Although the Cambridge Program is run by the departments of English and History, students majoring in other departments are encouraged to apply. Past participants have included Art, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Math, Political Science and Religion majors.

Applications will be available at the Study Abroad Office and on-line at the Study Abroad website. Completed applications will be due back in that office on February 1, 2010. Announcement of those accepted into the program will be made by the end of February.

Once accepted into the program, students must commit to a series of mandatory preparatory activities at Davidson. These activities will include sessions on travel, academic and cultural orientation, and a host of other practical matters. Applicants who will be studying away from Davidson during the spring semester 2010, and thus will not be on campus to participate in these activities, must discuss their situation with the Program Director during the application period.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE UPLOADED TO THIS WEBPAGE SOON.

Applications, including all supporting materials, are due in the Study Abroad Office.

Deadline:          February 1
Notification:       February 26

Additional Program Information
Davidson College reserves the right to cancel or modify part or all of a study abroad program should changing circumstances make it necessary to do so.  In cases where the college has security concerns, the program director and the Dean Rusk Program Director will gather information and make a recommendation to the Dean of Faculty.  The dean will take his decision to the president, who retains ultimate authority to decide whether or not a particular Davidson-sponsored trip should proceed.

Davidson admits qualified students without discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, age, handicap, gender, or sexual preference.

For more information please contact:
Study Abroad Coordinator
Duke Residence Hall
704-894-2250
or
Dr. Vivien Dietz,  Cambridge Program Director
704-894-2211