Thistle, Rose, and Shamrock offers students the option of either a 6- or 9-credit interdisciplinary course in British and Post-colonial Studies. All students must enroll in HIST 30970 and at least one but as many as two literature offerings. Students are required to attend all site visits and participate in all lectures and discussions. Classes meet all day Tuesday – Thursday for six weeks.

The course will travel to three “nations”—Scotland, England, and Ireland—to explore key intellectual, cultural and political developments in the British Isles, such as the Enlightenment, the Empire, and Decolonization. In keeping with TCU’s expressed mission for educating global citizens, this course will allow students to explore, interrogate, and understand the historical and cultural dimensions of the British empire and its after-effects from the perspective of three metropolitan centers rather than the most frequently taught standpoint based in London alone.

Students will spend two weeks in Edinburgh, London, and Dublin in order to focus specifically on the following themes: the Enlightenment and the rationality of exploration; the evolution of “British” culture and intellectual life in a global culture, with a particular emphasis on the museum movement; plunder and scientific inquiry; Orientalism and domestic High Empire; independence struggles and decolonization. Students will receive close instruction in traditional disciplinary skills (how to read literary and historical texts analytically and to compose incisive commentary); additionally, students will begin to understand and appreciate how learning most comes alive when it prompts deep inquiry outside the classroom too.

The learning objectives of this site-enhanced study abroad course are to develop student understanding of the intimate relationship between the “mind of the age” as expressed in literature, art, and architecture and the social, political and economic developments that shaped that expression; and to enhance student understanding of the diverse elements (historic experience, ethnicity, geography) that shape modern Britain.

You will be required to register for either six or nine credit hours (no audits permitted). In addition, you must attend a half-day seminar at TCU in the late spring, as well as a half-day orientation in Edinburgh on Monday, June 20. Classes meet all day, Tuesdays through Thursdays, for six weeks, beginning June 21 and concluding July 28.

A program fee of approximately $3600 will cover housing costs, entrance fees to the many sites and museums, travel between the three countries, and three day-trips to Abbotsford, Oxford, and Inishmaan. Other costs will include roundtrip airfare to the British Isles, six to nine hours of summer TCU tuition, and personal expenses.

Financial Aid is available for summer programs, including funds which have been set aside for minority students and honors students. Financial Aid deadline is January 28, 2005. To be eligible for American Airlines Travel Grants, you must apply before March 15, 2005. Honors students are also eligible to apply for Brachman Scholarships for Study Abroad. Check with the Honors Office for application and deadlines. Space in this program is limited to 20 students, so be sure to apply by February 25, 2005.

*Enrollment for non-honors students by permission of instructors.

For information, please contact:            

• Dr. Bonnie Blackwell      
• Dr. Karen Steele
• Dr. Sara Sohmer

Application forms are available from Ramona Hunley at the International Education Office. To contact the International Education Office, please call (817) 257-7473.

Paperwork:

• Summer 2005 Application Cover Sheet (PDF)

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, November 9, 2004- Information Session at 5:00 p.m. in Reed Hall 101