Professors: Ms. Lesley Preston and Dr. Justin Brent

Oxford ’13 Theatre and English Study Abroad Trip
Course: Shakespeare’s Medieval World: Contexts and Connections (6 credit)

-By guided travel to historical sites, reading, enacting and seeing plays, lectures, reflective writing in journals and class discussion, students will be prepared to consider the essential question of the class: how does history affect culture?
-The timing of this course is tied to the presentation of the Chester Mystery Cycle plays in Chester, England, which happens at five-year intervals. This is an unparalleled opportunity to see the medieval plays that form the cultural background to early Tudor drama and the work of Shakespeare in the setting of one of the most complete medieval cities in England. By augmenting our stay in Oxford with short stays in both Chester and York and day trips to Warwick Castle, Salisbury and Lacock Village, we will be exploring the best physical reminders of the medieval period while studying the cultural heritage of that time.
-There has long been a tradition of summer productions of Shakespeare in Oxford college gardens and Oxford is a convenient base for travelling to both Stratford and London, the twin axis of Shakespeare’s world. We will be attending plays by Shakespeare in Stratford and at the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London as well as exploring sites connected to his life and times.