ENGL 2030 Abroad

Winter Term 2024-2025 in England

Honors College

“Now is The Winter (Semester) of Our Discontent”: ENGL 2030 "Literary Explorations"

Dr. Christopher Keller, Dean of Honors College and Professor of English

At the beginning of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Richard (then Duke of Gloucester) describes England emerging from “the winter of our discontent” into a “glorious summer.” It’s easy to mistake his feelings towards this newfound peace as positive. Instead, Richard asserts that as a man only suited for war he will do anything and everything he can to claim and hold power and to plunge England back into chaos. So, while initially claiming to be the spokesperson for more summery times, Richard engineers political and personal conflicts throughout the play to suit his authoritarian aspirations.

Taking a cue from Shakespeare's Richard III, this ENGL 2030 winter-semester course will explore characters, narratives, and poems that center on concepts of political power, kingship, tyranny, and authoritarism. In addition to this exploration taking place across literary texts, we will also do so through a variety of site visits in England from December 13-20, 2024: Cambridge, Grantham, Leicester, Lincoln, and London. Overnight stays will be split between London and Harlaxton College in Grantham.

  • Overview

    Students enroll in a Winter Session 2024-25 section of ENGL 2030. Catalog Description: "Introduces literature, short fiction, poetry, and drama, as a vehicle for exploring Western and Non-Western cultures and identities." Winter 2024-25 Semester Dates: December 18, 2024 to January 12, 2025.

    ENGL 2030 counts as three credits in ETSU’s Compass (General Education) Program in the “Exploring Connections” Humanities Category.

    Travel to England: Depart: Thursday, December 12. Return: Friday, December 20. Course will be asynchronous online upon returning from England until the semester’s end on January 12.

    Generally, the schedule is this (more details to be provided later):

    • December 12: Depart for England
    • December 13: Arrival Day at Harlaxton College
    • December 14: Harlaxton College. Day Trip in Lincoln
    • December 15: Harlaxton College. Day Trip in Leicester
    • December 16: Harlaxton College. Day Trip in Grantham
    • December 17: Depart for London. Stop for Cambridge Visit
    • December 18: London. Winter Semester Officially Begins
    • December 19: London
    • December 20: Program Abroad Ends. Depart London for Home
    • January 12: Winter Semester and ENGL 2030 End
  • Financial Information

    The program cost is $1800-1900. This includes lodging, in-country transportation, entrance fees to sites and museums, and most meals. Airfare cost will be roughly $1000, so students should expect full costs to run between $2800-3000, plus spending money and a handful of meals in London.

    To help offset these costs, honors students may apply for both ETSU Education Abroad Scholarships and Honors Student Engagement Scholarships.The scholarships combined should provide between $2000-2500 toward the program cost and airfare.

    Please note that Winter Term courses count toward Spring 2025 in terms of existing scholarships and/or financial aid, so students will likely not need to pay additional costs toward tuition for ENGL 2030. 

  • Course Information

    The course syllabus and travel itinerary are still in development, though students can expect to read, among other shorter texts, (1) William Shakespeare's Richard III, and we will visit the Richard III Center while in Leicester, (2) Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol since we will be in England close to Chrismas and will also be visiting the Dickens Museum and House, (3) Hafsa Zayyan's We Are All Birds of Uganda, and, of course (4) The Magna Carta, which we'll see an original copy of when visiting Lincoln and Lincoln Castle.

    For students interested in participating who have already satisfied this general education requirement, Dr. Keller is willing to develop an honors elective course around similar topics, though it would be more interdisciplinary in nature than the literature-focused ENGL 2030. 

    An information session that provides more details about the course and travel to England will be held in late August 2024.