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University of South Alabama London Summer Program |
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July 10 to August 11, 2008 |
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Home · Program Overview · Course Syllabus/Schedule · Field Trips · Instructor |
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Monarchy in Modern Times |
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| One of the organizing principles of this course is to study the history of the monarchy by visiting the palaces, museums and properties that express royal power and symbolic significance. The sites we will visit constitute some of the best known places in England. |
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The Monarchy In Modern Times: Images and Realities Cooperative Center for Study Abroad: London Summer 2008 Introduction: Welcome to “The Monarchy In Modern Times: Images and Realities.” This is a course in which we will examine objects from the very grand (Hampton Court or Windsor Castle) to the not so grand (a statue or portrait) to the decidedly not so grand (a postage stamp or coin) to learn what we can about the images projected by the monarchy and the “real” power and influence of the monarchy. The focus of this course will be the field trips. The course begins with Henry VIII, because his influence is so pervasive, and concludes with role of the monarchy today. This is more a course about the institution of the monarchy than it is about individual monarchs. Nonetheless, you can hardly study the monarchy without studying the monarchs, so we will select a few for closer examination. Finally, we will use a famous essay on the English constitution, first published in 1867, as a way of getting an analytical and descriptive framework for this study. The Professor: Dr. E.B. “Woody” Hannum I first visited London in 1968 to do my dissertation research and have been there many times since. I began teaching British history at the University of South Alabama in 1970 and have taken students to London, or taught in programs in London, or administered programs in London, intermittently since 1977. I can be reached at ehannum@usouthal.edu and welcome your questions about the course, the program, London, etc. Course Objective: The objective of this course is to apply the analytical perspective provided by Walter Bagehot in The English Constitution to an examination of the structures and other symbols of royal power from Henry VIII to Elizabeth II to note the constitutional role, the real power and the influence of the Crown. Course Schedule: Thursday, July 10- Depart for London Friday, July 11- Arrive at King’s College, Hampstead Campus 6 pm - Reception Saturday, July 12- Orientation (8:30-10:00) City Tour (10:00-1:00) Sunday, July 13- St. Paul’s Cathedral for Sunday Service (Optional) Walking Tour of the Southbank: Southwark to the London Eye Week 1- Tudors Monday, July 14-Class (9-12) Course Overview The Use of Bagehot’s. The English Constitution Henry VIII and the other Tudors Tuesday, July 15-Hampton Court (Field Trip) (Admission £11.30) Wednesday, July 16-Class (1:30-4:30) Walking Tour of Royal Westminister (Westminister Abbey, Whitehall) Study of Royal Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery (free) Friday, July 18- Optional Field Trip to Cambridge Week 2-Stuarts Monday, July 21- Class (9-12) Elizabeth I to Charles I The Consequences of Civil War Wednesday, July 23- Class (1:30-4:30) The Stuarts: Restoration, Revolution and Constitutional Monarchy Thursday, July 24-Field Trip: Banqueting House (£3.50) and Kensington Palace (£12) Friday, July 25- Optional Field Trip to Oxford Week 3-Hanoverians Monday, July 28- Class (9-12) The Hanoverians: George I-George IV Tuesday, July 29-Field Trip: Windsor Castle (£12) Wednesday, July 30- Class (1:30-4:30) Victoria Friday, August 1- Optional Field Trip: Osborne House on the Isle of Wight
Week 4- The House of Windsor Monday, August 4- Class (9-12): From Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor The Monarchy and Crisis: War, Depression, Abdication and War Wednesday, August 6-Class (1:30-4:30) Elizabeth II and The Monarchy Today Thursday, August 7- Field Trip: Buckingham Palace (£14) Buckingham Palace is only open to visitors from July 31- September 29 Friday, August 8- FINAL EXAM A Few Notes on the Field Trips: Note 1- The only field trips that are required for the course are those listed on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Note 2- The total admission costs for the required field trips is £52.80 (about $100). These admission charges are not included in the overall program costs. Be sure to budget an additional $100 for this purpose. You can use your credit card. Note 3- Be sure you bring a student ID. Admissions to all these sites are reduced if you show a student ID or, in my case, proof of age. Note 4- The optional field trips are neither a requirement nor an expectation for the course. I would be happy to guide people to these places but I understand that you will have lots of things to do in England. Course Requirements and Assignments 1. Required Reading: A. John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. ($30 used) or Antonia Fraser. The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England ($30 new) The Canon and Griffiths book is much better for the purposes of this course but is out of print. There are plenty of used copies listed on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The Fraser book is in print, cheaper and is acceptable. Both books have the decided disadvantage of being very heavy. B. Walter Bagehot. The English Constitution (Cambridge University Press) This edition is preferred but another will do. ($20) 2. Keep a Journal I will give you some guidelines for this journal when we get to London. There will be some very specific journal assignments but, in general, you will be asked to note where you notice the monarchy each day and what that means to you. I will collect these journals each Monday and return themto you Tuesday morning.
3. Weekly Quizzes You will have quizzes each Monday-July 21, July 28 and August 4. These quizzes will be based on assigned readings and field trips from the previous week. 4. Research Project It is a bit grand to call this a research project since the required length is a mere five pages. I will ask you to select a topic- it could be a building, a series of portraits, an individual monarch, the religious role of the Crown, or something else that catches your fancy. The key elements for this project are that it illustrates something about the images and realities of royal power and the that the bulk of the research is based on things you observe in England. I suggest that you use your journal entries to develop your topic.
5. Final Exam (August 8) Based on required reading, field trips and other assignments. 6. Class Participation Students are expected to attend all classes and required field trips. An unexcused absence results in a penalty of five points off the final grade. Determination of Final Grade 25%- Journal A 91-100 15%- Quizzes (3) B 81-90 30%- Research Project C 71-80 10%- Participation D 60-70 20%- Final Exam F Below 60 Strongly recommended for the Course (but don’t buy these and don’t bring them) 1. Robert Hardman. A Year With The Queen. This was just published and is the best book on what the monarchy does today. It is the companion book to a BBC series. I borrowed it from the public library. It is an easy read and well illustrated. 2. Vernon Bogdanor. The Monarchy and the Constitution. This would be the perfect book for this course but it is out of print. It is a fairly recent publication and is in paperback. If you are really interested in the constitutional role of the monarchy, this is the book to read. 3. Edward Wessex. Crown and Country: A Personal Guide to Royal London This too would be a perfect book for our course because it has pictures and descriptions of many of the places we will visit. It also is a companion book to a BBC series and the tapes for each site are in our local public library. Watching them would be a great way to prepare for the summer in London. Final Note: Please don’t be intimidated by the length of this syllabus. It is much longer than one I would distribute to a class here at the University of South Alabama. My goal is to give you lots of information so you can email questions to me as they occur to you (ehannum@usouthal.edu). If you have any suggestions, I would like to hear those too. There is much more to see and do with regard to “Royal London” and I may make some changes if events or your suggestions warrant them. COURSE WEBSITE: http://www.southalabama.edu/ccsa If you go to the course website, you will find links to royal sites that we will visit and other places of interest in England. I will update this website to keep it current and, hopefully, helpful to you. |
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Some Suggestions for London and for the Course: 1. Eyewitness Travel Guide: London (provided by CCSA) 2. Penny Junor. The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor 3. Raymond Seitz. Over Here An entertaining and informative view of England and the English by a recent U.S. Ambassador. 4. Bill Bryson. Notes from a Small Island Observations on the English from a sarcastic but affectionate Anglophile. 5. Alan Bennett. The Uncommon Reader (novel) A brief and charming portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, transformed by reading books. 6. The Queen- a film starring Helen Mirren |
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