UCLA Travel Study
English: London – City of Transformations
*2024 Program Information Coming Soon!*
Spend a few weeks living in London this summer, and get to know one of the world’s greatest cities as an insider, not just a tourist.
This is an opportunity to gain an intimate knowledge of London, discovering, walking and mapping the psychogeography of the contemporary capital while recovering the hidden traces of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—such as the churches of Nicholas Hawksmoor and the illuminated books of William Blake, which remain active nodes in the city’s cultural maps and provide major reference points in literature from T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland to the graphic novel From Hell.
The program combines the study of the cultural history of London with the study of the shifting patterns of urban design and development in the city, comparing the great
nineteenth-century transformations of the capital (for example Trafalgar Square, Regents Street) with more contemporary developments (e.g., Canary Wharf and the Docklands; the purged and reinvented sites of the 2012 Olympics; Shoreditch and the east end).
The program aims to trace and re-trace the many recurring patterns of demolition and development that have shaped London for two centuries, and an unfolding Romantic contestation of those changes that have persisted into the present.
Program enrollment is limited to maintain an intimate environment for discussion in the classroom and on the street.
Curriculum
Program Courses
All students will enroll in two required courses while attending the program:
- ENGL 169 or ENGL 119 (for non-English majors) (5 units)
- ENGL 182D or ENGL 184 (for English majors seeking capstone seminar credit) (5 units)
Course Descriptions
ENGL 119/169: Romanticism and Revolution (5 units)
Prerequisites: English majors only are expected to have completed English 10A, 10B and 10C.
This course covers the contextual background of the Age of Revolution and London in the early Romantic period. This course provides students the necessary contextual and historical framework with which to understand the cultural development of the Romantic period in Britain, with a strong emphasis on the early part of the period (1789-1805). Readings include fiction and poetry as well as significant exposure to non-canonical writing, such as revolutionary ballads, pamphlets, handbills, journals, and songs. The course combines readings and lectures with first-hand explorations of the period’s traces in London, through visits to galleries and museums, the surviving gathering places of writers and revolutionaries, and walking tours of various London neighborhoods.
- ENGL 169 applies toward the English major historical requirement 1700-1850.
ENGL 182D/184*: Topics in Romantic Literature (5 units
Prerequisites: English majors only are expected to have completed English 10A, 10B and 10C. English majors who will have completed 4 upper-division English courses by the end of spring term will be registered in English 184 for capstone credit; all other students will be registered in 182D.
This course focuses on the poet, engraver, artist and printer William Blake (1757-1827), who remains the least understood figure of the Romantic period. For much of the 20th century, scholars considered Blake to be an enigmatic visionary working in isolation from the rest of the universe. Recent scholarship has, however, revealed the nature and extent of Blake’s connections to the worlds of printmaking, religious enthusiasm, and revolutionary politics in the 1790s and later. Through a variety of readings and visits to museums, field trips to Blake’s surviving homes, as well as visits to the London collections housing some of Blake’s greatest work in their original form (most of which are not ordinarily on public display), we explore Blake’s writing in relation to the turbulent period in which he produced his most exciting work.
*Either course number 182D or 184 may fulfill the senior/capstone seminar requirement for the English major.
Optional Course
ENGL 199: Directed Research (4 units; requires instructor consent)Â
Students who wish to supplement the learning process covered in the two required courses may seek the instructor’s approval to expand their paper into a longer project, which will require additional research and writing. There is an additional fee for this independent study course.
Students can enroll in optional courses by submitting the Optional Course Registration Form, as well as proof of instructor consent, to info@ieo.ucla.edu. You can enroll up until the Friday of the second week of your program.
Grading
Grades for both courses will be determined by student attendance and participation in discussion as well as an essay that will integrate and address themes and materials from both courses. Papers will be due by the end of the summer session.
Schedule
All schedules, itineraries, and group activities are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. All class lectures are conducted as walking tours throughout the city. In addition to lectures, the class will visit museums, galleries and archival collections. In their free time, students will be encouraged to explore London on their own.
Textbooks
Textbook information will be available at a later date. You are responsible for purchasing your own textbooks. We strongly suggest that you read as much of the text material as possible before you depart.
Readings are drawn from two moments in London’s cultural history: on the one hand, the urban Romanticism of Mary Robinson, John Keats, Hannah More and William Blake, and, on the other hand, contemporary art and writing from London, such as Laura Oldfield Ford’s zine Savage Messiah or Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s graphic novel From Hell, which are very much in dialogue with their Romantic-era predecessors.
Budget and Financial Aid
| Budget Estimate | UC Undergrads | UC Grad Students | Visiting Student |
| Program Fee | $6,400 | $7,000 | $7,000 |
| Textbooks (estimate) | $150 |  $150 |  $150 |
| Airfare (estimate) | Â $1,800 | Â $1,800 | Â $1,800 |
| Meals (estimate) |  $1,000 |  $1,000 |  $1,000 |
| Spending Money (estimate) |  $800 | $800 |  $800 |
Program fee includes registration and course fees, accommodations, program excursions and health insurance.
Airfare, textbooks, optional courses, meals, optional excursions, and any COVID-19 testing required for travel are additional.
Fees are subject to change by action of the UC Regents. View full fee disclaimer.
Document FeeÂ
Non-UCLA students will be charged a $50 Document Fee.  This is a one-time document fee which covers fees for first-class mailing of official transcripts, diploma and much more. Please visit the Registrar’s Office Website for more information.  Matriculated UCLA Students: Please visit the Registrar’s Office Website for document fee information.
IEI Fee
All undergraduate students will be charged a $61 IEI fee per summer. The IEI (Instructional Enhancement Initiative) fee is a course materials fee that is charged in order to support the use of technology in undergraduate education at UCLA. For more information please click here.
Budgeting
We recommend that you budget accordingly to cover optional sightseeing, laundry, internet cafes, emergencies, etc. How much to budget depends on your travel, entertainment and souvenir choices. It is always best to overestimate your spending. Take the time to research the cost of living in your destination and the activities you want to participate in while abroad.
Purchasing Airfare
Please do not purchase airfare until instructed to do so by your Travel Study Program Coordinator.
Financial Aid
Financial aid for Travel Study programs is available to qualified UCLA students. All other students should inquire about financial aid at their home institution. For details about the financial aid application process, please visit the Financial Aid section of this Web site.
On Location
Accommodations
Students will reside in centrally located apartments in London. Rooms may be double, or triple occupancy with shared bathroom, kitchen, and common area per apartment.
UCLA Travel Study reserves the right to change housing location. Should this be necessary, we will arrange comparable accommodations elsewhere.
Meals
No meals are included. The student residences include a shared, fully equipped kitchen for students to prepare meals.
If you have strict dietary requirements you may encounter difficulty finding suitable food. Please let us know when you apply for the program if you have any special dietary needs, as well as any physical or medical conditions. We will advise you accordingly.
Excursions
The program consists of walking tours that will familiarize students with the contemporary cityscape while also bringing the past to life, as well as visits to museums and galleries. In the past, this program has included visits to the National Archives, British Museum, Keat’s House and many historical walks through London. A schedule of excursions will be available at a later date.
The program also allows plenty of free time and encourages students to explore London on their own. If you plan on traveling extensively, we recommend that you budget additional spending money.
