THE CULTURE OF LONDON:
PAST AND PRESENT
Regent’s University, London
ENSP 5821(1 credit) or ENSP 5822 (4 credits)
May 24- June 12, 2015
DRAFT SYLLABUS
Professors Bruce Holsinger, Clare Kinney and Michael Levenson
Program Administrators: Jon Readey, Margaret Rennix, Brandon Walsh
Site of course resources: ENSP 5821-501
Work for the summer course described below will earn 1-hr of course credit; those who also complete a
research project in the summer or in one or two subsequent semesters can receive up to an additional six
hours of credit.
Texts (Readings on Collab are marked with *):
A Short History of London*
Bowen, “The Mysterious Kor”*
Smith, “The Embassy of Cambodia”*
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
Taylor, Londoners
London Poems*
Barbara Hanawalt, Growing Up in Medieval London*
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Anonymous, "London Lickpenny";* Chaucer, "The Cook's Tale";* Bruce Holsinger, The Invention of Fire,
excerpt*
Students are to keep a daily journal describing their experiences and reflections.
SCHEDULE
May 24 Arrival in London
Reading due: “A Short History of London”, “The Embassy of Cambodia”* and “The Mysterious Kor”*
WEEK OF MAY 25
Monday
Reading: “A Short History of London”*
Morning: (10 a.m.) College Orientation and Tour
Afternoon: Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern
Evening: Drama Club: Les Miserables (optional)
Tuesday
Morning: (10 a.m.) Roger Bowdler, “A History of London through its Architecture”
(11:00 a.m.) Discussion of “The Embassy of Cambodia”* and “The Mysterious Kor”*
Afternoon: Film viewing (7-Up) and discussion
Literary Walking Tour Club: Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill (optional)
Evening: Drama Club: Peter Pan at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (optional)
Wednesday
Reading: The Merchant of Venice
Morning: (10: a.m.) Clare Kinney, “Shakespeare and the Globe”
Discussion and reading quiz: The Merchant of Venice
Afternoon: (Globe Theater, 2:00 p.m.) The Merchant of Venice
Evening: Group outing to a movie in Leicester Square (optional)
Thursday
Morning (10 a.m.) Discussion: The Merchant of Venice
(11 a.m.) End-of Week Recapitulation
Afternoon (1:30 p.m.) Ian Tucknott, “The Art of London”
Evening: Dinner on the South Bank (optional)
Friday: Outing Club: Bath (optional)
Saturday: Market day with Brandon (optional)
Sunday: (5 p.m., Tuke Cinema) Class screening of Notting Hill (optional)
WEEK OF JUNE 1
Monday
Reading: Londoners: (airline pilot, arriving) 7-8; (arriving from Iran) 22-27; (voice of the Underground 2933; (Lost property clerk/driving instructor/Civil engineer) 38-51; (“Londin”) 67-69; (Love story) 91-98;
(dominatrix) 100-102; (Smartie) 114-122; (city planner) 125-131; (street cleaner/ bus operations specialist
/arboriculturalist) 136-152; (new Spitalfields traders) 181-198
Morning (9 a.m.) Sophie Laws, “ The History of Religion in London”
(10:15 a.m.) Visit to the Houses of Parliament
Afternoon: (4 p.m.) Roger Bowdler, Walking London (Abbey to Palace)
Evening: Drama Club: Wicked (optional)
Tuesday
Reading: London Poems*
Morning (10 a.m.) Anna Sullivan, “The History of Theatre in London”
(11 a.m.) Discussion of London Poems* (Wordsworth, “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”; Blake “London”;
Wilde, “Impression du Matin”; H.D. from The Walls Do Not Fall; Heaney, from District and Circle; Etter,
“Collecting the Ridges”, “Public Transit” Anon), and Film viewing (7-Up)
Evening (7:30 p.m.) National Theatre, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
Wednesday
Reading: Londoners (Henry Hudson) 221-224; (Emmajo Read and Smartie) 254-265 inclusive; (Nicola Owen and
Guity Keens and Lucy Skilbeck) 289-309 inclusive; (Colin Hendricks) 310-319; (Mohammed Ali Hasan) 323-324;
(Toby Murthwaite) 341-343; (George Iacobescu & Alison Cathcart & Alex Blake & Perry Powell & John Harris &
Spencer Lee & Michael Linnington) 350-387 inclusive; (Smartie) 396-398
Morning: (10 a.m.) Discussion: Londoners
(11 a.m.) Discussion: Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
Afternoon: (1:30 p.m.) Ian Tucknott, The Art of London
Evening: Dinner and walking tour of Covent Garden, Seven Dials, and Neal’s Yard (optional)
Thursday
Reading: Barbara Hanawalt, Growing Up in Medieval London (biographical excerpts)
Morning (10 a.m.) Film viewing (7-Up) and discussion of medieval and modern childhood
Afternoon (4 p.m.): Roger Bowdler: Walking Hampstead
Evening: Hampstead Heath and Annual Kickball Game at Kenwood House (optional)
Friday: Outing Club: Bath (optional)
Saturday: Free day for students
Sunday: (5 p.m., Tuke Cinema) Class screening of About Time (optional)
WEEK OF JUNE 8
Monday
Reading: Mrs. Dalloway
Morning: (10 a.m.) Panel discussion: “Religion in London” (Mireille Hebing, Sophie Laws, Julia Weiner)
(11:30 a.m.) Discussion of Mrs. Dalloway (reading quiz)
Evening (7:30 p.m.) Arcola Theatre, Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage
Tuesday
Reading: Anonymous, "London Lickpenny"; Chaucer, "The Cook's Tale"; Bruce Holsinger, The Invention of Fire,
excerpt
Morning: (10 a.m.) Discussion of the readings and Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage
(11:15 a.m.) Discussion of Mrs. Dalloway
(2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.) Visit to Sir John Soane’s Museum
Evening: Drama Club: Matilda or The Book of Mormon or another play/musical of your choosing (optional)
Wednesday
Morning: (10 a.m.) Anna Sullivan, “Contemporary London Theatre”
(Afternoon: (1:30 p.m.) Ian Tucknott, “The Art of London”
(Late Afternoon): Roger Bowdler: Walking London: The River
Thursday:
Reading: Your own journal
Morning: (10 a.m.) Discussion: What was London to us and for us?
Evening: End-of-the-course Meal and Gathering