Sir Harry Potter - Wednesday 7/20

Wednesday proved to be another interesting day. After the entertaining events of Tuesday, it had the potential to be a somewhat down day. However, it was far from that. In the afternoon, the British Literature II class met again. The discussion topic for the class was a selection  of readings from the Harry Potter books. I know that a lot of English professors think that the Harry Portter phenomenon is a lark, and that teaching the material of the novels is also a lark, despite the fact (or perhaps as a result of the fact) that Harry Potter based readings are the foundations of entire courses at major U.S. universities, particularly Ivy League schools.

My take on the Harry Potter books is that despite their reputation as "kids' books" they have value in terms of their Legendarium, to borrow Tolkien's word. There is a mythos that is created over the course of the seven novels that compares (not on an equal literary footing perhaps) with the mythos at the heart of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings stories. Many of the elements that are in the Harry Potter stories mirrors the elements in Tolkien's stories, and they mirror the stories of the Arthurian literature as well. They are human ideals, dreams, desires, and myths that span the whole human condition in many ways, and most specifically the western traditions we live under in both Britain and the U.S. If those ideals and ideas (such as loyalty, honor, duty, and nationalism) can be made accessible to young readers, I'm all for it. I don't always agree with many 20th and 21st century colleagues who seem to embrace a somewhat more cynical view that the ideas carried in these stories are too idealistic and naive for a modern world. 

Our in class discussions focused on specific Arthurian parallels between the selections drawn from the Harry Potter books and the tales of King Arthur. It also looked at the deeper parallels in terms of concepts and myth/story elements.

After class, I had another opportunity to take in a play. This time, I went to the Globe Theatre for a second time. This was the trip to see Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. It was a fabulous experience, even though it was raining. The actors just worked it into the performance without breaking character, and no one (not even those standing in the yard in rain gear) seemed to really notice it. The staging was very visually engaging, including the large Morris Dance puppets that passed through the standing audience on one occasion. The acting was strong with an excellent cast all the way to the supporting roles. The high comedy was witty and the low comedy raucous. Dogberry (a character in the play) was particularly fun to watch. It is really hard to beat a Shakespeare comedy for true humor on every level - engaging both the intellect and the visceral. Though there is no photography allowed during the performance, I did take a couple of pictures before it began.

This is the stage area as it was set up for the play, from my seat in the front row on the third tier of seating.

Here is a view of te seating area including the yard, where the audience has to stand throughout the performance.

the stage at the Globe Theatre

me before the performance - this stoic look was very soon to be broken into laughing and smiling at the play

That's Entertainment! (apologies to MGM) - Tuesday 7/19

Tuesday held several wonderful events in store for me. The students and other faculty members were away on their Tuesday field trips, and I had an odd mix of experiences to encounter.


In the morning, I had the responsibility of holding office hours for the program. That means I was available for about two hours spanning the time period over which the field trips were scheduled to leave. The reason for that was to be available should any students need to stop by or contact me because they were too ill to participate in hteir field trips (which are mandatory). I had one student come in who was suffering from cold symptoms and exhaustion. Those are common ailments, especially as we get toward the end of the trip. Students tend to try to overdo things a little bit, and they don't eat well and they don't sleep well. That leaves them vulnerable to feeling sick. Anyway, this student mainly needed to get a little sleep and now is doing well. The make up fieldtrip on her own may be a bit challenging to work in, but that's one of the challenges of study abroad.

My day took an interesting turn for the better in the afternoon. Despite some more rain, I was pleased with my lunch at an Indian restaurant nearby. Then it was off to the movie theater. I had my ticket to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 - finally. This was also going to be my first experience with British movie theaters. Judging from the cost to get in, it may well be my last. Movies here cost more than than what they do in the U.S. To see this movie in 3D during the low-cost matinee, it cost me the equivalent of a little more than $20 - and that's with no popcorn or anything! I guess it was worth it. I really enjoyed the movie, and it completes Hollywood's treatment of a very interesting set of books. I am teaching parts of the series while I am here htis summer, and I think my students really are looking forward to our discussions of the story. There are an intriguing number of Arthurian parallels with the story of Harry Potter. it makes for an interesting literary discussion.

After the movie, I met with some of the faculty members from the program. We had a very unique opportunity. One of them has a daughter who is in London with her own group of students, and she had purchased a set of group tickets to a musical. Some of her students decided not to go, so she made the tickets available to us. Boy, were we lucky. The musical is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - the Musical. I had a great time. The musical is based on the movie, and it follows the basic story very closely. All in all, this story of three drag queens travelling across the Australian outback in a borken down, pink bus called Priscilla is a campy riot to enjoy. The songs were rollicking. The costuming way over the top in extravagance. The set was very intriguing and effective. The performances were high-energy and engaging. In many ways, like my experience earlier this summer in New York with Sister Act on Broadway, and with A Beggar's Opera here in London, I laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Regrettably, photos aren't allowed in the theatre, so I have none. I don't even have a picture of the theatre sign or the play title sign - but I will. When I do get them, I will add them here.
  

Legendarium day! - Monday 7/18

Monday was a day given over to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. That was the text for the class meeting today. More specifically, I asked my students to focus on the first of the books, The Fellowship of the Ring. This book is one of my favorites, just as Tolkien is one of my favorite authors. His concept of myths containing the "fundamental truths" of a culture rings so true to me, especially as I consider myself an Arthurian (the material about King Arthur is one of my main academic areas of study). That's the idea that he created the label of "Legendarium" to convey. This was probably one of the most spirited classroom discussions thus far this summer. I think that the shift to this genre of "high fantasy" from the somewhat depressing and dark literature of the first and second world wars was a welcome relief to my students.

We are winding down here in London. This is our last full week here. We have two more class meetings after this one, and then a final exam. It has been intense, especially for the students, who have to cram an entire semester's worth of reading and academics into only five weeks. However, the fact that it is all taking place in London does make it an incredibly rewarding experience. The work is paying off. The opportunities to explore the field trip sites is paying off. The additional sight seeing and cultural immersion is paying off.

There have been bumps along the road, with some sickness, some relatively minor troubles caused by too much partying (but what college student doesn't go through that!), too little sleep at times, and a crash course in balancing budgets (for some, especially as we get close to the end). Still, I don't think there is a student or a faculty member here who would say it isn't worth it.

Now, before I start to sound like it is all over today, I need to remind you that there is still a little over a week left before we come home, so continue to watch for the postings. There's still a lot to do yet!

Rainy resting day - Sunday 7/17

Sunday was a rainy day in London. I decided to just rest a while and catch up on some class preparation and reading. All in all, I ended up not going out except to pick up some groceries for a light meal in my room.

Another day trip - Saturday 7/16

Saturday was set for a planned trip to Bath, England. There were twelve students, another faculty member, and me on the trip. The trip went along fairly smoothly. In fact, the only drawback was that it was rainy and overcast for much of the first part of the trip. That made it chilly, and a little too uncomfortable for some of the students who forgot to bring jackets.

Bath is a very fascinating site. It has a natural spring of hot mineral water that bubbles up naturally from the ground. It has done that since ancient times. The Celtic tribes who lived in the area before the coming of the Romans in the first century AD knew of the site and worshipped around the spring and attributed the natural phenomenon to the goddess, Sulis. When the Romans came, they saw the value of the hot spring mineral waters and built a large bath complex over the site, using the natural hot water both in their bath houses and in a religious temple. They saw the healing power of the Celtic goddess, Sulis, as most closely matching their own goddess, Minerva, and built their temple to Sulis Minerva. The Roman town that arose around the site was called Aquae Sulis.

Other than the wonderful archaelogical finds that have been found around the area, the most important part of the Roman baths is that they still work the same way they did 2000 years ago. The baths are still in place, though the buildings they were in were taken down or collapsed long ago. When hte springs were found again in the Middle Ages, they were used by local monks to heal the sick. Then again, in the 17th and 18th centuries they were once again made into a spa for health and recreation. Bath was a very popular spot with t rich and famous of those times. Writers, musicians, foreign heads of state, and even English royalty were often seen in and around the city of Bath. One notable writer with a conenction to Bath is Jane Austen.

I guess that's enough history for this blog entry. I will now include some of the pictures I took of the sites in Bath.

The abbey church dominates the downtown area. The abbey itself was torn down back when Henry VIII dissolved the religious monastic houses in the 16th century, but the Abbey church itself still serves as a church for the town of Bath.

The impressive front of Bath Abbey

We were primarily interested in seeing the Roman baths: the ruins left over from the time when Bath was a major Roman city.

EC students  and faculty waiting in the rain to see the Roman baths

the tour includes a model of what the Roman bath complex and temple site would have looked like

this is the frieze from the temple - with a gorgan head in the middle

though the structures above the pool were added in later stages of building (15th-18th century), this pool is still the same sacred pool that the Romans built in the first century - the water still bubbles up into this pool like it has since ancient times

this is the overflow system for the sacred pool - this water flows through the original Roman tunnels, channels, and sluices that the Romans put in - the arch was built in the 1st century AD! 

this is the main hot bathing pool - it still has the original Roman lead lining, and it is still water tight - the water is green because sunlight promotes algae growth in the warm water - the Romans had a huge arched roof over this room - the pedestals for the Roman roof supports can be seen on the far side

a couple of EC London 2011 students by the main pool

me next to the main pool

In addition to the Roman baths, we looked at a few other places, such as the Jane Austen Center.

one of the EC London 2011 students outside the Jane Austen Center in Bath, England

During the train ride back to London, we had the opportunity to see this white horse carved into the hillside near Westbury, England. It calls to mind the prehistoric chalk horse near Uffington, but this one only dates from the end of the 1700s. Still, it is supposed to be on the site of one that dates to much further back in history.

chalk White Horse on a hillside overlooking the town of Westbury in the county of Wiltshire in England

An adventure with an adventure - Friday 7/14

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes." I must have heard that statement more than two dozen times on Friday. I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace and final home of William Shakespeare. The trip is almost a pilgrimage for me. Anyway, I had a couple of students accompany me. Since they had stayed up late the night before to take in the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter film, we started out a little later than usual. The train trip to Stratford is a long one since it is quite a distance from London. We arrived about lunch time, had a quick lunch, and set right out to see what remains of the city that dates back to Shakespeare's time. In fact, the house where he was born and raised is still standing and has been preserved as a museum.

Shakespeare's birthplace

Here is the blogger standing outside the entrance to Shakespeare's birthplace.

some of the colorful flowers in the garden of the Shakespeare birthplace

Of course, Stratford is also the place where Shakespeare died in 1616. He is buried in Trinity Church in Stratford.

Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's grave site near the altar in Trinity Church - Stratford-upon-Avon

The memorial for Shakespeare on the wall of the church overlooking his grave

Stratford-upon-Avon includes the name of the river that flows through it in order to distinguish it from other Stratfords in England. Here is an image of the river from Trinity Church.

River Avon from Trinity Church - Stratford-upon-Avon

Some other sites from Stratford:

The city public library housed in an (a least partially) original Tudor style building with half-timber construction

The Stratford-upon-Avon Market Cross - as a county market town, Stratford would have been the site to which farmers from surrounding areas and merchants from the town would have come on occasion to sell their goods, buy what they needed, and gather news of the day. We arrived during a modern version of a market day. 

Museum field trip - Thursday 7/14

This was an interesting day. The class field trip was to a couple of museums in London. Our readings this week have been focused on the two major wars of the twentieth century: World War I and World War II. In order to assist the students in understanding the context of the two wars, I took them to the Imperial War Museum, with its great displays on those wars, and to te Museum of London, to get a London specific view of the Blitz (the air war over London in World War II). Both of these visits were very useful in getting the students visual elements to match with the ideas raised in the poetry. In fact, at te Imperial War Museum, they even had the opportunity to get some experiential opportunites. The museum has a mock up of a trench from World War I, and it has a mock up of the bunker experience during the World War II air war. All in all, I think the day can be best summed up by the words of the student who turned to me near the end of the field trip and told that she thought this class was potentially the most traumatizing class she would ever take. The intensity of the poetry and the intensity of the exhibits really seemed to bring home to her, and all of the others, the ideas that expressed in the poetry and a little bit of the reality those ideas reflect.

These are a few of the pictures that I took. Sadly, most of my interior pictures did not turn out oo well, especially at the Imperial War Museum. I guess if you want to see the inside you'll just have to go on a study abroad trip of your own.

The Imperial War Museum - London

 This is the British Literature II class at the Imperial War Museum

Robin Padick, and ABAC student, standing next to a segment of the torn down Berlin Wall on display at the Imperial War Museum

Here are some of the Brit Lit II students at lunch

At the museum of London, our focus was on the World War II exhibits and a brief film made about the Blitz in London. The film used clips from interviews with actual Blitz survivors recalling their experiences. It was very powerful. I then looked around hte rest of the museum, and took some pictures of my favorite sections. One of which is the section covering the Roman period in Britain from about 56AD through the middle 400s AD. 

This is a miniature diorama of what the riverfront in London might have looked like in Roman times - Museum of London

this is a full size mock up of what a typical Roman Room might look like in Romanized England - Museum of London

This next picture was taken while we were traveling between hte museums. In itself, it is a rare thing to come across, at least in my experience.

A rarity - an empty tube station