London: British Literature and Culture

In the course of this intensive quarter-long program, students take four courses. Three of these courses, devoted to British literature and culture, are each compressed into approximately three weeks and taught in succession by Chicago faculty. The fourth course runs throughout the term at a less intensive pace and allows for independent study of a London-based topic. London itself, once the metropolitan hub of the British Empire with a history dating from Roman times, is central to the mission of this program and students are expected to make a serious project of exploring its corners. Toward this end, the program includes a number of field trips within and around London, aimed at connecting texts with living monuments.

Faculty who teach on this program rotate from year to year. The faculty roster is designated by the program faculty director.

Autumn 2025 Course Descriptions

9 Walks: Romantic London on Foot (Alexis Chema) 
For the Romantics—William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Keats, Leigh Hunt, William Hazlitt, and others—walking was a powerful source of creative inspiration as well as a means of self-fashioning, contemplation, and learning about the world. Students in this course will be invited to reflect on their journeys to and around the city of London alongside representations of walking from the Romantic literary tradition. Our primary texts will be poems and essays that explore the confluence of walking, thinking, and writing, in London or its environs. Each of our meetings will be organized around a particular walk, route, or trajectory and the set of concerns it suggests: the relation of country to city, urbanization and industrialization, mobility and embodiment, cosmopolitanism, sociability and solitude, and aesthetics. 

Intro to Genres: Speculative Women (Lina Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas) 
Despite common misconceptions, women have been at the forefront of the speculative genre from its earliest inceptions—particularly British women. They have not merely defied the limitations and restraints of literature as defined by their contemporary society and yet were able to invent whole worlds and genres which continue to influence writers and writing today. From Margaret Cavendish's 1666 novel, The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World, to Virginia Woolf's 1928 publication of Orlando, to Mary Shelley 1818 publication of "Frankenstein," and beyond. This course will be a brief foray into the strange and yet familiar worlds of various women across the history of speculative writing with a specific focus on the contribution and influences of British women to the genre and its inception. 

Revolution and Institution in British Arts (Timothy Campbell) 
We’ll spend a first segment of the course on poetry and literature (and manifestos by William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley), a second segment on design and architecture (focusing on William Morris and other nineteenth-century figures), and a third segment on fashion (focusing on Alexander McQueen and other UK figures). Excursions will be related to fashion (potentially to Savile Row, the epicenter of men’s suits and tailoring) and design, along with some more casual literature-related walks. 

London program participants usually reside in shared, furnished studio apartments in central London. The apartments include fully equipped kitchens, private bathrooms, laundry facilities, and wireless internet access.

It is important to recognize the cultural context of student housing in the UK and understand that the amenities of the student apartments may vary. Although some of these differences may take some getting used to, remember that cultural differences extend to all aspects of your experience abroad. Having realistic expectations for your term in London will help you approach the study abroad experience with a positive attitude.

Participants in the London program remain registered as full-time students in the College. They take and receive credit for four courses: the three courses in the “British Literature and Culture” sequence and the fourth independent study course. Literature courses taught by Chicago English faculty may be used in their respective majors without special approval. Their use, partial or total, in other majors must be approved by the undergraduate chair of that department. Courses not used to meet major requirements may fill elective slots. Course titles, units of credit, and grades are placed on the College transcript.

Study abroad students pay regular College tuition, a program fee, and a nonrefundable study abroad administrative fee. The tuition and program fee are paid in conformity with the home campus payment schedule, and a deposit toward the nonrefundable study abroad administrative fee is submitted when accepting a place in a program. Precise figures for the London program during the 2024-2025 year are listed below:

Autumn tuition: as set by the Bursar’s Office

Study abroad administrative fee: $675

London program fee: $5,960

Previous program participants report spending in the range of $200 to $250 per week on meals and incidentals while on the program, though frugal students may spend less, and others could spend much more. Bear in mind that the cost of living in London is relatively high and that, while it is possible to live frugally, it is also possible to run short of money if you are unwary. It is therefore essential that you budget your funds prudently, apportioning your resources so that they last for the duration of the program. If you are planning to travel before or after the program or on weekends, you should budget accordingly.

Study abroad students retain their financial aid eligibility. For more information about financial aid resources, please see our Tuition, Fees, and Funding section.

The London program is open to University of Chicago undergraduate students only. Applications from outside the University are not accepted.

The program is designed for University of Chicago undergraduates in good academic and disciplinary standing with a strong interest in British literature and culture and with some coursework in this area. It is not required that English be a student’s major subject at Chicago, though students concentrating in those fields will likely find the program to be especially attractive and profitable. In general students should present a solid academic record and demonstrate the kind of maturity that is necessary to participate successfully in a program abroad.

Each application is examined on the basis of the student’s scholastic record and personal statement. If you are interested in applying for this program please fill out the online application.

To discuss the London: British Literature and Culture program and the possibility of participating, please contact Dana Currier.