Welcome to the European Council’s 2009 London program and my World Literature II class. Because it is such an international city, London offers experiences for the study of world literature that we could get nowhere else. I hope you’re as excited am I am to explore the culture and cuisine of one of the most historical and diverse cities in the world. We depart in less than two months!
Please read the following information carefully before your mandatory orientation on Saturday, May 16 at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.
Field Trips. Part of the reason to study in London is to see London in the context of the course material. We have several field trips planned, including a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the famous Globe Theatre. All scheduled excursions will be paid for as part of your program fees (including a weekend excursion to Paris!).
Textbooks. Normally for a world literature survey like this, I would assign a large anthology. However, since we need to be concerned with how much we carry and the diversity of the literature we’ll be examining, I will be assigning a couple of small books and making downloadable PDFs of other required texts.
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
. (Trans. N.K. Sandars)
- Molière. Tartuffe
. (Trans. Richard Wilbur)
- Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet (any addition will do, but I recommend one with notes, like the Folger Library Edition
)
- Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
.
Please purchase all these texts and bring them with you to orientation. PDFs will be available before the May orientation; these, too, should be printed and accompany you to orientation.
Assignments. You will be given a syllabus at orientation, and it will also appear on this site in the next couple of weeks. I strongly recommend that you complete much of the assigned work here in the US before we venture abroad. This arrangement allows you to have more free time in London while still getting the most out of the course.
Communication. Please leave a comment below to confirm that you have read this introduction and understand what is expected of you at this point. I will be communicating with you through this web site. In the next couple of weeks, I will be posting your final syllabus and be making additional announcements. You might want to subscribe to the RSS feed.
I very much look forward to meeting all of you on May 18 in Milledgeville. I anticipate a great experiences as we live and work for five weeks in London. Let me know if you have questions.
