All London Centre students are required to take the 3-unit core course, British Life and Culture. Students then opt to take two or three elective courses. While adding two elective courses will provide minimum full-time standing (15 units total), the core course has been specifically designed so that students may consider pursuing three elective courses (21 units total). London Centre courses do not have limited enrollment or prerequisites and are, therefore, open to any London Centre student.

Fall Term 2013

ANTH 372 – Urban Anthropology of London – Professor James – 6 units
Catalog Description: This seminar combines a variety of methods to explore contemporary British culture. In addition to the readings and field trips, students conduct ethnographic fieldwork in London on a topic of their own interest. This may be based in a particular place or, more broadly, focus on a certain group of people. The course provides an introduction to field research methods. Throughout the term, students participate in shorter exercises designed to develop their confidence in the skills of observation, interviewing, description, and analysis. Readings on topics such as neighborhoods, social use of language, class, education, and migration experience provide a framework for understanding the detail of the individual projects. Students are expected to make presentations and participate in discussions.  Attributes: Social Science Div GER (01cr), Diversity-Dimens GER (01cr), BM Social Science (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

HIST 247 – Impact of Empire on Great Britain, 1815-1914 – Professor Dobbs – 6 units
Catalog Description: In 1914 the British Empire contained a population of over 400 million people and was territorially the largest empire in world history. While the British spread their ideas about government, language, religion, and culture to their colonies, Britain itself was also profoundly influenced by the colonies it ruled. This course will explore aspects of the impact of the Empire on British politics, economics, society, and popular culture during the 19th century. Among the topics to be covered are the anti-slavery movement, imperialism and new imperialism, jingoism and popular culture, economic responses, and the influence of imperialism on culture and the arts. The myriad resources of London will be used to provide specific examples of how important the Empire was in shaping British identity and institutions during the 19th century. (G&C or E) Attributes: Humanities Div GER (01cr), Diversity-Global GER (01cr), Writing Intensive GER (01cr), BM Humanities (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

LING 225 – Language and the City – Professor Gottfried – 6 units
This course examines the origins and consequences of linguistic diversity in London, using insights from sociolinguistics. We will use the city of London as a kind of laboratory in which to study how social forces influence language use and the ways that languages influence social structure.  No previous Linguistics experience is required. Attributes: Diversity-Dimens GER (01cr).

PSYC 235 – Music and Mind – Professor Gottfried – 6 units
This course concerns the analysis of music's personal and cultural meaning, and psychological factors responsible for the meaning we derive. London's many musical venues will enable students to apply psychological principles of music perception and the relation of cognitive expectations and experiences to listeners' experience of musical meaning and emotion. No previous Music or Psychology experience is required. Attributes: Social Science Div GER (01cr).

THAR 211 – Introduction to London Theatre – Professor Schiele – 6 units
Catalog Description: Introduction to a critical approach to theatrical performance.  Students read play scripts before attending a wide range of plays in a variety of performance spaces in London, working towards a developed understanding of dramatic form.  Study of literary and theatrical conventions is designed to enhance students critical sophistication. The course aims to teach students the basic vocabulary of critical terms for thinking about plays in performance and increase their awareness of how their responses may be affected by a play. The course takes advantage of performances and opportunities uniquely available in London.  Attributes: Fine Arts Div GER (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 260 – British Life and Culture – Professor Fosdal – 3 units
Catalog Description: This compulsory course utilizes visiting speakers, site visits, small group fieldwork and short research projects to introduce students to contemporary life in London and the United Kingdom. Site visits usually include the Museum of London, Imperial War Museum, London Mosque, and a football match. Speakers have included religious leaders representing several different traditions and a homeless couple, among others. The course is designed so that the majority of work takes place during the single class meeting, allowing students the possibility of pursuing up to three elective courses.  Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 264 – Internship Seminar – Professor Harris – 6 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Catalog Description: Students in the internship program participate in seminar meetings and classroom discussions.  Students are required to maintain a blog that critically reflects on their experiences and to give oral presentations to the seminar group.  Students are also required to complete written work interrogating their experiences and the broader issue of how a liberal arts-informed perspective frames one’s experience in the workplace. Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

MUIN 355 – London Music Lessons – Arranged – 3 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Students who have regularly taken music lessons on-campus and who wish to continue taking lessons while in London may choose to arrange lessons in London. If successful in contracting for at least five hours worth of instruction over the term, students may register for a 3-unit, S/U only course overseen by Associate Dean Jeffrey Stannard. Students interested in pursuing lessons should contact the Off-Campus Programs office for more information.

Winter Term 2014

ARHI 246 - 19th Century Art, Design, and Society in Britain – Professor Barnes – 6 units
Catalog Description: In the 19th century, Britain was at the height of her imperial and industrial powers, with a burgeoning middle class with increased spending power. Against this background, this course examines the painting (including Turner, Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites, the High Victorians), architecture, furniture, and interiors of the period, utilizing the wealth of examples in London’s museums, galleries, and buildings. Attributes: Fine Arts Div GER (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

GOVT 385 - Modern British Politics – Professor Fosdal – 6 units
Catalog Description: This course analyzes the central structures and processes of British politics, the important policy issues of recent years, British attitudes toward the political system, and critiques of British politics and history. Attributes: Social Science Div GER (01cr), BM Social Science (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

THAR 279 – Fringe Theatre in London – Professor Schiele – 6 units
Catalog Description: This course will attempt to define Fringe Theatre (a movement started in 1968) and to categorize its main elements. The class shall attend a wide variety of plays and venues and come to an understanding of how the fringe has changed over the years. Discussions will address production techniques, the plays themselves, the audiences to whom they appeal, and to what extent the fringe is still an important theatrical force. Students are required to attend performances of the plays under study. Attributes: Fine Arts Div GER (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 203 – British Crime Fiction – Professor Harris – 6 units
Catalog Description: The course will offer a survey of the development of crime fiction in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century to the pre sent. Taught as a lecture/discussion class, it will also attempt to exploit the London setting to provide a physical context for some of the work under scrutiny. Students will be able to develop their analytical and writing skills, and should expect to achieve a good grasp of the characteristics of genre fiction; they should also be able to recognize the contribution that a study of these popular forms can make to developing a broader understanding of the values and concerns of the society within which they arise. Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 260 – British Life and Culture – Professor Fosdal – 3 units
Catalog Description: This compulsory course utilizes visiting speakers, site visits, small group fieldwork and short research projects to introduce students to contemporary life in London and the United Kingdom. Site visits usually include the Museum of London, Imperial War Museum, London Mosque, and a football match. Speakers have included religious leaders representing several different traditions and a homeless couple, among others. The course is designed so that the majority of work takes place during the single class meeting, allowing students the possibility of pursuing up to three elective courses.  Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 264 – Internship Seminar – Professor Harris – 6 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Catalog Description: Students in the internship program participate in seminar meetings and classroom discussions.  Students are required to maintain a blog that critically reflects on their experiences and to give oral presentations to the seminar group.  Students are also required to complete written work interrogating their experiences and the broader issue of how a liberal arts-informed perspective frames one’s experience in the workplace. Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

MUIN 355 – London Music Lessons – Arranged – 3 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Students who have regularly taken music lessons on-campus and who wish to continue taking lessons while in London may choose to arrange lessons in London. If successful in contracting for at least five hours worth of instruction over the term, students may register for a 3-unit, S/U only course overseen by Associate Dean Jeffrey Stannard. Students interested in pursuing lessons should contact the Off-Campus Programs office for more information.

Spring Term 2014

ANTH 372 – Urban Anthropology of London – Professor James – 6 units
Catalog Description: This seminar combines a variety of methods to explore contemporary British culture. In addition to the readings and field trips, students conduct ethnographic fieldwork in London on a topic of their own interest. This may be based in a particular place or, more broadly, focus on a certain group of people. The course provides an introduction to field research methods. Throughout the term, students participate in shorter exercises designed to develop their confidence in the skills of observation, interviewing, description, and analysis. Readings on topics such as neighborhoods, social use of language, class, education, and migration experience provide a framework for understanding the detail of the individual projects. Students are expected to make presentations and participate in discussions.  Attributes: Social Science Div GER (01cr), Diversity-Dimens GER (01cr), BM Social Science (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

ARHI 246 - 19th Century Art, Design, and Society in Britain – Professor Barnes – 6 units
Catalog Description: In the 19th century, Britain was at the height of her imperial and industrial powers, with a burgeoning middle class with increased spending power. Against this background, this course examines the painting (including Turner, Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites, the High Victorians), architecture, furniture, and interiors of the period, utilizing the wealth of examples in London’s museums, galleries, and buildings. Attributes: Fine Arts Div GER (01cr), Foundation/Gateway Course

ENGL/THAR 170 – Shakespeare in London – Professor Vinter – 6 units
Catalog Description: Students will study several plays by William Shakespeare selected from among the current offerings by the Royal Shakespeare and other companies. Discussions will address the plays themselves, production techniques, and the audiences to whom they appeal. Students are required to attend performances of the plays under study.  Students must register for ENG 170 and may submit a cross list request form to have the class listed on academic records as THAR 170.
Attributes (ENGL 170): Humanities Div GER (01cr), BM Humanities (01cr), Introductory Course
Attributes (THAR 170): Fine Arts Div GER (01cr), Introductory Course

HIST 150 – Stuart England 1603-1714 – Professor Dobbs – 6 units
Catalog Description: This course explores the causes and impact of the English Civil War, the effect of the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, and the path to the Hanoverian Succession. The economics, politics, religion, social history, and cultural aspects of the period are also studied. Visits to museums and buildings of the period are included. (E) Attributes: Humanities Div GER (01cr), BM Humanities (01cr), Introductory Course

MUHI 133/433 – Perspectives on Genius: The Life and Musical Impact of Beethoven - Professor Charlston – 6 units
Catalog Description: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), arguably one of the most famous composers of all time, is a compelling and fascinating figure in classical music. He occupies a central position as the architect of musical Romanticism and his influence continues today. In addition to studying his music from the perspective of his own time, we discuss his extraordinary creative personality and the reception of his music by subsequent composers and listeners. A number of concerts and outside visits will be organized, and students will be encouraged to attend relevant performances in London, for which they will be prepared in class. Attributes: Fine Arts Div GER (01cr).
133: The course is general in scope and no prior musical knowledge will be expected.  Does not satisfy course requirements for any music major.  Not open to students who have previously received, or need to receive credit for MUHI 433.
433: The course is a seminar involving independent research.  Not open to students who have previously received credit for MUHI 133.  Prerequisite: MUHI 201 and 202

UNIC 262 – ‘The Fields Beneath’: Discovering London’s Histories – Professor Harris – 6 units
Catalog Description: This interdisciplinary course aims to give students a thorough grounding in the chronology of London’s development from Roman settlement on the periphery of Empire to 21st-century “World City.” The use of contemporary literary and visual sources will serve both to develop students’ historical imagination and to enable them critically to examine the concepts involved in the discipline of history itself. Alongside this historical approach, a theoretical examination of specific themes and topics will be used to explore the nature of “the town as palimpsest,” a layered structure in which the past is never entirely obliterated by what succeeds it. Examples of such themes and topics might include, inter alia, religious observance, theatrical presentation, immigration, commerce, domestic life, and government. Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 260 – British Life and Culture – Professor Fosdal – 3 units
Catalog Description: This compulsory course utilizes visiting speakers, site visits, small group fieldwork and short research projects to introduce students to contemporary life in London and the United Kingdom. Site visits usually include the Museum of London, Imperial War Museum, London Mosque, and a football match. Speakers have included religious leaders representing several different traditions and a homeless couple, among others. The course is designed so that the majority of work takes place during the single class meeting, allowing students the possibility of pursuing up to three elective courses.  Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

UNIC 264 – Internship Seminar – Professor Harris – 6 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Catalog Description: Students in the internship program participate in seminar meetings and classroom discussions.  Students are required to maintain a blog that critically reflects on their experiences and to give oral presentations to the seminar group.  Students are also required to complete written work interrogating their experiences and the broader issue of how a liberal arts-informed perspective frames one’s experience in the workplace. Attributes: Foundation/Gateway Course

MUIN 355 – London Music Lessons – Arranged – 3 units – enrollment by permission of instructor
Students who have regularly taken music lessons on-campus and who wish to continue taking lessons while in London may choose to arrange lessons in London. If successful in contracting for at least five hours worth of instruction over the term, students may register for a 3-unit, S/U only course overseen by Associate Dean Jeffrey Stannard. Students interested in pursuing lessons should contact the Off-Campus Programs office for more information.