Class Fieldtrips!

One of the best parts about studying in such a historically and culturally rich city as London, is that most of my courses involve fieldtrips at least once throughout the term!


My Theatre in Performance class visited the Globe Theater (both the new and the location of the original one). We took a detailed tour and learned about the area in which the Globe was located and the history of theatre in Shakespeare's time. The new Globe looks very much like the original, and there are still performances in it over the summer when it's warm (because it is an open air theatre).




For my Nineteenth century London class, we would go on fieldwalks throughout different areas of London. We would observe the architecture, statues, and religious houses to make conclusions about the area in the nineteenth century (as most of London's streets and buildings are the same as they were in the nineteenth century).

My Art and Society class went on fieldtrips each week. The first hour of class would be devoted to a lecture on campus and the last two hours, we would either go to a significant church, gallery, or museum. The first week of class, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, which was designed by Christopher Wren. We hiked up 530 steps to the golden gallery, which is arguably one of the best views of London. On the way up, we passed the 'whispering gallery', in which one person can whisper against the wall and on the other side of the circle within the dome, another person can hear exactly what was said. What a fun first class! The next week we went to the Banqueting House, which was, and still is, a place of entertainment for Royalty. Charles I was executed at the Banqueting House and it is now a museum open to the public. Our class discussed the paintings on the ceiling of the Banqueting House, as they are considered very significant and unique pieces of work painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. In the weeks after, we visited the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square and many other museums and smaller galleries scattered throughout London.








The fieldtrips that I've taken in my classes so far have enhanced my experience in London, as I am getting to learn with the original pieces in front of me, whether it is a building, painting, or district in London. It is indescribable being able to go to the National Portrait Gallery to research and take notes on a painting that I need to write a paper on, and actually being able to sit there with the original 8x10 foot painting in front of me! (I did this for a paper on the painting 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' I had for my Art and Society class).