What To Expect In Our Study Abroad Program
Our Oxford Study Abroad program can prove a life changing educational experience. From the places you’ll visit, the friends you’ll make and the knowledge you will gain will serve any student well as they pursue a degree or a career. Below please find an overview of some of the experiences you can expect while on our travel abroad program at Oxford.
Location: Oxford University, United Kingdom
Oxford, the oldest and most renowned English-speaking University in the world, has existed since the 11th century as a center for arts, letters, and science. It has set a standard of academic excellence–and employability–for 30 British prime ministers (including the current PM, Rishi Sunak), authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Oscar Wilde, Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), actors such as Richard Burton, Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter), Hugh Grant, Kate Beckinsale, as well as world leaders including Indira Gandhi (India), Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan) and Bob Hawke (Australia). Oxford was never bombed in World War I and II, and its thankful skyline of spires continue to inspire those who walk under them to this day.
Studies: Courses and Experiences
The three-week course in international relations, based in Oxford classrooms, with lectures also held at the offices of the Oxford Study Abroad Programme, introduces and examines the economic, political and military aspects of international relations as taught by those with practitioner experience, including both American and British Dons (master teachers). Additional program elements include a walking-tour of Oxford with certified guides at the course beginning to familiarize students with their city for their period of study, excursions to London, Bath, and Cambridge to enhance cultural experience, as well as a trip down the Thames River. Students are encouraged to travel before, after, and on weekends during their course of study to explore England, Scotland, Ireland, and the European continent as part of an unforgettable European educational experience.
Visiting Cultural Centers
The OSAP experience means first and foremost exploring the unique museums and 39 colleges with their splendid architecture and grounds. Others may prefer to lounge in the wingback chairs with a coffee at the world-famous Blackwell’s Bookshop, the Bodleian library (like the Library of Congress, a copywrite library with every book published in the world), or the famous public houses like the Eagle and Child, the Turf Tavern, the Bear Tavern, and the King’s Arms. The program provides excursions to the oldest still-functioning Roman baths in the aptly named city of Bath, the capital of London’s Parliament Buildings, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Windsor Palace. Optional trips to Stonehenge, Runnymede (home of the Magna Carta), the Harry Potter Studios, or Blenheim Palace (birth and resting place of Sir Winston Churchill) are possible.
Living and Learning History
When you live, breathe, eat, and study in a historical place, you gain a perspective that will last a lifetime. Oxford has experienced world history and has taught its leaders for over a millennium, and has influenced thoughts, discoveries, and lives of many world citizens. If you visit the Ashmolean museums of ancient history or of science, you can learn about Egyptian architecture as well as Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity plainly explained on a 1931 blackboard, with chalked mathematical equations from his own hand. You can explore the grounds of 39 different colleges, including Christ Church that taught students during Henry the Eighth’s reign, and housed a professor by the name of John Locke, known as the father of democracy. You can visit the Oxford Castle where William the Conqueror established a network of castles and prisons across the British landscape after his successful Norman invasion of 1066.
Networking
Whether it be discussing the nuances of international relations with an Oxford Don in a public house during “office hours,” or sharing thoughts and revelations with newfound classroom colleagues in your student housing, friendships will forge and last a lifetime. Letters of recommendation for your future plans–whether academic or job-related–can emerge. Perhaps even more important, the resume capital you gain by having experienced Oxford will lead to future hiring opportunities because Oxford remains the number one University recognized for employability in the world.
Perhaps just as important, the life-long friends you make while experiencing this “academic Disneyland” will form the basis for a meaningful network. Your friends will be among the first to pass along career and travel opportunities to you. When you share a life-changing encounter with others, good things happen both during and long after your seminar. Resume capital and friendships await you! Are you ready yet?
PROGRAM INFORMATION