Scotland: Culture, Literature, and History

Through classroom lectures and site visits in Scotland, this course teaches the student to appreciate the culture of Europe's northernmost Celtic peoples.  Students will visit historic locales, monuments, museums, and battlefields to analyze the development and significance of the Scottish heritage.  The course, which begins in Edinburgh and ends in St. Andrews, Scotland's oldest university-town, will give students a sense of the nation's achievements in the arts and sciences as well as in politics, history, architecture, and social and military matters.  The course will also deal specifically with Scottish literature and its major figures (Burns, Scott, Stevenson, etc.).  Topics to be covered include:

Prehistoric Scotland, conversion of Scotland, Union of Picts and Scots
Vikings and Scots, the House of Canmore, and St. Margaret (1057-1286)
Wars of Independence with England (1286-1371)
Late Medieval and Renaissance Scotland, the Stuarts as kings, literature of the period
Reform and Counterreform in Scotland, Union of the crowns of Scotland and England under James I & VI
The Kirk and the Stuarts
The failure of the Jacobite rebellions - Culloden (1746)
Union of Parliaments (1707), Edinburgh as the "Athens of the North," Ramsay and Fergusson
Scotland in the 18th century: the innovators
Romantic Scotland: Burns, Scott and Stevenson

Instructors:  Dr. Alison Goeller and Dr. Tom Tulloss
 
Requirements
ENGL 288I - Students will attend lectures and field trips, maintain a journal, submit a four- to five-page analytical essay no later than three weeks after the course has ended, and take a final exam.  This course is open to all students who have successfully completed at least nine semester hours of university study.
ENGL 388I - In addition to the lectures, field trips, lower-level journal and exam requirements, students will submit a paper of six to nine typewritten pages no later than three weeks after the course has ended.  

This Field Study course is applicable to an upper- or lower-level course for English (literature only), humanities, or elective credit. 

Registration
Tuition for a three-semester-hour course must be paid to the UMUC-Europe field representative at your education center.  Tuition Assistance and Financial Aid are applicable toward tuition.

Textbooks
Textbooks will be sent to the field representative in the education center where the student has registered for the course.  Textbooks will cost approximately $80.  Textbooks and prices are subject to change; field representatives should contact the Field Study Office at the time of registration to confirm details.  Texts will include:

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Oxford Book of Scottish Short Stories, Douglas Dunn, Ed.
The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark

Before the course begins, please read the history sections in the blue guide, the novels by Stevenson and Spark, and the short stories by Scott and Hogg.

Accommodations and Transportation
A fee of approximately $500 will include all bus excursions and accommodations in an Edinburgh hotel for five overnights.  Students must bring 40 Pounds each for St. Andrews accommodations.  A $100 down payment is due with registration; the balance of the fee is due by the registration deadline.  UMUC-Europe reserves the right to adjust costs according to the fluctuation of the dollar exchange rate.  If the course is cancelled by UMUC-Europe, all payments will be refunded.  Students with any questions concerning accommodation are requested to contact the instructor(s) by email:  agoeller@faculty.ed.umuc.edu or ttulloss@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Transportation to and from St. Andrews is the responsibility of the student. 

Schedule
First class meeting:  1900 hours Saturday, 31 May 2008 in the Avenue Hotel in Edinburgh.
Final class meeting:  13:00 hours Saturday, 7 June 2008 in the living room of the Rockview in St. Andrews.

Important!
Before completing travel plans, it is the student's responsibility to verify with the field representative that the course will be offered on the dates indicated.  A fee of $100 will be charged to students who cancel from the Field Study course after the registration deadline.

••••  Registration Deadline:  16 May 2008  ••••

On related pages:  Sample Syllabus  |  Field Study Home  |  Field Study FAQ