The Catholic University of America

 


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Description

 


Credits

 


Accomodation

 


Cost

 


Eligibility

 


How to Apply

 


Deadline

 


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CUA Oxford Honors Program
Oxford, England

streets of Oxford



CUA Spring Oxford Honors PowerPoint Presentation

Dates:
Spring Semester: January 6 - April 9, 2010
(Arrival January 6, Orientation January 7, Independent Travel Week March 13-20, Departure April 9)

Description: Undergraduate and graduate students are now offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to apply to this highly prestigious semester study abroad program at Oxford University in England. This acclaimed honors program is organized locally by the Oxford Programme for Undergraduate Studies (OPUS), and features a variety of custom designed individual tutorials covering topics mostly from the liberal arts and all taught by prominent university scholars. Students are placed in colleges considered among the best in the Oxford university system. Students will live in student housing in and around the center of Oxford.

Credits:
When the Oxford term begins in January (Hilary Term), students will choose two six-credit (two three-credits at the graduate level) traditional Oxford tutorials where they are paired up on an individual basis with Oxford tutors. Choices of subjects can be found on the OPUS website.

Students will focus on specific pre-approved area of studies and will be defending essays which they write every week. Tutorials represent a very intensive learning system due to the one-on-one interaction with tutors and the amount of researching, reading and writing involved.

At the end of the Hilary term, students will have a short travel break and will then take one three-credit tutorial subject with three other students in a small group tutorial setting. This tutorial subject will be selected from the following three options: Shakespeare, C S Lewis, British Politics. The total coursework for the program is worth 15 credits for undergraduate students and 9 credits for graduate students.

Following are the small group tutorial descriptions to select from provided by OPUS in Oxford:

CS LEWIS

CS Lewis was a significant literary author, scholar, theologian, and Christian apologist of the 20th century. Assigned texts are studied and discussed within the wider context of Lewis's works. Literary sessions focus on Lewis as an academic and Oxford figure; the concept of allegory in Lewis's academic work and his children's literature; Lewis's use of fairy tale in the Narnia stories; science fiction and the Cosmic trilogy. Theology/ Apologetics sessions begin with an overview of CS Lewis as a theologian and moral philosopher, putting him in the context of mid-c20th thought in Britain, and in Oxford in particular, and thinking about the theological and philosophical schools that most influenced him. Students read set primary texts (Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, A Grief Observed, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, The Four Loves), and recommended secondary literature.

SHAKESPEARE

The seminar will examine Shakespeare's growing ability to construct the illusion of reality while reminding us of the artifice of the stage, to draw us into the world of his plays through the power of language, and to explore issues that matter to us, such as love vs. hate, seeming versus being, prejudice versus tolerance, and belief versus unbelief, all under the guise of entertainment. From early comedies and history plays to mature tragedies and romances we will seek to understand and appreciate his artistry even as we wrestle with the serious challenges he poses to our beliefs and assumptions, inviting us to question our own capacity for self-deception and to consider the arguable benefits of honesty, of being "real."
 

BRITISH POLITICS
Contemporary British Politics has been dominated by three agenda setting governments which are the primary focus of this course to be conducted over three seminar style tutorials. Firstly the Labour Government 1945 - 51 led by Prime Minister Attlee, in response to massive public demand, enacted a socialist program of nationalisation of industry, the creation of a comprehensive Welfare State, including socialised medicine, and a redistribution of wealth to ensure full employment. These policies formed the basis of the "post-war consensus" much analysed in the scholarly literature. Secondly the Conservative governments 1979 - 97 moved Britain decisively in a different ideological direction led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's desire to privatise industry, reduce inflation, create a flexible labour market, balance the budget and sharply reduce taxes. Accepting these reforms as irreversible led to the third agenda setting government, that of Labour's Tony Blair/Gordon Brown 1997 - 2009. Aside from constitutional and economic policies this period was dominated by the British support for the War on Terror after 9/11, and the controversial 2003 Iraq War, the damaging aftermath of which eventually precipitated Blair's resignation in July 2007. In all, a turbulent and challenging period in British Politics which merits serious study and provides a stimulating intellectual challenge.
 

Accommodation: Housing is of a good basic British standard, located within a ten minute bus or bicycle ride from the city center or a 20-25 minute walk. Please keep in mind that British and American standards are very different and British housing might seem sub-standard to you in terms of comfort, proximity and convenience.

Each student will have a single room (double rooms are not common in Oxford) and share a lounge, bathroom, and kitchen with other students on the program.

All houses are well-equipped and include bed linen, kitchen utensils and one working phone. Students pay for phone usage individually. Most houses include a printer to enable students to write their essays.

Program fees include all utility payments (electricity and water) and also phone line rental.

There is no "University campus" in Oxford as the colleges, departments, lecture rooms, and tutorial venues are spread throughout the city. Wherever students live, there will be some travel involved (by bike or by bus, or on foot). The distance of most OPUS properties is generally 15-20 minutes walking time from the city center.

All OPUS houses are entitled to borrow a printer from the OPUS office. All students who own or are contemplating buying a laptop should certainly bring it with them

Cost: CUA tuition plus a $5,000 program fee to cover in-country costs. Program cost includes full-time tuition in the form of tutorials, pre-departure CUA orientation, in-country orientation, single room housing, membership in Oxford college, membership in the Bodlein library, membership in the Union Society, weekend trips & special events, emergency evacuation coverage, ISIC. Airfare, meals, passport and books are not included and are the responsibility of the student who should budget appropriately. Please contact CUAbroad for the complete cost breakdown of the program.

Eligibility: Applicants must have completed at least 45 credits at the time of departure and have a minimum 3.5 cummulative GPA at the undergraduate level and 3.8 cummulative GPA at the graduate level. Students should not study abroad the last semester of their senior year if they are concerned about graduating on time.

Deadline: October 16, 2009. Apply early as this is a competitive program as only a select number of placements are available for Spring 2010!

Questions? Contact Madison Bolls, CUAbroad Program Manager

How to apply to the Oxford Honors Program

Spring 2010 CUA Oxford Honors Pre-Departure Handbook

 

 

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