The Oxford Summer Study Abroad is now in its sixth year!

The Oxford Summer Study Abroad is now in its sixth year and continues to be a highly coveted experience – one that is only offered to Shackouls Honors College students. This summer, 17 students will participate and is the largest group we’ve ever sent to Oxford. This 6-week summer study abroad will be facilitated this year by Dr. Eric Vivier, who will teach a course called “The English Reformation: Religion, Politics, and Literature from Moore to Milton.” Dr. Vivier, a self-described anglophile and bibliophile, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and is a Faculty Fellow at the SHC, who specializes in Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

While in Oxford this summer, our group of students will visit several important sites related to religious, political, and literary history and will engage with the Bodleian Library’s extensive collection of rare books. They will also travel to other places in England, such as: London (see a performance of Twelfth Night); Stratford – upon – Avon to visit the place of Shakespeare’s birth and burial; and Hampton Court Palace, which was owned by Henry the VIII.

In addition to taking Dr. Vivier’s class, students will also receive a one-on-one tutorial with an Oxford professor on a subject of their choosing, which ultimately helps shape senior theses and post-baccalaureate studies. While at Oxford, students will become full-time members of the Colleges that they join and will be granted privileges to the dining halls, access to libraries, and various club memberships.

“This experience provides students with excellent preparation for their future research and graduate studies and can serve to reshape and refine goals and ambitions.” Dr. Vivier adds “Being able to study at – and have access to – one of the world’s leading universities will be a life-changing experience for our students.” Trey Leonard, a senior in Mechanical Engineering, is looking forward to “working one-on-one with a professor from one of the most prestigious universities in the world” and “learning more about engineering from a European perspective, particularly since I am interested in pursuing a graduate degree in engineering.