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- May 1, 2007
London study abroad component adds "visual touch" to history
class.
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As he was preparing to teach "Monstrous London: London's Histories,
1550-1750," Paul Griffiths knew he wanted to accomplish two primarily
objectives.
"I want to impart a real sense of physical London," the associate
professor of history said, "as well as placing a lot of emphasis
on original documents of the time."
And according to students in the course, Griffiths did just that.
The course not only included classroom work but also a ten-day trip to
London over spring break. During their stay in London, the 31 students
enrolled in the program studied at the Royal Archive of London and viewed
documents dating back to the 1600 and 1700s.
The study abroad journey also included field trips to places of historical
and cultural interest in the British capital city.
"It was amazing to have the kind of access that we had to actual
documents from that time period," said Maggie Luttrell, a sophomore
history major. "Even though I've been to London twice now, I still
feel that all the information I learned well after the trip has made me
think about other historical places and really have developed my analytical
skills."
For the study abroad portion of the trip, Griffiths arranged class sessions
to be taught by London professors including instructors from the University
of Hertfordshire, the University of Oxford and the University of York.
Topics during this time dealt with poverty, crime and policing, government
and religion, and health and disease in early modern London.
"Having different professors that were experts in their own right,
learning from their expertise and seeing the documents right in front
of you was amazing," Luttrell said.
As much as having on-site experts to teach their class while in London,
the experience the students remember the most was working with actual
documents at the Royal Archive of London. The guest professors tailored
their lectures to the documents according to Griffiths.
"Personally handling 400-year-old documents, I felt more like I was
making a personal connection with the past," said Kyle Mattox, a
senior political science major. "Rather than studying events, I began
to study the documents."
Mattox and Griffiths say the class looked at such things as how the documents
were written, what they were written on, were they hand written or printed
on a press and how difficult those documents can be to read.
"The amount of time and detail in the writing itself can help to
explain how important the event was," Mattox said. "These experiences
in the archives have helped me to understand the course better."
That was important because after the students came back from London, they
still had several more weeks of classes to go. The study abroad component
of the course helped bring the class even closer together.
"That collective experience they had in London has brought them closer,"
Griffiths said. "It's by far the closest class I've ever taught.
"There's constant discussion in the class. They're excited about
the material and still talk about the trip and how what we saw in London
relates to what we are discussing."
"It's a really cool concept, studying London and then going there
and seeing what you're studying in real life," Luttrell said. "Since
we've seen actual documents in London, when we talk about them, it's easy
to get a visual and refer back to them. It just makes whatever we're discussing
more cohesive to everyone."
Photos from the 2007 spring break London Study Abroad Trip
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