Location:

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Summer

Program Overview

Program Description:

Arrive Date: 6/22/2013 End Date: 7/20/2013

The supernatural figures largely in Scotland’s literature and culture. Scottish ballads are filled with stories of strange creatures and weird doings. Scottish castles are filled with ghosts and spirits. Witches wander through Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the poetry of Robert Burns. There’s a Scottish Frankenstein. Jekyll becomes Hyde. And the devil lurks everywhere. “Scottish Tales” will study the literature, films, and culture of Scotland, examining its supernatural component from the earliest ballads to contemporary cinema. Set in Edinburgh, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, the program will include visits to castles, tours of the city, a ghost walk at night, and a field trip to Glasgow. We'll also spend two nights in Carbisdale Castle in the Scottish Highlands and take a cruise on Loch Ness.

What Students Have to Say about Summer Abroad in Scotland:
-"Going to Scotland was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was incredibly liberating to travel across the world alone and to land in such a beautiful city was like a dream. Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and the Scottish people are so warm and inviting. I have never met such wonderful people as the Scots. [...] Not only did I get to spend a month in the most beautiful nation in the world, I had amazing adventures and earned 8 units in the process." - Tamara Thompson

"I will never forget my experience in Scotland with Summer Abroad. Scotland is the most beautiful country imaginable and the program is designed so that we were able to experience all of its beauty and unique culture...." - Whitney Tiedemann

Courses
English 163: Topics in British Literature and Culture (4 units)
Study of writers, playwrights and novelists who worked in Great Britain. Examination of Elizabethan, Restoration, Augustan, Romantic/Victorian, and the Modernist/Post-Modernist periods. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
AND
English 198: Directed Group Study (4 units)
P/NP grading only.

-You will stay in apartments hosted by Napier University near the city center. You will have single rooms inside a shared apartment. Each apartment has a full bathroom and a full kitchen where you can prepare your meals.
-Fee includes two nights in the Scottish highlands at Carbisdale Castle – once built for a duchess and now open to students!
-Edinburgh is very easy to get around in and has lots of great museums, galleries, restaurants, and cafes.
-The reading and film for this course are fun; you’ll also really like the various guest speakers

Field trips or walking tours in Edinburgh
-Edinburgh Castle
-Holyrood Palace
-The Royal Mile/Old Town
-The Museum of Scotland (a wonderful venue with exhibits ranging from Pictish Stones to the Industrial Revolution and beyond)
-Ghost walk

Day trip to Glasgow
We will travel by coach to Glasgow, visiting film Glasgow Cathedral and the necropolis—the City of the Dead—that features in Poor Things. Other sites in Glasgow TBA.

Overnight trip to the Scottish Highlands
Students will spend two nights at Carbisdale Castle, a magnificent building recently turned into a youth hostel. (SYHA Website) The coach trip to and from the castle will feature castles and beautiful scenery.

Upper-division units (open to freshmen through graduates). Taught in English. UC Davis courses taught by University of California, Davis faculty.

Please contact UC Davis Summer Abroad for the most up-to-date information concerning program costs. Programs start around $4,000.

All students enrolled in a Summer Abroad program (Davis and Non-Davis) will have the opportunity to apply for a Travel Award ($500 - $1,500.) Travel award deadline: March 5, 2013. Enrollment deadline is April 5, 2013.

Setting Description:

Edinburgh, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, has been nicknamed "the Athens of the North." It's famous for its beautiful buildings and public gardens and for its castle that dominates the city. Edinburgh Castle is located at the top of the Royal Mile, the thoroughfare that runs the length of the "Old Town," the part of Edinburgh that dates from the Middle Ages. Below the castle is the 'New Town," the part of Edinburgh that was carefully planned and laid out in the 18th and 19th centuries. The city is Scotland's cultural capital: it's got wonderful museums and art galleries and each summer it plays host to the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe--Europe's largest arts festival. It also has lots of great cafés, restaurants, and pubs. It's a very pedestrian-friendly city and it's easy to see why visitors fall in love with Edinburgh.