A Week at Oxford With No Tests, No Papers

09-26-2007

 

 

 

Oxford, England, September 26, 2007—Imagine spending a summer week at the oldest university in the English-speaking world, when the sun actually shines on the city of dreaming spires.  Anyone can enjoy such a vacation at The Oxford Experience, whose 2008 brochure is available online now.  What’s more, The Oxford Experience means studying, living and dining at Christ Church, one of the most prestigious and beautiful of Oxford colleges, which was founded by Cardinal Wolsey almost five centuries ago.

 

Anglophiles from all over the world—and some Brits as well—gather at Christ Church for a week or more, as their budgets allow. The residential program, which takes place from June 29 to August 2, 2008, offers one-week courses designed for those who would enjoy such varied subjects as A History of the English Language, Jane Austen, Enjoying the Cotswolds, William the Conqueror, The Oxford Movement, An Introduction to Philosophy, Monasteries and Cathedrals, The Making of England and Romantic Poetry. A choice of some 50 subjects is offered during the five week program.

 

Participants in The Oxford Experience stay in student accommodations—though rooms with private bath are available—and dine in the magnificent Hall, lined with portraits of such famous “old members” as W.H. Auden, William Penn, Lewis Carroll, John Wesley, John Locke, William Gladstone and several other prime ministers.  Three meals daily are included in the cost of the program: a full English breakfast, a buffet lunch and a served three-course dinner.  Once a week each student is invited to dine at the High Table and, on the final night, everyone gathers for champagne in the Cathedral Garden and a celebratory farewell dinner in the Hall.

 

Throughout the week there are optional daytime excursions to stately homes such as Blenheim Palace and Kelmscott Manor, tours of Christ Church, Oxford and the Bodleian Library.  Evening events include pub walks, whisky tastings, Morris Dancers, croquet and wine in the Masters Garden, special lectures and Evensong in the college chapel, which is also the Oxford Cathedral.  At other times  participants can enjoy the city’s cultural life, the college gardens and picture gallery, riverside walks in Christ Church Meadow and boating on the Thames (or “Isis,” as it is known in Oxford).

 

The price of a one-week course—including tuition, accommodations and all meals (except those on excursions) is £980, or approximately $1,960.  There are additional charges for excursions and rooms with private bath.  The registration deadline is April 1, 2008, but early application is recommended and even encouraged: Those who register by December 1, 2007 receive an early booking discount of £50 per week for weeks 1 to 4 and £100 per week for week 5. 

 

A complete descriptive brochure is available online at www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/international/oxfordexperience.asp or from The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, U.K.

 

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