Enjoy hiking the Scottish Highlands and challenge yourself in academic summer program at the University of Stirling
Term: Summer 2009 - CANCELLED (April 9, 2009)
Arrival London: July 3, 2009
Departure Stirling: August 8, 2009
Cost: $6,650 -2nd session (details)
Housing: chalet
Emphasis: Hiking the Scottish Highlands
Language Requirement: None
Co-Directors:
Fr. Dennis Parnell, SJ, Ph.D.
Professor John Farnsworth
Program Overview:
(Updated: April 9, 2009 - CANCELED - see instruction for Arcadia Stirling Summer option)
The program will begin in London with a week-long series of events and tours based upon the theme "What it Means to Be British--Past, Present, and Future." Sites visited in London will include the Globe Theater, BanglaTown on historic Brick Lane, the Tower of London, and Greenwich. The group will spend a few days in Edinburgh for orientation and introduction to the Scottish capitol, and then move into the student residences. Participants will attend Session II (Block II) classes at the University of Stirling Summer Program and will be living in the chalet residences on campus (Take a virtual tour of the campus). There will be excursions and other events throughout the summer session.
Course Offerings: Students can choose 2 classes from the following:
Self Publishing and Popular Cultural Expression (NEW, Summer 2009)
Instructor: Stirling faculty
Participants will explore different forms of cultural publishing, including artist books, zines and webbased publishing. Lectures will place an emphasis on critically assessing how such alternative forms of publishing are shaping market demands and audience. Within this context, students will also gain an understanding of the social history of print and media cultural movements from post WWI, as well as the influence of contemporary art movements. The course will culminate in each student producing a form of publication based on one of the studied areas.
Marketing in a European Context (NEW, Summer 2009)
Instructor: Stirling Faculty
Doing business around the globe is a challenge for many individuals and the organisation they work for. Marketing activity is at the heart of the success of
many businesses and this module is designed to put that particular business skill in a European context. All marketing is affected by the context in which it operates, be it, for example, cultural, government policy or the legal framework to protect consumers.
This first part of the module deals with that environment. Next, marketing as a concept is explained and, even if you are familiar with it, you will have the opportunity to understand it in a new way. The third part presents stories of marketing success and failures drawn from the European experience. Finally, this module broadens its perspective to focus on what global lessons can be learned from Europe.
ENVS 142: Environmental and Nature Writing (New, Summer 2009)
Instructor: Prof. John Farnsworth
This course combines a comparative study of contemporary Anglo-American nature writing with a series of advanced writing exercises designed to strengthen abilities of observation and description.Taught in the style of classical British tutorials, during each week students will participate in a single large writing seminar and a small tutorial.This class satisfies the SCU 3rd writing core requirement, and can be taken either as ENVS 142 or ENGL 174.
POLI 149S. Special Topics in Comparative Politics: Green Politics in Scotland
Offered at the University of Stirling this class offers a study of green political thinking, green actors and their involvement in different political settings. The class will cover the following themes: green concepts, ideologies and approaches; state and non-state actors and their role/influence in environmental politics; comparing different political settings and their varying degrees of green policy integration.
Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland
Between 1563 and 1736, during years of political and religious turmoil, around 4,000 people were accused of witchcraft in Scotland. This module will examine this significant aspect of Scottish history, looking at the phenomena of witchcraft belief as part of early modern culture, as well as its prosecution. Other themes that will be covered will include: religion, popular culture, law and order, illness and death, community tensions and gender issues. We will also consider the continuity and development of ideas about magic and witchcraft.
Fulfills Core 3rd Religion requirement.
MGMT 172: Sports Management & Culture: A European Perspective
Instructor: Stirling faculty
That Scotland can lay claim to being the home of modern day golf and football (soccer) makes it an ideal place to learn about the integration of culture, management and sport. The aim of this module is to teach you about how sport is managed in Scotland and in Europe and about how it is incorporated into the thread of Scottish culture. The module will include a mixture of lectures and seminars accompanied by academic field trips to Scottish sports clubs and organisations, providing students with an understanding that sport is influenced by cultural traditions, social values and economic factors.
EN 73S - Creative Writing II: Human Spaces
Instructor: Stirling faculty
Human Spaces are where comedy meets tragedy, where the personal meets the public, where art meets life. Under the guidance of expert writers and teachers you will explore these spaces through two of the most powerful modes of human expression: memoir and drama. Through a rich mix of writing exercises and practical workshop sessions, you will learn how to make literature out of your own experience, and take major steps towards writing for the stage. You will also have the opportunity to visit sites of historic importance and natural beauty to inspire your writing. Fulfills CORE 3rd Writing. Performing Arts credit approval pending.
International Relations
Instructor: Stirling faculty
The module explores contemporary issues and debates that shape world politics today. It starts by introducing International Relations (IR) theory before turning to the three broad themes that dominate: Security, Economics, Environment. The module then analyses two key regions — the Middle East and Africa — before presenting an overall assessment of International Relations. Objectives of this module include: providing an overview of current issues and IR contexts; highlighting inter connections / dependencies as well as recurring themes in IR; and with the help of key concepts, making sense of the world we live in in order to come to an informed conclusion on priorities, regime-building, conflicts and the future of IR. Highlights: Equivalent to POLI025 at SCU. This module includes a visit to the Scottish Parliament.
Religion & Conflict
Instructor: Stirling faculty
Everywhere we look today, from our television screens to the streets of our cities, we see conflict in the name of religion. Some is at the verbal level, some at the military level, some at a catastrophic level. Why does it appear that religion and conflict seem to go hand in hand? This course will explore the nature of this supposed relationship, first by looking at what actually constitutes ‘conflict’ (is it the same as ‘violence’, for example?), second by looking at whether such conflict is actually inherent in what we perceive as ‘religion’ today, and third by looking at the role the media plays in defining these terms and their relationship for us. The course aims to give a more critical perspective on what we see happening around us in the name of religion, and to understand why some religions struggle more than others with the nature of conflict.
Scottish History: The Jacobites
Instructor: Stirling faculty
For a long time the subject of romanticism and myth, the Jacobites remain an intriguing subject. Themes for this module include royalism – the Stewart monarchy in general, King James VII in particular; multiple monarchy – relations between Scotland and England; Highlands and Lowlands; the wider European context of Jacobitism; and early modern warfare. You will be given the opportunity to make use of the University’s own collection of Jacobite material, the Amulree Collection. Historical objects, images and manuscripts from this collection will offer a unique insight into the study of the Jacobites.
Scottish Environmental History: 10,000 years in the making
Instructor: Stirling Faculty
With its rich cultural and diverse natural heritage, Scotland presents an ideal opportunity to explore how people and environmental forces have shaped the landscape over the millennia. The history of the interaction between people, their environment and the landscape is key to providing a secure basis for the prediction and management of future changes to
ecosystems, habitats and biodiversity. The reliability and robustness of such models of change are vital in the light of predicted climate change scenarios. This module is designed to introduce you to Scottish history from an environmental perspective. The module will focus on how Scotland’s landscape and environment have changed over the past 10,000 years and will examine the main drivers for change, especially the role of human activity. Scotland can be considered a cultural landscape and the emphasis of the module will therefore be on the role of changes in land use and farming techniques in shaping the landscape.
Classics of World Cinema
Instructor: Stirling faculty
In Classics of World Cinema, we will study groundbreaking movies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from across the globe. Students will gain insight into the artistic, cultural, historical, and industrial conditions in which these films were produced, and will get a sense of what they mean today. What can these movies tell us – as documents, aesthetic objects, and forms of artistic expression? How can we ‘read’ the classics of world cinema as texts and as signs of the times and places in which they were made?
Session I - June 13 - July 11, 2009
Students may choose to take ONE class in Session I at the University of Stirling. However, participants in this session will NOT be able to take part in the London portion of the SCU Scotland Summer Program. Classes include:
- Creative Writing I: Giving Voice
- Green Politics: Theory & Practice
- Issues in Moral Philosophy
- Marketing in a European Context
- Photographing the Urban
- Scotland on the Screen
- Scottish History - The Covenanters
About the Location: (Taken from Stirling's brochure)
If you want an excellent education, superb facilities, a warm and friendly campus atmosphere, fabulous scenery and proximity to some of the UK’s liveliest cities, look no further than the University of Stirling; it’s all here. The University of Stirling is located in the heart of Scotland, nestling at the foot of the Highlands and about two miles from the historic city of Stirling.
Founded in 1967, the University of Stirling is consistently highly rated for both teaching and research. Ninety-five percent of Departments are rated as excellent/Highly Satisfactory for teaching quality in the most recent assessments. Research is of paramount importance; it is common practice for undergraduate as well as graduate students at Scottish institutions to be taught by professors who are also leading research experts in their field.
Stirling’s main campus is breathtaking. Beneath the Ochil Hills, the campus has a beautiful loch and the 18th-century Airthrey Castle at its heart. It is also very easy to get around, with all the facilities (housing, teaching buildings, social and sporting centres) no more than a ten-minute walk apart, ensuring that everything you need is close at hand – day or night.
For more information: Please contact Fr. Parnell (dparnell@scu.edu) and the International Programs Office.
How to Apply: Click here when you're ready to apply.
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