Royal Holloway semester a chance of a lifetime for Miami students
By Lindsey Kennedy
Audrey Lehr, far left, and Anne McCafferty, second from left, and other students take in the sights at Stonehenge.Senior English majors Anne McCafferty and Audrey Lehr took the chance of a lifetime to spend a semester at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), one of Miami’s newest study-abroad programs with strong connections between the English departments of the two schools.
McCafferty and Lehr spoke with English Department faculty, attended a presentation by a Royal Holloway representative, and gathered information from campus advertisements before they committed to their study abroad experience in Fall 2007.
Anne McCafferty uses a classic red phone booth in London.Although Royal Holloway is one of the four largest colleges in the University of London, it is located in the small historic town of Egham, Surrey, a short distance from London. “It’s a very diverse school,” said McCafferty, an English literature major at Miami. “It draws a lot of international students.”
Since Miami’s program with Royal Holloway began a few years ago, the English Department has sent only a handful of students there each semester. “Personally, I would be very happy to see more Miami students at RHUL—and RHUL students visiting Miami,” said Robert Hampson, professor and head of the English Department at Royal Holloway.
English Department Chair Kerry Powell and Hampson are also exploring the idea of sending one faculty member of Miami’s English Department to Royal Holloway each semester to serve as a point-of-contact for Miami students as well as to teach English courses at Royal Holloway. The result of this increased collaboration between the two English departments would likely include a larger number of Miami majors in English taking advantage of the opportunity to study at Royal Holloway.
“Sending Miami staff would strengthen the bonds between the two institutions,” according to Hampson. “We would also anticipate very interesting academic interactions with Miami staff.”
While Miami faculty would be traveling yearly to Royal Holloway—along with an increased number of Miami students—faculty from RHUL would be welcomed to teach at Miami as well.
“To be connected with that system is to be connected with one of the leading universities in Britain, and therefore, in Europe,” Powell said. “For both students and faculty, that’s a terrific opportunity.”
Miami students Lehr and McCafferty delved into their own opportunity to learn inside and outside the college classrooms. The English majors took courses in Shakespeare, British drama, Renaissance literature, and other subjects they enjoyed at Miami, but they quickly realized differences between the two educational systems.
Each class included both a lecture and a seminar portion. Talking wasn’t permitted during lectures, but it was encouraged during the seminar. “Professors want you to ask questions,” said Lehr. “They really want you to engage in the material.”
Royal Holloway faculty’s expectations for student papers also differed greatly from Miami’s system.
“They have a policy where they can’t talk to you about your papers,” McCafferty said. “We wouldn’t know if our level of theory was what they wanted. It was challenging, but once you got the feel for the classroom, it became easier.”
When McCafferty and Lehr weren’t busy going to classes and reading their assigned books and plays, they traveled. The two women took advantage of the trips around England that the university provided, including excursions to Stonehenge and Bath. London was less than an hour away, and the city quickly became a favorite for them.
“Going into London was great for a day trip because there’s so much to do there,” Lehr said. “You don’t even need to go to another country to be entertained.” But they didn’t pass up opportunities to visit France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Their semester at Royal Holloway provided the two students with an education beyond any they could have imagined. Not only did they gain a better grasp of English literature, but they received a broader view of the world, and in turn, themselves.
“I now have a desire to go and see different places,” McCafferty said. “I want to go back to Europe at some point in my life… It’s one thing to be a tourist and be there for a week, but when you actually live in the place that is so new and different to you, you learn so much more.”