London and the Literary Imagination

Summary

*** Info Session: Thursday, January 30, 12-1 p.m. Register here ***

This program offers a unique opportunity to dive deep into complex histories and Literature surrounding World War One, literary modernism, and British colonialism while using the incredible city of London as your classroom. In this program, you will examine the complex histories of World War One from multiple perspectives. As many scholars have noted, World War One inaugurated our modern age; a four-year global conflict that claimed 8.5 million lives and wounded 20 million soldiers fundamentally transformed Londonʻs world views, mental coordinates, dominant images, and more.

The program will begin examining perspectives and writings from British authors such as Virginia Woolf, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and David Jones while tracing the steps of these authors through walking tours, museum visits, and more. In addition, the centrality of empire and imperialism to the First World War cannot be stressed enough, and the second half of the program will center on the frequently overlooked experiences and contributions of soldiers from the British colonies—The West Indies, India, and Africa. The program will do so by delving into writings from these soldiers as well as contemporary film, performances, and literature while learning about Black and Asian diasporic communities in Britain today.

Highlights include:

• Retrace the steps of famous British Authors like Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw, Maynard Keynes and more. Visit Virginia Woolfʻs writing retreat Monkʻs House in East Sussex, and walk Clarissa Dallowayʻs journey through Regents Park in London.
• Learn more about histories of migration, imperialism, and present-day realities of communities of color in Britain through neighborhood walking tours, visits to the Migration Museum, and more.
• Live and study with other program students in centrally located apartments in the amazing city of London.

Dates:

Program dates: June 29 - July 31, 2025

All dates are subject to change.

Course:

On this program you will take one six unit course.

Course:

• English N166: London and the Literary Imagination: the First World War, Memory, and Empire (6 units)

Language of Instruction: English

Units: 6

Requirements Satisfied By This Program:

• L&S International Studies Breadth
• Additional Breadths TBA
• English Majors: N166 may be counted as one of the five elective courses required for the major. Elective courses are those that students take based on their personal interest in the study of English. (No more than two Summer courses may count toward the major, but students with a compelling rationale for an exception may consult with the English Undergraduate Major Advisors.)
• Consult with your college/major advisor to see which degree requirements this course may fulfill.

Note: Requirements above must be satisfied through full participation (all courses must be completed with C-/P or better)

Eligibility:

• At least one year of college coursework completed by the start of the program
• 2.0 GPA or higher
• May not be on academic probation or under censure for student misconduct at any point from application review to the end of your program.
• Must be 18+ years old at the time of application

Housing:

• Students will live in fully furnished apartments in central London.
• Students will be randomly assigned to either a shared 1 bedroom apartment (sleep 3 people), 2 bedroom apartment (sleeps 4 people), or 3 bedroom apartment (sleeps 5). Apartments have a lounge (living room) with color television, and an equipped kitchen.
• Please note that gender inclusive housing options are available.

Food:

• Please note that while some meals occur on special programmed occasions, on the day to day of the program students will be responsible for their own meals. On the first week of the program, program staff will provide students with a tour of affordable meal and grocery options in the neighborhood.

Application:

Application opens February 5, 2025

Space is limited and applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis

Deadline to apply is March 12, 2025

Courses

During the program, you will take one course for a total of six UC Berkeley units.

Course: English N166

Title: London and the Literary Imagination: the First World War, Memory, and Empire

Instructor: Donna V. Jones

Units: 6 units

The First World War was a four-year global conflict that claimed 8.5 million lives and wounded 20 million soldiers, but few cities were more transformed by this conflict than London. Many held the war as the death knell of the Victorian period and its social and intellectual coordinates World War One resulted not only in physical destruction but also the dissolution of world views, mental coordinates, dominant images, and structuring metaphors of late-nineteenth-century European thought. For example, the belated experiences of trauma and the dislocated speech of the shell-shocked soldier undermined the mechanist understanding of the mind as a mere calculator or chemical machine. The gradual unsettling of imperial authority also threw into question several ideological conceptions. Conscripts from throughout the colonized world participated in all aspects of this fully mechanized war and thus were exposed first-hand to the violent realities of inter-imperial rivalry. This course will take London as its classroom. We will begin with the classic modernist literary depiction of the aftermath of the First World War, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and journey on to explore the lasting memory of this seismic event on British art, architecture, and literature.

Week One and Two: Modernist London and the War: In this module, we will examine the Anglo-American experimental writing of the early twentieth-century, modernism. The war was central to the growth and wide influence of British modernism—the catastrophe of war and the subsequent psychological effects on citizens and soldiers alike gave rise to Freud’s “Talking Cure”, the mass conscription of the entirety of British society produced a generation of poet soldiers and finally the London, then an imperial capital, built numerous monuments to the fallen, thus reconfiguring the Edwardian landscape. In this module, we will focus on two key literary works—Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and The Penguin Collection of First World War Poetry (Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and David Jones) and wander London, and beyond to trace the steps of their authors.

Week Three and Four: It cannot be stressed the centrality of empire and imperialism in the First World War. Along with the general conscription drawing from every class spectrum of British Society, the war effort mobilized millions of conscripts from throughout the British Empire. In weeks three and four, we will return to works of the war poets and several works of cultural history detailing the effects of the war on the cultural memory of the nation and the monumental works of memorialization that were found throughout Britain. Moreover, we will examine the frequently overlooked experiences and contributions of soldiers from the British colonies—The West Indies, India, and Africa. While sadly, there are few, if any, physical monuments memorializing their sacrifices, we will explore the bounty of contemporary film, performances, and literature that serves as witness to this important part of First World War History.

Week Five: For our final week, we will present our photo essays on war memory in London.

Requirements Satisfied through this Program:

• L&S International Studies Breadth
• Additional Breadths TBA
• English Majors: N166 may be counted as one of the five elective courses required for the major. Elective courses are those that students take based on their personal interest in the study of English. (No more than two Summer courses may count toward the major, but students with a compelling rationale for an exception may consult with the English Undergraduate Major Advisors.)
• Consult with your college/major advisor to see which degree requirements this course may fulfill.

Note: Requirements above must be satisfied through full participation (all courses must be completed with C-/P or better)

Course Enrollment:

Summer Abroad staff will enroll you in courses after your acceptance to the program. Please make sure there are no active blocks on your student account that may impact your course enrollment.

Costs

The fees to participate in this program are broken down into 1) tuition and 2) program fees, which are applied to your student billing account as follows:

Fees are subject to change. All non-Berkeley students must pay an additional Document Management Fee of $71.

Estimated Out-Of-Pocket Expenses

In addition to the fees outlined above, Berkeley Study Abroad has estimated amounts for out-of-pocket expenses. These amounts are used to calculate financial aid packages for eligible students. Actual expenses will vary depending on your lifestyle and spending habits.

It is your responsibility to obtain any necessary travel documentation for your program destination (i.e. passport, visa, etc). This may require you to pay fees of up to a few hundred dollars depending on the type of paperwork required.

Financial Aid

Financial aid is available for Berkeley students who are enrolled in at least 6 units during the summer.  Students can request a financial aid package estimate to understand what their individual financial aid package will look like. We recommend all financial aid eligible students request a financial aid estimate.

​​Requesting a financial aid package estimate: If you wish to receive a financial aid package estimate, please fill out this form (CalNet Authentication required). You will receive an email with your financial aid estimate (please allow a minimum of one week for response).

If you have a specific question about a study abroad financial aid issue you are encountering, please email TravelAid@berkeley.edu. Please do not email to request a financial aid estimate, these requests should be made using the form above. 

All other students should contact the financial aid office at their home institution for more information.

Explanation of Fees

Tuition is based on a per unit cost:

• The UC undergraduate student rate is $419 per unit
• The visiting student rate for all non-UC participants is $615 per unit

The program fee includes the following items:

• Student housing in London (see summary tab for more details)
• Excursions including entry fees to local museums, historic sites, etc.
• On-site orientation activities, excursions, guest speakers, etc.
• Travel insurance, including accident/sickness medical coverage, emergency medical evacuation, security extraction, and other travel assistance services
• Other program-related costs
• The $300 deposit. If accepted to the program, the $300 deposit will be applied towards your program fee. If you are waitlisted or denied admission to the program, your deposit will be refunded. If you request to withdraw your application prior to an admission decision being issued, or cancel your participation after being accepted to the program, the deposit remains charged to your account. 

*Please note that the list of items included in the program fee is not all-inclusive and is subject to change.

The following items are excluded from the program fee and included in the Out of Pocket expenses estimate:

• International airfare
• Personal expenses (souvenirs, routine medical expenses, toiletries, etc.)
• Course materials (textbooks and readers) if applicable. You can contact the instructor of the course to clarify.
• Other travel expenses (passport, visa, etc.)
• Additional meals

Timeline

* The pre-departure orientation is mandatory and takes place on the UC Berkeley campus. If you are not on campus during this time, we will schedule a meeting via phone or Zoom.

† Students are expected to check into program housing in London on June 29, 2025, and will be expected to check out of program housing on July 31, 2025. Students who arrive in-country early or depart after the last day may do so, but they are responsible for arranging their own accommodations outside of the program dates.

All dates are subject to change.

Instructors

Program Director: Donna Jones

Email: dvjones@berkeley.edu

Donna V. Jones is an associate professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. Her academic research is in early twentieth-century modernist literature of Britain, France, West Africa, and the Caribbean.