SCOTLAND
STIRLING, EDINBURGH, HIGHLANDS, ISLANDS, & BORDER COUNTRY

UPDATED PROGRAM INFORMATION BELOW

June 4 - June 24, 2013


Total Program Fee: $4870

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Academics and Courses    Application, Cost and Important Details

Program Location:

Scotland is a country rich in history and culture with prestigious universities, world renowned museums, beautiful castles, and historic abbeys. We’ll travel to the area known as  the “Border Country”, across the sea to an island crowned by a castle, up to the Highlands and the legendary Loch Ness, and back to the cosmopolitan city of Edinburgh. Windswept coastlines, stately homes, dramatic castles, and medieval chapels all provide a sense of Scotland’s impressive history and serve as the perfect background for studying abroad. You’ll be surrounded by the vibrant culture and centuries of history that Scotland offers!  

Program Description:

The Scotland program offers several courses and each includes immersion in the Scottish culture. Courses in English, History, Speech, and Communication are among the options. Students will have the opportunity to learn through scheduled excursions and will have free time to explore on their own in several locations throughout Scotland.  

Please note: Prospective students should be aware that study abroad programs require a great deal of walking. You should be prepared to walk at least 2 or 3 miles each day. You may also walk over uneven, possibly slippery or rocky terrain, even in cities. In Edinburgh, there is a bus service and taxis are available if your personal budget allows for transport.

Excursions:  We’ll travel to the coast and then across the causeway to Holy Island, once raided by the Vikings and believed to be the place where Christianity first came to the British Isles. From there, we’ll venture to Stirling, known for William “Braveheart” Wallace. We’ll see the inspirations for some of Scotland’s greatest writers, including Sir Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Burns. In the Highlands, we’ll be surrounded by a beautiful landscape littered with relics of Iron Age forts and Bronze Age burial grounds such as the impressive stone cairns at Clava, ringed with a group of standing stones. We’ll watch the Strathmore Highland Games at Glamis Castle, home of the late Queen Mother and reputed castle of Macbeth.  Near Inverness, we’ll visit Urquhart Castle, overlooking the legendary Loch Ness. Finally, we’ll arrive in Edinburgh, a UNESCO World Heritage site and City of Literature, which surrounds its famous castle which stands high above on an ancient volcanic peak. Every summer, the city swells with people from all over the world who attend festival events celebrating film, classical music, literature, dance, and the arts. While in Edinburgh, students may decide to hike to the top of Arthur’s Seat, take a ghost tour around the haunts of the infamous body snatchers Burke & Hare or the split personality of Jekyll & Hyde, attend concerts and plays, visit Rosslyn Chapel, with its Da Vinci Code connection, or have a cup of tea in the café where J. K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel.

Classes: Classes will be held at the lodging facilities and on location during excursions. Days and hours will vary, depending on individual teachers.

Accommodations: Student accommodation will be in group apartments or same-sex dorm
rooms in hostels. Wireless internet is available.

Academics:

All TnCIS programs are academic in nature and course work that takes advantage of the program location will be the central focus. TnCIS program courses are for credit only. In Scotland, students will enroll in ONE of the following courses:


ENGLISH:  Advanced Composition/Creative Writing (Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 & 1020)
Come to Scotland and discover the writer that lives inside you. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, has been home to hundreds of writers and has been named the UNESCO City of Literature.  With inspiration from this historical backdrop, students enrolled in this course will experience writing directed journals, the travel essay/blog, and their choice of poetry or short fiction. What better place to discover your own writing talents than by visiting the coffeehouse where J. K .Rowling sat and wrote or walking the streets that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Workshop classes will give you an opportunity to work with a community of other writers. Writing and literature surround us in Scotland, and the academic content of the course will reflect excursions to selected landmarks which may include: The Writers' Museum, The Traverse Writing Theater, The Scottish Poetry Library, The Poetry Garden in St. Andrew Square, The Robert Burns Walking Trail, Edinburgh Castle, and Stirling Castle. We will also visit the Highlands, Islands, and Border Country.  See course syllabus

ENGLISH: British Literature II (Prerequisite English 1020)
If droning bagpipes stir your blood, then this is the class for you. We’ll walk in the footsteps of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and breathe the air where they helped gain Scotland’s independence. If you have Scottish heritage—or if you’re a wannabe Scot—then join us for a study of British Literature emphasizing the literature of the Scottish Enlightenment, which revived interest in the history, heroes, and cultural heritage of the Scottish people. We’ll read selections from three of the most recognizable authors—Robert Burns (author of “Auld Lang Syne” and and “Tam O’Shanter”), Sir Walter Scott (author of Ivanhoe and Rob Roy), and Robert Louis Stevenson (who created Long John Silvers in Treasure Island). Academic content will be enhanced by walking tours of landmarks in Edinburgh and in other significant locations throughout Scotland. See course syllabus

ENGLISH: Themes in Literature and Culture (Prerequisites: English 1010 & 1020)
Come study detective fiction and graphic novels related to crime and the supernatural in Scotland, a country that is simultaneously inspirational and haunting, historic and contemporary. The Highlands and surrounding islands have been witness to some of the most dramatic and violent crimes in human history. Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, has been home to some of the world’s most notorious criminals, both real and fictional. If you like Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, X-Men, and television shows like Haunted History, this course is for you! We will trace Edinburgh’s connection to Sherlock Holmes, walk the streets that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and explore the history of surgery, crime solving, and folklore through Scotland’s unique and exciting history. Crime, comics, and tales of the supernatural await you in bonny Scotland!  See course syllabus

HISTORY: World Civilizations II (No prerequisites)
We will immerse ourselves in all things Scottish during this survey of world history, discovering, in the process, how Scots helped shape the modern world we know.  Topics include: the role of Scotland (and Great Britain) in the Atlantic Slave Trade, the contributions of major Scottish intellectuals Adam Smith (economics) and David Hume (philosophy) to the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, the impact whiskey distillers had on the Industrial Revolution, and the prominence of Scots in building the British Empire in India, Africa and beyond.  See course syllabus

SPEECH:  Public Speaking (No prerequisties)
The Speech Program in Scotland offers a unique experience with possible opportunities to attend a session of Parliament during debates and perhaps another to watch Parliamentary Committees as they debate policy issues. Students will have opportunities to learn how to parse the structure of the public discourse. The rich and diverse history of Scotland provides multiple venues for exposure to the political, forensic, and epideictic traditions of western culture. As cosmopolitan and multicultural cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness are perfect settings for cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary investigations into oratory's role in society. Day trips and historical walks and tours will provide a taste of the society, ancient and new, and its deep impact on US culture from education, to the Constitution, to the court system. Exercises, performances, papers and readings concerning the structure and impact of public oratory will be enhanced further by visits to museums, ancient sites and more recent historical sites. Active learning will focus on language choice, organization, style, intonation, evidence, and various rhetorical strategies.  See course syllabus



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