Studying Abroad in London: The City as a Classroom

This post originally appeared on CAPA World Blog in November 2015.

Let's face it — despite the "study" in study abroad, when you're spending three months in a foreign country, the last place you really want to be is holed up in a classroom 12 hours a week, staring out the window that separates you from the world you came to discover.  

Luckily, here in London, I often don't have to.

A fellow Londoner feeding swans in Hyde Park

The best part of the academics at CAPA — the study abroad program with which I chose to come to London — is the way the classes here are focused on a personal, hands-on investigation and interpretation of the city as the main learning goal. As a result, we spend a significant chunk of class time out in London, exploring —not just learning about the city, but experiencing it for ourselves.  

This semester, in addition to my six-credit internship and the seminar that goes along with it, I'm taking two courses geared towards the English half of my major —Writing the City and London Across History, Literature and Film.

Both approach the city of London as the central course material, and whether it's in the classroom or out on the town, we're always taking an intimate look at London, how it's developed over time, what it means to its broad range of inhabitants, how it's presented in art and literature, and how all of that translates to our own personal experiences here.  

Over the course of the past few months, these classes have taken me on a number of field trips to parts of the city I might not have had the chance to explore myself, and I can definitely say that some of them have made the list of my favorite London memories.  

My semester started off with a boat tour of the Thames from Westminster to Tower Bridge, which was especially exciting at that early point because it gave me a free ride with a panoramic view of some of London's best landmarks — Big Ben, The London Eye, The Houses of Parliament, the iconic bridges — and helped me glean the long, complicated, sometimes sordid history of the river. Not long afterwards, another class took us on a walking tour centered around the Thames, which introduced me to new streets, stations and landmarks from Embankment and Covent Garden to the Millennium bridge and the Tate Modern. 

Street art in Camden

I visited the house of the author Samuel Johnson, ate at the historic Cheshire Cheese Pub, sat in on a court hearing, and roamed the British Museum.

I explored Chelsea and Lavender Hill, went on a scavenger hunt in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and hiked through the parts of the East End inhabited by the notorious and violent Kray Twins (prominent perpetraters of London’s organized crime scene in the late '50s and '60s).

I wandered up Brick Lane, discovered colorful record stores and markets, followed the footsteps of J.M. Barrie through the parts of Kensington Gardens that inspired Peter Pan, and — my personal favorite — walked the pristine, pastel streets of Notting Hill, where outdoor markets on Portobello Road stop traffic on the weekends.  

A rainy day in Notting Hill

This semester, I've really learned the most by seeing all the corners of the city for myself, learning how they're connected, and adding flesh, stone and color to the art, literature, film and history in which they've played a part.  

Another day in London, our classroom.