UK tour

Students explore history and English literature

FOR THREE WEEKS this summer, 12 students participated in WWU’s biennial United Kingdom tour, an opportunity to merge education with traveling in England, Scotland, and Wales. The tour offers both upper and lower-division history and English classes, all of which count for general studies credit.

Students read and responded to poems, prose, plays, and stories from British history. Led by Karen Clausen-Brown, former professor of English, and Greg Dodds, professor of history, students toured the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle, Tintern Abbey, the Jane Austen House, Bodleian Library, and many more sites that helped contextualize their readings.

“It was so fascinating to see history and literature come to life as we got to see so many important locations,” said Hannah Thornton, sophomore history and English major.

The tour also spent ample time in the British countryside, exploring Scottish castles and hiking on the White Cliffs of Dover.

Students found connections to the present and saw how history and literature relate to modern issues. Dodds notes the tour is an excellent opportunity for students of any major who are interested in multi-cultural learning experiences.

To learn more about the exceptional academics at WWU, visit wallawalla.edu/academics.