Students register directly with Reading University and move into their rooms between Thursday and Sunday, Sept. 17 and 20. Students must be registered in person at Reading by Sept. 20, as orientation week begins early Monday morning, Sept. 21-27, classes start on Monday Sept 28th.. Almost all flights from the States to England are overnight flights, so remember when booking your ticket that you’ll be departing from the States the day prior to your arrival in England. Almost all flights from the U.S. now land at London’s Heathrow airport, where there is an hourly direct bus to Reading. Students arriving at London’s Gatwick airport can take the hourly direct bus between Gatwick and Heathrow and then catch a bus from Heathrow to Reading.

During Reading’s weeklong orientation, students will finalize their course schedules; meet others in their residence halls; take part in social events, excursions, and student fairs; and get information about student clubs and travel opportunities in the UK.

The last day of class at Reading is scheduled for Friday, December 11. You should plan to vacate your dorm on Saturday, December 12.

It is our top priority to keep our students safe, therefore our Centre in Reading program has been deferred until spring of 2021, new dates will follow later in the fall of 2020. Thank you for your understanding.

The same as studying in Danville, plus a $$375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset) plus a $25 Travel Medicine Fee for a total of $400 is due 16 March 2020. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student. All pre-departure meetings, including the travel medicine meeting held each semester, are mandatory. If you have significant financial need, you may also qualify for additional funding from the Center for Global Citizenship.

You will live in single or double rooms, each with its own washbasin, telephone, and computer port. There is a small kitchen for every eight rooms, and students are not segregated by gender or year. You will take your meals, compete on intramural teams, and have social events with the 250-300 other students in your residence hall. So that visiting students make friends with British and other international students, Reading typically does not house all students from an American institution on the same hall but, rather, spreads them out.

Students select three or four courses totaling 25 ETCS hours (translating into either 12 or 13 Centre hours) from those available across many departments. Students should be flexible in selecting courses and should not assume that a particular class will be offered, or offered at a time that works with the student’s other selected courses, during the time they are in Reading.

The Reading term is 11 weeks long; typically, a course may have two lectures a week, occasional individual meetings with the professor, two papers, and some kind of final examination—although this regime will vary widely depending on the course and department. Students may not use a Reading English course as their required English junior seminar. Official course registration takes place after students arrive in Reading. 

• You must have a 3.0 GPA (requirement of University of Reading) to apply.
• The application process will be discussed during the campus-wide informational meetings on November 8 and January 8.
• Applications are due no later than noon, February 11, 2020.
• Apply online at Centre OnLine Forms
•Selected students should pay their non-refundable study abroad surcharge payment and Travel Medicine fee for a total of $400 at the Cashier’s office in Horky Hall by March 16 to reserve their spot.

The same as studying in Danville, plus a $$375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset) due 11 March 2019, and a $25 travel medicine fee. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student. All pre-departure meetings, including the travel medicine meeting held each semester, are mandatory. If you have significant financial need, you may also qualify for additional funding from the Center for Global Citizenship.

Centre pays for a few group meals and the required class excursions on some Wednesdays and weekends. On arrival, students will be given pounds sterling to buy their initial groceries and will be given an initial Oyster card for use on the bus/tube/light rail lines in zones 1 and 2. They are then provided with food stipends for the remainder of their time in London.

Students will live in town houses for international students in a secure facility off Farringdon Road in Central London. The flats, which feature fully equipped kitchens and WiFi, are located in the Clerkenwell district, a 20-minute walk down Theobalds Road to the Centre classroom near the British Museum. They are within an easy walk of the major London sites in “The City,” the Chancery Lane tube station (Central line), and the Farringdon tube station (Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith and City lines). At regular intervals, students are given food money sufficient for shopping for and preparing wholesome meals—though not sufficient for eating out in restaurants, or even fast-food places, in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Students will take four of the following six courses:

A. NSC 170 Science and technology of World War II in London and Great Britain

A survey of the scientific and technological challenges that Great Britain overcame during World War II. We will study the science (and some of the history) of code breaking, radar, penicillin and other medical advances, the British contribution to the Manhattan Project, ballistic missile defenses and plastic production. We will visit the following sites in London and its suburbs: Bletchley Park, Imperial War Museum, Churchill War Rooms, Royal Air Force Museum, Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, London Transport Museum and London walking tour of V2 rocket impact sites. Taught by Dr. Joe Workman.

B.ENS 260 London: A case study in urban sustainability

London is an excellent city to study the challenges of sustainability in an urban setting. We will survey air quality, sewage and flood risk, energy efficiency, building design, green spaces and transportation. We will visit London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, the Thames Flood Barrier, the Building Centre, the new American Embassy, London Transport Museum, and Kew Botanical Gardens. Taught by Dr. Joe Workman.

C. POL 431: British Politics

An introduction to the structures, processes, and issues of the modern British political system using London as a primary resource. The class will discuss current British political issues such as political parties, electoral reform, the European Union and Brexit, devolution, and civil rights. No prerequisites. Taught by Adjunct Prof. Julianna Fuzesi.

D. DRA 341: Contemporary London Theatre

Students will study the range of contemporary London Theatre, from fringe to the major subsidized repertory companies, through a series of visits to performances and theatre sites and through lectures, readings, and discussion. Emphasis is on texts and their performances. Students who sign up for this course will be charged $195 on their spring bills to cover part of the cost of the play tickets; Centre subsidizes the other part. No prerequisites. Taught by Adjunct Prof. Steven Dykes

E. HUM 297 London Museums

This course draws on the unparalleled resources of London to examine museum going as a cultural practice and museums as institutions from the Renaissance to the present. Combining weekly field trips to London museums with readings in museum history and theory, the course will help students become more informed museumgoers as they acquire a critical understanding of the various ways that museums have defined and performed their missions over time. Taught by Dr. John Kinkade.

F. ENG 348 Crime in Literature (subtitle:  London—A History in Mystery)

This course examines the history and culture of London and Great Britain through the lens of crime.  Students will explore how mystery and crime writing help define Britishness and how historical events such as the mystery of the princes in the Tower or the murders by Jack the Ripper become part of the cultural imagination.  Crime writing, theater, film, and explorations of London will all contribute to our understanding of crime and detection across three centuries.  No prerequisites and no actual crimes required. Taught by Dr. John Kinkade.

The application process will be discussed during the two campus-wide informational meetings on November 14. Submit your completed application no later than noon on February 11, 2020. Apply online at Centre OnLine Forms. Students who are selected must pay the non-refundable $375 deposit/surcharge and $25 Medical Clinic Fee for a total of $400 to the Cashier’s Office in Horky House by March 16 to hold their spot.

The same as studying in Danville, plus a $$375 deposit (surcharge/emergency fund/carbon offset) due 11 March 2019, and a $25 travel medicine fee. Flights to the abroad site are also the responsibility of the student. All pre-departure meetings, including the travel medicine meeting held each semester, are mandatory. If you have significant financial need, you may also qualify for additional funding from the Center for Global Citizenship.

Centre students will continue to pay their Centre tuition for their term abroad but will not be charged for room-and-board for that term; they will use their room-and-board money to help cover the cost of their airfare and the rental of an apartment. 

The Rose Bruford College will assist in finding appropriate accommodation for our students, although the college does not, at the moment, have any residential facilities of its own. Past experience has shown that our students have been housed in apartments within easy walking distance of the college.

The English education system is structured quite differently from the American one. In England our students will take a series of overlapping modules that will add up to the equivalent of 15 credits at Centre. These modules will change from year to year, but one of them will be based on seeing plays currently playing in London. Our students will mostly join the American Theatre Arts course at Bruford, but there is the possibility of our students joining one of the other programs at Bruford. See their website for more information on the possibilities: www.bruford.as.uk.

This exchange program is managed by the Dramatic Arts Program, although all required pre-departure meetings are administered by the Centre for Global Citizenship. Applications must be made via a “letter of intent” delivered to Professor Matthew Hallock by Feb. 11. This letter should include details of the student’s academic history at Centre, their theatrical experience at Centre and beyond, and the student’s intention to explore a life in the theatre beyond Centre. Selection will be made on academic standing, theatrical experience and career planning. It will be expected, but not required, that successful candidates will have completed the first year/sophomore sequence of drama classes and have been active in the drama program at Centre.