In an excursion to London paid for and organized by ISA, we saw famous and beautiful locations such as Buckingham Palace, pictured here.

Author: Clayton Boothe | Majors: Mathematics and Physics

In August 2022, I spent two weeks in England studying English literature. I traveled to Oxford, a city rich with over a millennium of history, and a college town if ever there was one. The idea of a ‘campus’ didn’t really exist there, at least not in any way I was used to. The 39 separate colleges that make up Oxford University are scattered all across the city and interspersed with shops and museums, leaving almost no distinction between Oxford University and Oxford, England.

The course I enrolled in, “Telling Stories in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Prose Fiction from Daniel Defoe to Jane Austen,” delved into the ideas present in the times of these great authors and explored what a novel actually is and how this has changed over time. We met in very small groups (my class was the largest with just five students) for three hours each morning. Every meeting began with a lecture, setting the foundation for each day’s topic, and concluded with a seminar, in which we put the topics into practice and introduced our own ideas, working in even smaller groups. The emphasis on individual thought and interpretation was vastly different from the lecture-based courses I’ve taken at the University of Arkansas, and I found it extremely helpful in developing a deeper and more personal familiarity with the course’s content. I chose to take this course because classic novels, such as those of Austen, as well as modern practices of writing, have always been major areas of interest for me, but I gained more insight into both of these areas than I imagined I would.

The courses were taught by Oxford professors, from whom it was a privilege to learn. They were extremely open to and considerate of differing and often contradictory perspectives, which allowed for a more well-rounded learning experience, something I’ve always found extremely important. Viewing the idea of what makes a novel in this encompassing way is especially valuable to my intended career as a mathematician and scientist, as conveying complicated ideas, often in book form, is an indispensable part of any researcher’s duties. I also had the opportunity to meet with additional Oxford professors outside of my chosen course, including someone at the forefront of the very niche subfield of theoretical physics I plan to study. This was incredibly inspiring, and the chance to connect with everyone I met at Oxford will be undeniably helpful as I begin my own research and graduate studies.

I’ve been reading the works of English authors since middle school, but studying these authors in the places they lived and worked made a bigger difference than I expected. For example, we saw the tavern where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis wrote their famous works, we learned that Jane Austen was tutored in the same place we were now studying her novels, and so much more (not to mention the tavern where Bill Clinton “didn’t inhale”).

I was fortunate enough that my first study abroad experience- and my first trip out of the United States- was to an English-speaking country, so the culture shock was certainly much less than it could have been. Despite this, many things caught me very much by surprise. None of the buildings of the college I stayed and studied at, Oriel College, had air-conditioning, something quite normal in this area, and this coupled with a heat wave pervading the United Kingdom at the time really made me wish I had packed some lighter clothes. The food was excellent and very diverse, but a lot heavier than what I’m used to; baked beans for breakfast every day was certainly something new! The abundance of public transportation, including a bus from Oxford to London every 10-20 minutes, was a nice change of pace. There were many fewer cars, and most that I saw were taxis or police, so the area was very pedestrian-friendly and peaceful. One slight drawback- or rather an oddity- however, was the fact that in my restroom, the toilet, sink, and shower were all placed in the same room, with no division or anything. This was more bizarre than it was inconvenient, but I’m admittedly still excited to return to my own bathroom, where the toilet, you know, isn’t in the shower.

I would absolutely recommend that any student who wishes to expand the scope of their worldview, learn a subject with more depth, or simply live their life to the fullest take advantage of this incredible opportunity to study at Oxford University, and if not this program specifically, some international program. The experience I’ve gained from such a short time abroad is inexpressibly great, and I cannot wait to pursue similar programs in the future. In fact, spending time studying outside of the United States has opened my eyes to the possibility of studying full-time or working after college in a different country, something I hadn’t previously considered for whatever reason. Living within a different culture is an amazing experience within itself, but that coupled with working and studying is an experience I now consider fundamental.