Spring Breaking Away from the Ordinary

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”

- Samuel Johnson, 1777

Two hundred thirty years later, students at Texas A&M University will decide if they agree with Samuel Johnson. Over spring break, students enrolled in English 394, “London in Fact and Fiction: An Exploration” will venture to London in order to see the very things they have been reading about.

Lawrence Mitchell, professor of English, and his students have spent the past weeks of the semester studying London through literature, focusing on a range of novels and short stories that involve London and authors’ views of London.

So far the class has read The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, Sherlock Holmes: The Major Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Imagined London by Anna Quindlen, Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The People of the Abyss by Jack London, and watched a documentary film titled The London Blitz.

The course is based on the idea that only through personal experience can one fully appreciate the resonance of the famous locales in literature, as well as attain a good grasp of the history and geography of metropolitan London. When discussing the choice of books, Mitchell said “I tried to choose works that had intrinsic literary merit and also referenced different parts of London that we will visit, such as Soho, the East End, and Belgravia.”

Prior to departure, students selected a research topic to explore in Texas A&M’s Cushing Library and while in London, either at the British Library or on site. Several students chose to study London churches, London cemeteries, and London architecture, but they plan to narrow their topics once they begin first-hand research. In addition to research and tours, the students will meet with Dominic Hibberd, who has written books on the World War I poet Wilfred Owen and the famous Poetry Bookshop in London.

So it may not be the ordinary spring break vacation, but you can bet that these students will have an educational and memorable experience that will last them a lifetime.

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Contact: Blair Williamson, 979.458.1347, bwilliamson@libarts.tamu.edu