Arcadia England

Great to see everyone milling around the Center - classes have started but new arrivals keep coming, mingling the jet-lagged and bleary-eyed with those of you who are now practised commuters, taking that daily tube ride without batting an eyelid. And you're gradually getting acclimatised to our weather - glorious sunshine and blue skies followed by soggy grey days leaving puddles on the floor. 

Now that (most of you) are settling down, here's two opportunities I'd to highlight this week:London was the site of political feminism's protracted and bitter struggle (another reminder of our Life of the Mind theme - PROTEST!!) for equal electoral rights early last century, now commemorated in the new film: Suffragette.  This will soon be opening in London - what better than to see it here in the crucible where it all started? 

Just round the corner from the Center, the British Museum is launching its amazing new special exhibition on The Celts: Art & Identity.  Previews have been really positive - it opens on September 24th. You will find a fascinating history and display of the indigenous peoples of these islands. This should interest everyone, but especially those of you with Irish/Scottish/Welsh ancestry - you owe it to yourselves and your forbears to go learn more about the bedrock culture of these islands while you're here! As we said, over and over during Orientation: London isn't England; England isn't the UK. Many of you will be visiting Wales, Scotland and Ireland while you're here, so get a head start on understanding why the various parts of the British Isles feel so different and have such different roots and legacies. The exhibition was put together jointly with the National Museum of Scotland - somewhere you should definitely visit if/when you're visiting Edinburgh. Enjoy settling into your new fall semester routines - and seize the opportunities that being abroad offers you every single day!