You will take 4 electives* (Interns will take 1 required Cornerstone course, plus 3 electives). Please secure approval from your homeschool for 8 courses as not all classes are guaranteed. You will officially register for courses online several weeks before the program begins.
This course will provide you with an introduction to photographic culture, history, theory & practice, brought to life through an exploration of the city of London. Gallery visits & tours will provide stimulus for a practical exploration of the creative process and you will acquire strategies for the expression of personal voice for both professional applications and self-development. There is an emphasis on autonomous problem solving, contextualization and interdisciplinary thinking.
Explore and discover the diverse ways that artists, thinkers, innovators, scientists and communities are responding to the climate crisis - adapting, working with and resisting the climate emergency.
Environment: Confront the challenge of engineering a new 21st century future, using sustainable living patterns. Explore urban ecology, waste, food and agriculture. Meet our microbes and confront AI.
Community: Discover radical models for sustainable living. Understand green, low-impact technologies.
The Arts: Respond to contemporary artists' ecological initiatives. Examine the interface between art, science and new technology.
The course uses informal seminars, discussions, student presentations, film extracts and guest speakers.
You'll become fully immersed in London's cultural landscape in this course, that traces the history of displaying, selling and curating art. From the reclaimed industrial halls of the Tate Modern to the post-impressionist exhibitions of the early 20th century, every week you'll be off-site visiting galleries, museums and other exhibitions. You'll look at the world of art of from all angles, including how it is becoming more diverse and inclusive. Your analytical skills will be honed whilst you compare and contrast approaches and ideas, providing you with truly transferable skills even as a non-art history major.
Through a combination of urban walks, building and gallery visits and seminar sessions, this course will allow you to study the art and architecture of London’s modernity, from the reconstruction after the Great Fire in 1666 to the present day. Through weekly field trips you will explore the broad social and economic forces at work behind the evolution of London’s art and architecture as well as the boundaries between art and architecture, studying the role of art and artists in shaping the urban environment.
In this engaging course meet a real-life client and work to their brief to come up with a marketing proposal. Culminating in a presentation to that client, the course will expose you to the most career-relevant marketing concepts and tools, comparing and contrasting how these concepts are used in the UK and the US. You'll be developing and producing your own research and statistical analyses, and, through a hands-on and interactive approach, you'll evaluate the success of customer responses to your integrated communications campaign.
A course to get you fully engaged with the city of London! Through a combination of city walks, building visits and seminar sessions you will learn about the urban fabric of London, from its reconstruction after the Great Fire in 1666 to the present day. The course provides a historic and social mapping of the city through first hand encounters with a wide range of buildings and urban spaces - from historic churches to contemporary shopping malls, from theatres to housing. The course addresses the city and architecture through interdisciplinary approaches: incorporating elements of architectural history, social geography, art practice and cinematography. Through your explorations you will gain an understanding of the broad social and economic forces behind the evolution of London’s built environment, and also discusses the role of the architect in shaping the spaces of the city, both inside and out.
This course will provide a solid foundation for an awareness and understanding of global business. You will examine key contemporary issues relevant to the upper management of firms with a global perspective, which will enable you to expand and explore your knowledge of the UK’s position in the global marketplace. By this course's completion, you will have gained an understanding of how theories and concepts in business, economics and finance facilitate the effective management of international or internationalizing firms.
See for yourself how text comes alive in London's theater scene! You will learn to critically evaluate play texts and give voice to your inner theater critic through written reflections of live performances - from Shakespearean classics to new and exciting contemporary forms. From the West End to The Globe Theatre you will attend theater performances and visit exhibtions and museums to expereince the diversity of plays, texts, and productions on the London stage. Perfromances featured will vary each semester and are selected to allow you to engage with a range of themes impacting British society and culture.
See William Shakespeare's most popular works through 21st century eyes as you attend performances at The Globe, London's famous and historic theatre, among others. Throughout this dynamic course, you will study up to six different plays through the lens of both current cultural contexts and historical ones. By looking at the plays as theatre rather than text, you will examine key issues such as casting, authenticity, ownership and cultural authority, with a chance to call all of these into question in class debates.
Taught by an instructor who has worked and consulted across public and private sectors both in the UK and internationally, this introductory course focuses on how microeconomic theory is often at the heart of the everyday life and government decisions that affect us all. Looking at everything from health services to consumer behaviour, and how economics must remain a driving force for the public good, you will be exposed to many varying theories and invited to interact and engage in regular lively debates.
Through this course you will develop a systematic understanding of the key areas of the world economy – trade, investment and finance – and how they impact each other. You will study the dynamic international economic environment and the UK's place in it, focusing on current and high-profile real world issues as well as recent academic and empirical findings. Theory and practise is brought together by multiple excursions throughout London, allowing you to explore the city as you study.
From Charles Dickens to Zadie Smith, London has been home and inspiration to great writers for centuries. In this course you will learn the craft of writing fiction and pen your own stories, with field trips and guest speakers to help broaden your knowledge. You will read and evaluate texts from British and Irish authors in order to understand their literary strategies, and partake in regular discussion and writing exercises to develop your own. Creative writing in London provides the unique opportunity to be influenced and inspired by this iconic city, and walk alongside some of the greatest writers in history.
What could be more relevant than a course challenging and analysing the cultural, economic and political aftermath of British Imperialism and colonialism? This exciting and dynamic take on British history will cover topics such as post-colonialism, imperialism and total war, empire and sport and empire and gender. Student participation and discussion is vital, in an intellectually challenging environment where all ideas are valid.
Looking at the cultural history of London from 1840 to the present, you'll examine how London is a city of the imagination: it both stimulates creative responses and is in itself a product of these 'imaginings'. Excursions form a major part of this course, with around 75% of class hours spent out and about in London, where you will discover how writers and artists capture a phenomenon that constantly shifts shape.
The course that never stands still! You will explore on foot both obvious and unexpected areas of the city to uncover some of the history and culture of this great global metropolis. Your engagement with themes including protest, crime, government, imperialism, capitalism and popular culture will be underpinned by readings from fiction, history, cultural theory and psychogeography, allowing you to explore not only the fabric of the city's past and present, but also how an individual experiences and processes the urban environment as a citizen.
In this course you will get to experience London through the eyes - and words - of a foreign correspondent. As well as providing a practical introduction to feature and travel journalism, the course will also get you out and about, exploring all aspects of the city to respond to in your writing. You will also gain practice in multimedia reporting, producing audio and digital content. The course is further enhanced by guest lectures providing industry perspectives and insights.
In this course you'll explore literary London through the lens of sexuality, looking at works from the 1960s to the present. Among the themes you'll dive into are the impact of AIDS and the politics of sexuality in the 1980s; feminism and the 1960s sexual liberation; and the ways ethnic minorities are challenged by the shifting notions of sex and gender.
This course involves an exploration of the city of London, both physically and through London as the setting and inspiration for literary works. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the present, you will analyse how London plays in the narratives of the major 'city novels,' as well as some lesser known but key books from the gothic period. While considering major authors' response to London, you will be able to witness the development of your own responses, both to the novels and to life in London.
A wide ranging survey of the key genres, themes and styles of the British film industry from its inception in the 1920s to the present day. British film has a very different look and feel to Hollywood cinema, and this is reflected both in the scale of production and the subject matter portrayed on the screen. Through the close watching and analysis of films you will also gain insights into the British character and psyche and its interplay with societal trends.
Who gets to mediate information? Who gets to receive it? In this course you will explore the UK's complex media landscape both in class and on London streets with those two questions in mind. You will survey the past, present and future of British media, particularly its role in democracy. This course is sure to offer a different perspective of the UK, and a deeper understanding of the country you have chosen to study in.
Once a year, a British official in 17th century clothing knocks on the ancient wooden doors of Parliament’s House of Commons. The doors are slammed in the face of “Black Rod”, so she has to request the elected legislature of the United Kingdom to walk across the 11th century palace and listen to the King give a speech.
What do these theatrics mean? How does the UK political system blend its ancient, and bloody history, with modern ideas on diversity and human rights? How does the UK balance the competing political pressures of rising demands for national identity and declining support for international institutions with the need for international trade and participating in global security alliances?
An Introduction to UK Politics explores these and other questions.
What does it mean to be a Londoner? Where do Londoners spend their leisure time? What is their history? This course celebrates the city's vibrancy and multiculturalism. Through course field trips, film screenings, and class discussions, this class considers London as a cultural hub for tourism, creativity, and diversity. It questions how we see London and how London exports itself. With field trips to Hampton Court Palace, The Museum of the Docklands and a West End production, students reflect on the histories, communities and industries that define this global city.
The course that turns London into your classroom. This engaging introduction to sociology explores key themes such as culture, socialization, inequality, institutions, and politics while connecting theory directly to the city around you. Nearly half of the course takes place in the field, with walking tours and site visits that invite you to observe and analyze neighborhoods, public spaces, and everyday social interactions firsthand. You won’t just learn sociological concepts in lectures—you will actively apply them, using classic and contemporary perspectives to interpret the urban environment as you experience it. Multimedia materials and discussion deepen your understanding, helping you reflect critically on how social forces shape daily life in London and back home in the United States. By combining academic study with immersive exploration, this course equips you with the tools to see society through a sharper, more informed lens.