LONDON UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM NEWS

Students visit Stonehenge and historic Bath.

Students taking the course 'Playing Shakespeare' perform on stage at the Globe Theatre, as we celebrate the end of the semester.

The LUP team in London has started a group blog, to share some of their enthusiasm about London and beyond: http://ndlondon.blogspot.com/

WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR

I am delighted to welcome you to the University of Notre Dame’s London Undergraduate Program and to the many educational, artistic, and scholarly activities of our prestigious London Centre.  Located in an elegant, historical building by Trafalgar Square in the heart of one of the world’s most exciting cities, and surrounded by theatres, museums, restaurants, cafes, monuments, and government centres, the London Program appeals greatly to students because of its fabulous location and its status as Notre Dame’s flagship study abroad program.  The London Centre generates still broader interest as a rapidly expanding, dynamic institution with superb facilities for a compelling range of academic and cultural events. 

The current era presents the most energetic and challenging of times for North American study abroad programs, given intensifying concerns with such urgent international issues as globalisation, transnational migration, ethnic and religious encounters and collisions, planetary environmental concerns, world health, and the turbulent state of global finance. Our location in what is arguably the world’s most cosmopolitan city (its financial capital and the site of the next Olympics) positions our Program ideally for engaging with such crucial international priorities.  That emphasis also highlights our Program’s strong extension of Notre Dame’s mission as an international university fundamentally engaged with the most important global issues of our day. 

We offer an outstanding academic program, taught primarily by British faculty, that significantly addresses the role of ‘Britishness’, in all of its complex historical and contemporary diversity, within this larger global arena.  Students gain a unique opportunity to pursue this agenda by capitalising on the remarkable cultural and ethnic richness of London, combining their coursework with a wide range of outings to theatre, concerts, museums, archives, and important historical sites both within London and in other regions of Britain.  Many students can also acquire a deep experience with Britain’s variegated society through internships in such areas as parliament, business, the media, education, the arts, and social work. Our students thus acquire a distinctively sophisticated understanding of the major challenges and opportunities facing not only Britain but the world community today.

The London Program’s international design intersects crucially with the scholarly and cultural activities of the London Centre.  Our splendid facilities prove ideal for a widening variety of international conferences and symposia as well as concerts, literary readings, scholarly workshops, and gatherings of educational, social, religious, and community groups.  Notre Dame academic institutes, centres, departments, and alumni groups also hold events at the London Centre.  The themes of these activities vary considerably, yet many of them build upon our special cosmopolitan attributes to foreground the global focus of our collective endeavour.  In all cases, we strive to integrate Notre Dame students as well as scholars and artists from other institutions into these multiple components of the London Centre. 

I strongly encourage Notre Dame students to take advantage of these special and most timely opportunities by applying to the London Program.  I also invite all interested parties to find out more about our overall project by exploring this website and, still better, by visiting us in London.

Best wishes to all,

Greg Kucich
Professor of English
Director, London Program