A Summer Course at Oxford (The Glen, Winter 2024)

In university, students are often told to take advantage of the hundreds, if not thousands, of opportunities and experiences available to them through their institutions. Some find this level of choice overwhelming, as I did when I started my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, Trinity College in 2021. However, I never could have anticipated that in the summer between my second and third years, one of those opportunities would come to me in the form of a month-long trip to Oxford University to study Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries.

I am in my third year of the HBA in Ethics, Society & Law (with minors in English and Political Science). The Austen Summer Abroad course was an opportunity for travel, exploration, and additional university credits. One of my personal dreams has always been to study in England, and the knowledge that this trip was happening did not kick in until I was on the way to Pearson Airport. I was suddenly filled with excitement, anxiety, and realization, and before I knew it, I was lugging my overweight suitcase down a cobblestone path called Beaumont Street, leading me to Worcester College, Oxford, where I would live and study for the next month. My friends and I joked that the experience “didn’t feel real” — indeed, even when I reminisce about the August trip now that I am back at U of T, it feels like a dreamlike pocket of time that I was somehow lucky to be part of.

Being a student in Oxford for several weeks was like nothing I could have imagined. What strikes you when you arrive in Oxford is its extraordinary architecture and the beauty of its old colleges. It is known as the “City of Spires” for good reason with its otherworldly skyline of Gothic towers and steeples. It is also the oldest university in the English-speaking world, with evidence of teaching dating back to 1096. Beyond its centuries-old history is a record of phenomenal achievements. Oxford has educated over 30 world leaders, 28 British prime ministers and 55 Nobel Prize winners. It operates the world’s oldest university museum and the largest university press. It is currently ranked as the top university in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as well as the Forbes World University Rankings.[1]

For all these reasons, Oxford was the ideal setting for the Jane Austen course. Taught by U of T’s Professor Alex Hernandez, the course covered four of the Austen novels (Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion) and included two major exams, a daily journal project, class discussions, and an essay. These expectations, along with the course’s regular field trips (to London, the City of Bath, and the Stourhead Estates) made for an intensive, adrenalin-dependent four weeks, but they were the best four weeks of my life. This was partly thanks to the travel opportunity itself but mostly because of the unparalleled inspiration that Oxford itself nurtures for those who study there. Oxford alumni like JRR Tolkien, Stephen Hawking, Malala Yousafzai, Adam Smith, and Oscar Wilde, are just some of the thousands who have lived in or moved on from Oxford to achieve the exceptional in the arts, sciences, political, diplomatic and entertainment fields, among others. For Bayview Glen students who are moving toward their university years, I strongly encourage you to consider a short-term study abroad course like the one I attended at Oxford or similar courses offered outside of Canada. The one month that I spent in England changed my thinking, study/work ethic and aspirations dramatically. It truly has been the highlight of my university years so far.

Ellie Twohey, Bayview Glen Class of 2021 now studying at the University of Toronto, Trinity College

[1] University of Oxford. Wikipedia. University of Oxford - Wikipedia