Advantages of the Program

Why accompany a member of the Kenyon English department and numerous English majors abroad? Doesn't a student get enough of Kenyon at Kenyon? Because the Kenyon-Exeter Program offers the best of two academic systems--combining a Kenyon seminar (and thus facilitating the close academic and personal interaction with a Kenyon faculty member that Kenyon students are accustomed to experiencing) with course offerings in English literature and other disciplines taught by Univeristy of Exeter Professors (allowing students to learn to work more independently). You will have an opportunity to study independently in the British university system, but you will also have a Kenyon connection at Exeter to ensure that things go smoothly, that you don't lose sight of being a Kenyon student with academic responsibilities.

You will be taking one course with other Kenyon students, and you will be accompanying the Kenyon group when seeing plays in Stratford and London or taking various course-related excursions. The Kenyon seminar will focus on providing you with an opportunity to study the literature and culture of England, supplemented by tours to various parts of England. The rest of the time you will be studying and socializing with British students, as well as students from other countries studying at Exeter. You will enjoy having the possibility of obtaining a double perspective--being part of Kenyon and yet being able to learn (in a serious and dedicated way) something about the culture you are living in for a year. You will be able to maintain a productive balance between travel and academic pursuits. The courses that you take at the University of Exeter are fully integrated into your English major at Kenyon, and thus your English courses taken while abroad will be included in your Kenyon GPA. Will you do well at Exeter? Will your GPA suffer? Kenyon students rarely perform less well academically at Exeter than at Kenyon. In fact, a student's GPA usually improves as a result of a year abroad at the University of Exeter. Kenyon students often receive some of the top grades in University of Exeter English courses.