Students who take English 101 at West Los Angeles College this summer will have the opportunity to spend two weeks in London.
They will be soaking up the culture they studied in class through the works of Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, and others.
Enrollment is open to students from other community colleges, universities, and new students as well.
The course will be taught by Dr. Katherine Boutry, one of West’s most dynamic professors. She earned her Ph.D. in English literature at Harvard University where she taught Major British Writers for five years before moving to Los Angeles to teach and write for television.
She has also lived in London and worked for BBC Radio London.
West long has offered study-abroad trips to Spain where students could learn or improve their Spanish language skills.
The college is expanding its study abroad opportunities, tailored to the budgets and schedule needs of community college students, in response to demands by employers and universities for candidates with greater global understanding.
“Federal agencies are struggling to find employees who have the cross-cultural and foreign language capabilities to effectively meet our nation’s security and diplomatic needs,” says Allan E. Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education. “Corporations face a similar challenge. Managers must function effectively across cultures and gain an international perspective on their jobs to survive. Careers in health, education and welfare, even within the U.S. domestic context, will increasingly.”
Moreover, added Mark Pracher, West L.A. College’s Dean of Global Studies, “Research indicates that students who study abroad stay in school, get better grades, and graduate and transfer at higher rates than those who did not.”
Summer classes at West, an accredited community college, begin June 15. Classes are $46 per unit for California residents. Financial aid is available for qualified applicants. Registration is underway. This particular Reading & Composition course is listed as section #0980. The two-week trip at the end of the course will cost between $2150 to $2350, depending on the number of students who sign up. Cost does not cover airfare. Activities include a literary walking tour, visits to the British Museum, the National Gallery, and a theatre performance, a double decker bus tour, River Thames cruise, and an excursion to Oxford.
For more information, see www.WLAC.edu/Study-Abroad/index.aspx or call 310.287.4467.
Ms. Long-Coffee may be contacted at longcofm@wlac.edu