{"id":5757,"date":"2023-10-04T22:31:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T22:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-the-words\/?page_id=5757"},"modified":"2024-08-07T17:13:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T17:13:50","slug":"study-abroad-english-majors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/home-2\/the-words-october-2023\/study-abroad-english-majors\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Abroad: English Majors"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This past year, English majors traveled across the globe to participate in study abroad programs. Here are some of the many experiences that English majors had this past year!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Will<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Will Tandy \u201924 (he\/him) studied abroad in both Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria from January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023. In Berlin, he enrolled at the Humboldt Institut and took intensive German language classes for two months prior to attending the University of Vienna for four months where he took two courses that were part of a combined Group A program with Macalester. One of the courses, \u201cTheatre Alive,\u201d was taught by Macalester Professor David Martyn. In this class, Will \u201cstudied the theory of theater and attended several live theater performances in Vienna.\u201d The other course was an urban studies course that analyzed \u201cdifferent ways of viewing the city\u201d titled \u201cCountermapping a Modern Metropolis.\u201d In true Macalester fashion, Will also studied the intersection between Environmental Science and English in \u201cCritical Readings in Literature: Climate Change and Environmental Justice.\u201d Will described this class as \u201can American Literature course with a focus on climate literature, especially from authors of color.\u201d The final course on his plate was \u201ca linguistics [class] on the History of English\u201d that \u201cmerged the history of England with the linguistic characteristics of Old, Middle, and Modern English.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though Will escaped the claws of the Macalester English Department, he still managed to have an English-related experience with his Critical Readings in Literature course. At the University of Vienna, Will thought it was \u201cvery interesting to study American literature from a European perspective.\u201d A common sentiment from students at other institutions, when they come back from study abroad, is that they felt ill-prepared for the rigor of their classes, but this was not the case for Will. Will\u2019s English classes here at Mac \u201cover-prepared [him] to study at the University of Vienna.\u201d The literature course at Vienna had a similar structure to the \u201csmall, discussion-based classes at Mac.\u201d This format for classes was \u201cnot the norm for many of the students in the course,\u201d so the other students \u201cweren’t used to getting the chance to share their opinions and analysis, and were probably more accustomed to large seminars or lectures.\u201d Whereas, Will \u201chad practice in coming into a discussion with some questions or comments about the reading.\u201d  He admirably, at times, had to hold himself \u201cback sometimes from being the only person talking in the class, and letting [his] peers share their thoughts.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reagan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Reagan Kimzey \u201824 (she\/her) studied abroad in Amsterdam during the Spring 2023 semester. During her time there, she took two English classes titled \u201c European Literary History\u201d and \u201cConcepts in Contemporary Culture.\u201d Like Will, Reagan\u2019s English classes here at Mac prepared her well for the classes she took in Amsterdam. She felt \u201cmuch more comfortable speaking in small groups\u201d in her \u201cfully discussion based\u201d and \u201clecture with a seminar component\u201d courses. Many of the readings in Reagan\u2019s courses overlapped with readings she had done at Mac, which made her feel \u201cequipped, even being in that new space and environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lucy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next student we spoke to, Lucy McNees \u201825 (she\/her), is currently studying abroad at the British American Drama Academy in London, England. The British American Drama Academy is a drama conservatory with \u201cintensive studies in Shakespeare, Movement, Voice, High Comedy, Stage Combat, Theatre History, and Dramatic Criticism.\u201d She is also taking \u201c<\/span>weekly Masterclasses with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, BADA Alumni and various professionals in the theatre world.\u201d In Lucy\u2019s courses, students read and analyze \u201cplays and literature that are written throughout different times in history,\u201d which stimulates conversations regarding the \u201clinguistics, grammar structure, vernacular, translations, and literary movements in which the plays are situated.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Macalester, Lucy is on the creative writing track \u201cwith a focus on poetry,\u201d and she found connections between her poetry studies here at Mac and her studies of Shakespeare\u2019s verse at BADA. In particular, Lucy finds \u201cmore complex relationships\u201d as her courses further \u201cdive into linguistics and voice, and how to translate written text into spoken word.\u201d Her English classes at Mac have made her \u201cincreasingly conscious of writer and character identity and what racial, cultural, religious and gender representation looks like in various texts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Madeline<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the third feature, we have Madeline Graf \u201824 (she\/her) who studied abroad in Seville, Spain during the Spring 2023 semester. Madeline\u2019s course load featured 4 classes: \u201c<\/span>Spanish Women Writers of the 20th Century, Methodology for Teaching English to Spanish Speakers, Culture & Cuisine, and Islamic Art & Culture in Southern Spain.\u201d Her Spanish Women Writers course was a literature course taught in Spanish, but Madeline found that \u201cthe class structure mirrored nearly every English literature class I\u2019ve taken at Mac \u2014 read, discuss, and respond with an essay.\u201d The parallels between those courses and Madeline\u2019s courses here at Mac made her\u201d feel more comfortable participating in a less familiar language.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madeline\u2019s time in Seville also featured the unique opportunity to teach \u201cEnglish classes to Spanish 14 year olds once a week\u201d in her Methodology for Teaching English to Spanish Speakers. Teaching anything to teenagers is no small feat, and Madeleine tried \u201cto make the grammar lessons a little more appealing with classic English idioms, stories, songs, etc.\u201d Madeline described her time teaching these students as a \u201c fun (and humbling) experience!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Skye<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skye Newhall \u201824 (they\/them) studied abroad further North of Madeline in Dublin, Ireland during the Fall 2022 semester. In Dublin, they took five courses, one more class than the typical Macalester courseload. Their five classes included: \u201cThe Craft of Irish Poetry, Writing the Irish Short Story, Gothic Ireland: Fact, Fiction, and Film, Irish Communal Identity, and Shaping Visual Narratives.\u201d Skye was excited that the first classes listed were English courses and that the \u201cformer two had creative writing aspects,\u201d an area that was fantastic to focus on \u201cas a literature major.\u201d During their time in Dublin, they wrote two poems titled \u201cInterstices\u201d and \u201cInchydoney\u201d for their Irish Poetry course that were published in <\/span>Chanter<\/span><\/a>! <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying abroad presents the opportunity to immerse yourself in new cultures and enrich the education that you receive here at Mac. <\/span>Will beautifully summarized his time abroad as his \u201cbest semester at Mac, and it was the only one where [he] <\/span>wasn’t <\/span><\/i>at Mac!\u201d <\/span>Thank you to all the students who took the time to respond to our questions and for sharing their experiences! For some bonus content, we asked each student about their favorite memory\/experience abroad. Here are their responses:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will: <\/span>I can’t just pick one! Picknicking and studying in parks in Vienna, seeing Caroline Polachek in concert in Berlin, snowshoeing in the snowy mountains outside of Sarajevo, Bosnia, adopting a stuffed animal in Krakow with friends, bike-riding along the Danube at twilight, and going to Vienna Pride are certainly some of the highlights! Also, not a memory, but I treasure all the people I met and friends I made in Berlin and Vienna, Mac students and not. It was such a magical, transformative time!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reagan: <\/span>My favorite memory from study abroad was watching the rugby team I practiced with while there win the Netherlands National Women’s Championship. It was a great game, but I was also super proud of myself that I had been able to practice with a team of that level!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucy: <\/span>It\u2019s less of a memory and more of a current experience! One of my favorite moments so far has been walking through Regent\u2019s Park in the early morning, surrounded by autumn leaves and reading Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Richard III <\/span><\/i>in preparation for a monologue workshop. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madeline: <\/span>I absolutely adored dressing up for and attending the Feria de Abril, a weeklong holiday\/party (one of many \u2014 Andaluc\u00eda is festive)!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skye: <\/span>My favorite memory from study abroad was the weekend we went on a writer’s retreat to Incheydoney in County Cork. I took a deep dive into my favorite poet, David Whyte and wrote a poem inspired by both him and the island itself. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n




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by Ahlaam Abdulwali ’25 This past year, English majors traveled across the globe to participate in study abroad programs. Here are some of the many experiences that English majors had this past year! Will Tandy \u201924 (he\/him) studied abroad in both Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria from January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023. In Berlin, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":0,"parent":5677,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5757","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5757"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7763,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5757\/revisions\/7763"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}