Jam Packed with History

Infront of Christ Church
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The past two days have been very informational.  Tuesday was my second day of classes.  We reviewed a time line of radio, tv and how rock and roll began.  Today we looked more into individual artists and also how their messages were perceived by America.  I have not taken any classes in mass communication or popular culture nor do I have a vast knowledge of rock and roll, so this class has already begun to broaden my horizon.

This class also provides a new perceptive to historical events such at WWI, WWII and the baby boom that I have never considered before.  For example, after the war, society was told to return to their pervious positions ie. women to the home, men to the workforce and blacks to segregation.  However, society was no longer satisfied by this.  Songs like "No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones really spoke to the public.

The IUP Study Abroad Oxford Program gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in a different culture while taking classes, and so far I'm loving it.

In the dining Hall of Christ Church aka Hogwarts
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Class on Tuesday was cut short to allow us the opportunity to hear Ted East talk.  He is a local of Oxford and has held many positions within Oxford University.  He was a wealth of information about the history of the town and the university.  Later Tuesday evening, we were also given the opportunity to go on a guided tour of Oxford with Mr. East.  I really enjoyed the tour and was able to understand some of the history behind the beautiful buildings.

One fact I found particulary amazing was that each of Oxford's 39 colleges are self sustaining meaning each college teache all subjects and do not specialize.  This is very different from the current system used by most universities in the United States.  Also, it is law that each book published in the UK must provide a free copy to Oxford University.  Hence,  the university now possesses 9 million books, many of which are kept underground.  On the tour, we saw Bodleian Library which is one of Oxfords central libraries that any student of Oxford's colleges may use.

Coming Down the stairs from University Church's tower
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One point made in class is that popular culture is pervasive yet invisible meaning that we don't notice it until its gone.  I can now appreciates this point because being in a foreign country for five days now, I began to notice simple things that are missing that make up part of who I am.  For example, I wanted to buy some candy, but none of the candy looked familiar.  But this is one of the reasons I wanted to come on this particular trip.  The IUP Study Abroad Oxford Program gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in a different culture while taking classes, and so far I'm loving it.

A view from one of the sides of University Church's tower
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After class on Wednesday, I went to Christ Church which is one of Oxford's college and was founded by King Henry VIII.  Of course, the dining hall is most known for its use in the filming of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and it is also connected to Lewis Carroll's Alices' Adventures in Wonderland.  The dining hall was much smaller than what it looks like in the movie.  I was a bit disappointed, but I still appreciated my surroundings for their history.  I was also able to go into the cathedral and picture gallery at Christ Church.

After touring Christ Church, I made my way to University College of St. Mary the Virgin.  You can climb to the top of the church's tower to get a wonderful view of city.  This was extremely unnerving because the staircase spirals to the top and is very narrow and steep.  Also the staircase is used to both come up and down at the same time.  The view was magnificent and I got a new perspective on the city.  I was even able to see farmland in the distance.

I am also planning a trip into London this weekend with a few other girls in the program.  We booked a hostel for Saturday night and are trying to plan out an itinerary for our weekend.  I'll keep you posted on how that is going!