July 5, 2015
MARSHALL, Texas (6/29/15) - The travel study program of East Texas Baptist University provided opportunities for students to learn in 10 different countries this year. This past May ETBU students went to Australia, Austria, China, Ecuador, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Peru, and Zambia.
The 12 ETBU students who went to England with Associate Professor of English, Dr. Troy White, found themselves visiting the actual sites described in the books they read for his Victorian Literature and the English Setting class.
"We read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and visited sites in Oxford related to its setting, including Christ Church College and the Thames River," said Dr. White upon returning to East Texas. The class also read Dracula and Wuthering Heights.
"The class visited the seaside town of Whitby, where Dracula enters England, and then we went to London to visit other Dracula sites," said Dr. White.
Tyler native and recent ETBU graduate Whitney Justice posted on her Facebook page while in England, "took a trek up through Moors today to see a building that is said to have helped inspire Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights."
"Just visiting all of the different settings that we read in the books was a totally different experience than being in the classroom," said junior teacher education major Jaycee Hallum of Marshall. "The class experienced what Emily Bronte was seeing when she was writing her book."
"I got to walk inside the home of C.S. Lewis and see the desk where he wrote his books. That's an experience I will never forget," added Hallum.
Dr. White has been to England before to study and wanted his students to have a similar learning experience that he had. "When I studied in England, I was able to visit the settings of novels that I read. I was always struck by new insights on how and why an author might have used a particular setting in his or her novel."
"Overall it was an awesome experience," said Hallum. "Dr. White did an incredible job planning our trip and taking us to all of the incredible sights. His wealth of information about each site enhanced what we learned about Victorian Literature."
The ETBU students also had time for sightseeing. Some of the places visited were the universities at Oxford and filming locations of the Harry Potter movies. A tour of Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century to celebrate the victory over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession, was very impressive to junior Ashley Johnson of Troup.
Johnson posted on her Facebook page, "a grand place with the grandest people around. Had all kinds of fun walking through its lovely halls. #ETBUTakesEngland."
Of course the 12 experienced the food and culture of England like fish and chips, riding trains for transportation and seeing Buckingham Palace. Even though the travel experience was exciting and adventurous they were pleased to return home to the familiar.
"Unfortunately, there are no Whataburger's in England so I was glad to be back in Texas after being away for two weeks. I would definitely go back because of the great time we all experienced," concluded Hallum.