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Harvard Summer Program in London, England

This page contains content from the Summer School 2009. For current information, visit the Harvard Summer School website at www.summer.harvard.edu.

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Information on the programs being offered summer 2010 will be available online in early September.

Science, technology, and medicine in Victorian culture

Faculty: Anne Harrington and John Durant
(8 credits: UN, GR) Limited enrollment

Program dates: June 29–August 8
Application deadline: February 27
Cost: $7,350

“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

— Samuel Johnson (1777)

Johnson’s epigram has always captured the multiple delights of London, Europe’s largest and most dynamic city. A century after Johnson penned his famous remark, London had grown rapidly to become the seat of the largest empire the world had ever seen. Among other things, it was a place of great projects—scientific, technological, medical, and industrial. Here, the pace of scientific debate—conducted as much by means of the penny post as through the meetings of the learned societies—was matched only by the speed of engineering innovation, as one grand project followed hot on the heels of another. New locomotives, railroads, and railroad stations; new canals, barges, and ships; new sanitation systems, sanatoriums, and asylums; new palaces, poorhouses, and pumping stations; new concert halls and museums: all these things and more were created in the space of just a few frenetic decades.

Where better than London, then, to spend six weeks learning about the history of science, technology, and medicine? Live in the heart of the great metropolis. Study in some of the city’s finest libraries. Visit some of its most beautiful buildings—from the elegance of Sir Christopher Wren’s Flamsteed House at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, to the unsurpassed splendor of Alfred Waterhouse’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, the Central Hall of the Natural History Museum. Experience the unique theatrical ambience of Shakespeare’s recently renovated Globe Theatre on the South Bank and the powerful mood of Tate Modern, the much acclaimed museum of contemporary art that is housed in the cleverly restored Bankside Power Station just a little further down the Thames. And travel out of London, along Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s revolutionary Great Western Railway to see his great ironclad ocean-going steamship, the SS Great Britain, now returned to and beautifully restored in the very dry dock from which it was launched in the 1840s.

Above all, study Victorian science, technology, and medicine in the places where it happened. And remember, Dr. Johnson knew a thing or two: “The happiness of London is not to be conceived but by those who have been in it. I will venture to say, there is more learning and science within the circumference of ten miles from where we now sit, than in all the rest of the world.”

Course of study

Students take two interwoven courses that aim to set specific explorations of science, medicine, and engineering into a common understanding of Victorian culture. Three class times a week are dedicated to discussions of readings and materials. Afternoons and one additional day are generally devoted to field trips. Students are introduced early on to a range of libraries and archives in London and are guided through research projects that they present in the last week of the program.

Prerequisites: no technical background in science is necessary; however, some interest in history or science is helpful. Harvard students who have taken a course in the Department of the History of Science are warmly encouraged to apply.

HSCI S-119 Study Abroad in London, England: Health and Illness in Victorian Culture

This course looks at the emergence of modern medicine, surgery, and public health in Victorian culture. Topics include the great cholera epidemics, the emergence of germ theory, quack medicine and the marketing of nostrums, new theories of madness, and the discovery of anesthesia in surgery.

HSCI S-185 Study Abroad in London, England: Science and Engineering in Victorian Culture

This course examines the place of science and engineering in Victorian culture. Topics include the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Victorian physical universe, the Darwinian revolution, the making of the modern sewage system, and the invention of the railway, telegraph, and steamship.

Course credit

For Harvard College students, this program counts as two half-year courses (4 credits each) of degree credit.

Transfer credit. Harvard Summer School courses and credits are accepted toward degrees at most colleges and universities. Since degree requirements vary among schools, students are advised to obtain transfer credit approval from their home institutions before registering for Harvard Summer School courses.

Faculty

Anne Harrington, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

John Durant, Adjunct Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Director, MIT Museum

Application

Students must be at least 18 years old to apply. The application materials, outlined below, are due February 27:

Applications should be addressed as follows:

Matilda West
Study Abroad Coordinator
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

Students will be notified of admission decisions by mid-March.

Cost

The cost of the program is $7,350, plus a nonrefundable $50 application fee. In addition, students are responsible for a health insurance fee ($165; waived if students have US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States) and for transportation to and from London. The cost of the program covers the following:

Program directors will advise students of likely additional expenses.

Payment deadlines

Harvard Summer School online services allows accepted students to make payments or deposits with a valid credit card. Students can also mail their payment, along with a completed Study Abroad Payment Form (available in Forms), to:
Student Financial Services
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

For those admitted to the program, a nonrefundable deposit of $735 must be received by April 15 to secure a place in the program. Payment in full is due by May 15. A $100 late fee will be charged for payments received after this date.

Funding

Harvard College students are eligible for funding through the Harvard College Office of International Programs (OIP), as well as a variety of centers around campus.  All Harvard Summer School study abroad programs qualify for summer funding. Programs of eight weeks or longer in duration (including extensions of Harvard Summer School Programs approved by faculty members) qualify for Rockefeller International Experience Grants; programs of shorter duration qualify for other summer grants.

Students may consult the Funding Sources Database for more information on all sources of funding. Please note that the funding application deadline for summer grants and Rockefeller International Experience Grants is February 27.

To apply for any study abroad funding, students need to provide information about the program’s budget, submit an application through the Common Application for Research and Travel (CARAT), as well as supplementary documents to the relevant center, if necessary. Additional information on the funding application process is available through CARAT.

Also see the Harvard College Financial Aid Office summer school page for information about assistance.

Other Harvard students may be eligible for financial assistance through their Harvard financial aid offices. Students enrolled at other institutions should consult their respective financial aid offices.

Accommodations

Students live with other students in university housing owned by Imperial College in central London, near South Kensington.

Additional information

Contact Anne Harrington, aharring@fas.harvard.edu; (617) 496-5234.

Students with disabilities should contact the disability services coordinator as soon as possible: (617) 495-0977, (617) 495-9419 (TTY), or disabilities@dcemail.harvard.edu. Request-for-accommodation forms and supporting diagnostic documentation must be submitted by April 15. See the Disability Services page for more information about disability services, including request forms and guidelines for documentation.

Students applying for admission to Harvard’s study abroad programs should understand that although the University provides reasonable assistance and support to facilitate the participation of qualified students in its programs (including students with disabilities and health impairments), some of our programs are located in parts of the world where accommodations may not be readily available. Students are encouraged to be forthcoming with the disability services coordinator about any specific needs and functional limitations so that the Summer School can collaborate with those students in a way that fosters their safe participation and allows them to fully appreciate any barriers that they may face, depending on the location and rigors of the particular program.

Harvard Summer School is aware of the risks associated with international travel. Should the US Department of State issue a travel warning for any of the countries in which a study abroad program is planned, the program in that country may be canceled.

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