Special Programs
Writing Contests
The Department of English is now accepting entries for the Spring 2013 Writing Contests. The categories include Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction. Entries are due to Parlin 114 by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 15th, 2013.
Download the entry form here.
Oxford Summer Program
The Department of English at The University of Texas at Austin has sponsored a summer program in Oxford since 1984. The Oxford Summer Program gathers students to enjoy life and literature at Oxford University, the oldest English-speaking university in the world. The 2013 Program will be housed in Wadham College. Students will take one or two upper-division English classes and enjoy many field trips and theatrical performances. This program is a wonderful balance of academics and fun, an opportunity to get to know Department of English faculty and other students outside the classroom, and a chance to live in an early 17th-century English college in modern-day Oxford.
The 2013 Oxford Summer Program will be held over the second summer session: July 13-August 17. Students are expected to travel to and from Oxford on their own; however, we are happy to give travel advice to anyone who needs it. Most students fly into Heathrow Airport and take one of the frequent buses from London to Oxford.
Although trips and events are related to the individual courses, all students are allowed and encouraged to attend all program trips. Such events include Shakespeare performances at the Globe Theatre in London and at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and visits to major Shakespeare sites in Stratford. Other trips may include the following: visits to Bath, West Wycombe, Ludlow Castle, and Hereford Cathedral. The Oxford experience usually includes touring other colleges, visiting the Ashmolean Museum, attending music and drama performances in the college gardens, shopping, socializing, and punting on the Isis.
The 2013 Oxford Summer Program fees are $6000. The fees cover a private room at Wadham College, breakfasts and most dinners during the Program, coach travel for Program events, entrance fees and theater tickets for all Program trips, and a final banquet. Tuition is a separate expense and The University of Texas at Austin will electronically bill tuition after summer registration.
Tuition information is online: http://www.utexas.edu/tuition/costs.html. Additional costs also include: airfare, personal items, any additional health or travel insurance, most lunches, a $50 non-refundable application fee, and any independent travel expenses.
The Department of English bills the Oxford Summer Program fees electronically and UT-Austin students pay their balances directly to the University, either to the Cashier's Office or online through “What I Owe”. Students who join the Program later in the spring pay on an adjusted fee schedule. Students relying on financial aid and scholarships might be able to pay some of the balance on a later schedule as their financial aid is released and should consult with the Program Coordinator as soon as possible.
There are many forms of financial aid available to students who wish to participate in the Oxford Summer Program, including both scholarships and loans. An Oxford Summer Program financial aid handout will be available in October.
Please click here for 2013 Oxford Summer Program course descriptions.
Students who meet the admissions criteria and pay the $1000 deposit are admitted to the Oxford Summer Program on a rolling basis until the Program fills. Application packets will be available in PAR 114 in late September.
For additional information, please contact:
Andrea Giachetti, Program Coordinator
471-5736
andrea@austin.utexas.edu
Odessa Amaya, Co-Coordinator
471-5736
Dr. Lisa Moore, Program Director
llmoore@mail.utexas.edu
2012 Summer Oxford Program Video.
Shakespeare at Winedale
Shakespeare at Winedale is a University of Texas program dedicated to bringing Shakespeare to life through performance. Founded by Professor James B. Ayres on the belief that the best way to study Shakespeare's plays is to perform them, Shakespeare at Winedale offers a unique opportunity to explore these rich and complex texts through the creative act of play. Shakespeare at Winedale is a program of the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts, but many of its activities are centered on the Winedale Historical Center near Round Top, Texas, where for more than thirty-five years students and audiences have come to encounter Shakespeare's living art.
Established in 1970 as a UT English course, Shakespeare at Winedale has grown into a year-round program reaching many different groups. Students in the summer program spend two months in the Texas countryside, studying and performing three plays in the converted nineteenth-century barn that is our theatre. A spring semester version of the course is offered on the UT campus, with performances at Winedale. Camp Shakespeare provides a two-week experience of learning and playing Shakespeare for 10-13 year-olds. Our Outreach program brings Shakespeare into the classrooms of elementary school students throughout central Texas, and brings those students to Winedale to perform. Our program also includes a medieval nativity play performed by children from the Winedale area, a summer course for teachers through the UTeach program, visits by British Shakespeareans to the Winedale theatre barn, and special performances in other venues, including an annual tour to England.
To find out more, visit the Shakespeare at Winedale website.
