Politics in London
Politics in London
Language Requirement: None
Academic Standing by Program Start: Sophomore or Above
Location: Europe, United Kingdom, England
GPA: 2.75
Program Overview
Immerse yourself in current events and unprecedented political changes in the capital of the United Kingdom. Participate in two Political Science courses over a four-week experience that will explore differing perspectives on international government and policies. Meet political party leaders and discuss politics in United Kingdom in the aftermath of Brexit. With London as your classroom you’ll visit historical sites that will provide context for recent shifts in the political landscape.
Your classes will meet at the GEO in London Centre, a beautiful early Georgian town house in the heart of Bloomsbury in central London. Number 6 Great James Street was completed in 1721, and the wood paneling and ornate mahogany columns are original.
Scholarship Opportunity. Several program scholarships will be awarded to students accepted into the Politics in London program. Most scholarships will be in the range of $500-$3,000. Scholarship awards will be based on financial need as well as overall quality of applicants’ study abroad applications. The scholarship application is within the program application; speak with your GEO advisor for more information.
We also encourage you to follow the GEO in London Centre on social media to see what current London students are learning about throughout the year!
Dates and Deadlines
| Term | Year | Deadline | Arrival Date | Departure Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer | 2024 | 03/15/2024 | 07/28/2024 | 08/24/2024 |
Academic Details
You will enroll in two, four-credit classes while in London. These courses will combine classroom learning with experiential excursions that provide access to important locations and individuals within the political sphere of the United Kingdom and European Union. The UK in the World Economy will be taught by a University of Oregon Political Science faculty member, Lars Skalnes. Contemporary British Politics will be taught by former Editor of BBC World Service News, Andrew Whitehead.
Both courses are recognized and approved for academic credit at the University of Oregon and can apply to the Political Science major or minor.
View a sample weekly schedule for the program.
Course Equivalencies
UO students: please refer to the UO Course Equivalency Process and the UO Office of the Registrar Course Equivalency Database.
Non-UO students: Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office. Check with your study abroad advisor for more information.
Faculty and Staff
Dr Andrew Whitehead has been until recently the Editor of BBC World Service News, the BBC‘s biggest radio network reaching more than forty million listeners around the world. During his career, he has been a foreign correspondent, a correspondent covering British politics, a news presenter and a maker of award winning documentaries. He has spent a semester as a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan.
Lars Skalnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oregon. He is the author of “Grand Strategy and Foreign Economic Policy: British Grand Strategy in the 1930s,” World Politics 50, no. 4 (1998): 582–616, and, more recently, of “Layering and Displacement in Development Finance: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative,” The Chinese Journal of International Politics 14, no. 2 (2021): 257–88 as well as “The Political Economy of Peaceful Change,” in The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations, eds. T.V. Paul, Deborah W. Larson, Harold Trinkunas, Anders Wivel, and Ralf Emmers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 319–36.
Housing Description
You will join a community of residents from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as part of life in one of the University of London residence halls. The hall is located in central London, close to the GEO Centre, the British Museum, and the London Tube.
You will have your own single study and share bathrooms with other residents. All single rooms have a hand basin, fitted furniture consisting of a bed (including linens), desk, chair, and storage for clothes and books. Rooms are fitted with a telephone, Wi-Fi, and data socket.
The residence hall has study rooms, lounges, a computer lab, and laundry facilities available to students. Daily breakfast is included in the program fee and is taken in the hall's cafeteria. Shared refrigerators, microwaves, and kettles are also available in the hall common areas and there are grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance.