The start of a theater addiction...

This trip is an credible opportunity for English majors from the entire UC system, not just UCLA. You'll stay in Stratford-upon-Avon (and after a week, you'll OWN that town) and London--a good pairing that lets you see more of England than you might otherwise. You have class almost every day from 11-3, and section maybe twice a week, so there is a lot of free time to roam/read/rage/whatever.

The best and most underpublicized aspect of the program is Professor Post's relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. You see every play you read, even in London, but in Stratford you get to discuss the theater business with actors, costume designers, directors, and media relations (Hi Cath!). The theater experience was unlike anything else I've ever done, and all of us saw as much theater as we could outside of scheduled visits.

As far as the teaching staff goes, we only had Professor Post last year, and he was fantastic. Let's be real... most people don't want to work that hard on a study abroad program. He gets that, and our entire grade was based on 3 straightforward tests, participation, and 3-4 basic response papers from section. Post is a great professor for this program because he understands that he's living with you and understands how to make himself accessible without letting you knock on his door. I really appreciated his knowledge of the material and the areas we lived, and he always gave us good advice!

Though the TA probably changes from year to year, Megan was great and definitely got us to get our hands dirty with the theater aspect of the program. She was also very knowledgeable about Renaissance drama and graded fairly.

Bottom line: if you can go, do it. If you need to do summer school, do this instead. If you want to go abroad but your parents want you to go to school, do this instead. Studying English? Theater? Comm? Phy/Sci? Do it.