This summer, Anderson Krupala, son of Vicki and James Krupala, had the opportunity to study at Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Anderson was one of 18 LSU Ogden Honors College students on the trip. The group lived in the dorm at St. Hilda’s College in Oxford and took two honors courses while they were there:
- HNRS 2012, The Nineteenth Century: Victorian Ideas and Ideals
- HNRS 2100/2030, Great Conversations and Humanities Colloquium: The Great War and Modernism
Classes were taught by Dr. Drew Lamonica Arms, associate dean of the LSU Honors College and a Rhodes Scholar, along with Dr. Granger Babcock and Dr. Vincent LiCata, also professors with the Honors College.
Courses were taught both in the classroom and through experiential learning, on excursions to the actual historical locations from the literature the students read, in Oxford, Bath and London.
In Anderson’s Words
Although I love Baton Rouge, it was quite difficult to leave Oxford. It seemed that everywhere I visited in the city was simultaneously thousands of years old and the previous dwelling of a world-famous author or scientist.
The architecture held immense attention to detail. Every grotesque had a personality of its own, and the flowers carved into stone pillars seemed to bloom right before your eyes. Every building could be mistaken for a mediaeval cathedral, because most were at one point. Oxford began as a divinity school and slowly transitioned into worldly subjects. For this reason, the churches within every individual college at Oxford were absolutely stunning. In particular, Christ Church, the name of both a college and a cathedral, took my breath away when entering. I was fortunate enough to participate in a prayer held when we visited, and praying in this thousand-year-old church felt absolutely surreal.
My favorite spot in the city, however, was Blackwell’s Bookshop. Upon entering, you may think that you could find every work here on Amazon but as you explore the four floors and enter the multi-layered Norrington Room, you realize that this is a bookshop like no other. Whenever we had pressing work, we would always come to lock in here.
The city possesses an academically intense vibe, and for the better. Working and learning at Oxford never felt like a burden but rather a privilege. Being surrounded by walls that had witnessed the greatest thinkers of every generation provided a sense of inspiration for truly immersing ourselves in the works of Jane Austen, Vera Brittain, Charles Darwin, and many more. Overall, I could not be more thankful for the time that I was able to spend in the beautiful city of Oxford.
Scenes From Oxford
