Intellectual Journeys

Stanford MLA students are part of a larger international academic community. The MLA Program designs special seminars that take place abroad and across the country. These seminars usually count as regular coursework towards the MLA degree, but are generally one to two weeks of intense study in settings that enhance the academic experience. 

Intellectual Journeys are open to current MLA students and MLA Alumni.

MLA students and alumni also have the opportunity to apply to, and study at Oxford University.

Upcoming Journeys

Galapagos 2013

William Durham, Bing Professor in Human Biology and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
July 4-11, 2013
This expedition is not a seminar; there is no degree credit for participating.
This eight-day expedition to the Galapagos offers MLA students, alumni, faculty, and their families a chance to experience the world's greatest natural history destination. With Prof. Durham's guidance, and that of the on-board naturalists, members of the MLA community can expect encounters with sea lions, black marine iguanas, frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, and giant tortoises. Accommodation is on board the comfortable M/V Santa Cruz. MLA students and alumni should contact the MLA office for details.
Prof. Durham Undergrad and Grad Student Link

Past Journeys
 

2012 Cambridge
MLA 292: The Bloomsbury Group

From September 6-16, fourteen MLA students and alumni joined Professor Peter Stanksy at Cambridge University to study this group of intellectuals, writers, and artists that had its origins at King's College. Read details of the experience here. 

2011 Burnt Norton
MLA 283: Three 20th-century Minds: Eliot, Pound, and Yeats

Our 2011 Journey was a week in England, studying Eliot, Pound, and Yeats with Professor William Chace at Burnt Norton, the site made famous by Eliot’s 1935 poem of the same name. Read full details here.

Study at Oxford

Study with Oxford dons in historic libraries, wander through fourteenth-century quadrangles, or go punting on the Cherwell. Oxford's Department of Continuing Education offers three-week sessions in English Literature and in History, Politics, and Society each summer. Students may choose to live on campus in historic Exeter College (founded in 1314), or may find their own lodging in Oxford. MLA students who are accepted into and successfully complete Oxford's program may receive up to four units on their Stanford transcript. The Oxford units do not replace any of the courses or seminars required for the MLA degree, and fees are paid by the student directly to Oxford University. For more information, visit Oxford Summer Programmes.