Location:

Bath, United Kingdom

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Graduate

Term:

Summer

Program Overview

Program Description:

If you would like to turn your passion for Jane Austen into a real vocation join us on the The Open Book Programme for Summer 2015, a unique career opportunity to visit the most delightful and historic part of England and learn how to care for and communicate their history.Visit our website to find out more

There are many special highlights in the Open Book Programme including: -Meeting the renowned curators, writers, conservators and researchers for unique focused sessions on their work -Taking an active part in illuminating and challenging practical workshops -Enjoying a privileged view of the ‘rare and precious’ collection of letters by Jane Austen -Going behind the scenes at Jane Austen's House in Chawton, where she wrote her ‘best and most mature work’ Learning about the house and collection first -hand from the dedicated curator Mary Guyatt -Exploring beautiful Chawton House Library, formerly Jane’s brother Edward’s house, where she dined -Getting to know dedicated professionals, finding out about their career paths and benefiting from bespoke careers advice -Staying in the thriving historic market town of Alton, which Jane often visited, and taking an active part in the delightful special events in their famous Regency Week complete with carriage rides, costumed promenade, country dancing and street market -Learning to dance with the Jane Austen dancers to music discovered at Jane's house in Chawton. -Meeting leading authorities on Jane Austen's life and work. You will spend time with Hazel Jones, the inspired author of ‘Jane Austen’s Journeys’, hearing about and discussing Jane Austen’s ‘excursions of pleasure'. -Exploring Thomas Hardy’s evocative cottage near Dorchester where he wrote several of his early short stories, poetry and novels -Standing on the steps of the Cobb at Lyme Regis from which Louisa Musgrove fell and visiting the inns mentioned in Persuasion. -Staying at one of the houses in Bath where Jane Austen herself resided and taking tea in Walter Elliot’s House -Having a private tour of Number 1 Royal Crescent, one of the most impressive historic town houses in England and finding out how a Regency house functioned and how it is conserved and interpreted today

The Open Book Programme will offer you the chance to: -Learn from the professionals how to research, conserve, present and interpret an author’s life and work in a series of hands-on workshops -Put yourself in Jane's shoes and understand her particular personal history -Go behind the scenes at the heritage sites where Jane Austen lived and wrote and gain privileged access to the sites and collections -Engage in lively debate with the specialists who protect her legacy -Help those specialists to make significant decisions about their current projects -Benefit from bespoke careers advice on working in the heritage sector in the UK -See for yourself the history where it happened, learn about Jane’s milieu in the very environment in which she lived and breathed -Compare the ways in which Jane Austen's and Thomas Hardy's properties are conserved and interpreted by their particular specialist teams -Handle invaluable historical artefacts and records not usually accessible to the public -Gain unique experiences to add to your resume -Visit some of the most delightful and historic parts of literary England

Setting Description:

You will be visiting some of the most charming parts of England including Hampshire, Dorset and Somerset. You will explore Lyme Regis on the fantastic Jurassic coast and Bath, the most delightful city in England. You will stay in a Tudor house in Dorset for part of this experience.

Cost:

You can sign up for: A 21 day programme 18 June - 8 July The fee for the 21 day programme in summer 2015 including all accommodation, all breakfasts, a welcome supper, a shared dinner in Alton and a formal dinner in Dorset, all entrance fees, all professional input and all travel within the programme is £2300. 0r A 14 day programme 25 June - 8 July The fee for the 14 day programme in summer 2015 including all accommodation, all breakfasts, a shared dinner in Alton and a formal dinner in D