Upper School Intensive Learning Spotlight: Literary England

A group of Upper School literary enthusiasts made up of both students and faculty explored the United Kingdom and the many landmarks of famed writers, poets, and actors during Intensive Learning 2023. Their travels included London, Bath, Stratford, Yorkshire, and Manchester over the course of ten days. 

The trip focused on British literature that the students have studied throughout their Upper School experience including William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth, and more. The group visited both museums and the personal homes of these writers to help them better visualize the life and mindset they had while writing their now-famous pieces. The group also had the opportunity to step into scenery from Harry Potter movies while on a tour in London and visited the town of the Brontë sisters, Haworth in Yorkshire, where they met a Quaker man who led them through a number of Brontë landmarks. 

In addition to the literary aspects of their adventures, the group also made time to see many British landmarks including Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, both the Peak District and Lake District National Parks, and two performances in famous theaters – SIX, the story of Henry VIII’s six wives at the Vaudeville Theatre in London and Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

You can read much more about this trip at the 2023 MFS Intensive Learning blog, where you can also read about all other Upper School Intensive Learning trips and experiences. 

This is one in a series of 2023 Intensive Learning Spotlights. For one week each March, regular classes are suspended for “Intensive Learning,” when Middle and Upper School students and teachers engage in an in-depth study of a specific subject, often involving off-campus research. This long-standing MFS tradition — which dates back to the mid 1970s — allows teachers and students to break out of the structure of formal class periods and traditional study for a time of experiential learning. Both students and teachers are encouraged to view themselves as life-long learners and students of the world around them.