Sixteen City College students spent four weeks of their summer exploring the streets of London to experience British culture while studying Shakespeare and narrative in film.

“For a long time, my neighbourhood was like the world,” said Miguel Cruz, former City College student and participant in the London trip. “I never really got out of that, so it was nice seeing something else completely different from here.”

English Professor Barbara Bell and Curtis Bieber, film and television production professor, accompanied the students on the trip organized by the Study Abroad program. Bell and Bieber taught classes Monday through Thursday at the renowned University of London.

“We also wanted to cultivate in our students a love of travel, of visiting and appreciating new places and cultures,” said Bell.

When the students weren’t in class or catching up on their homework, they were free to explore everything that London has to offer. Whether that meant visiting the Buckingham Palace hoping to spot the queen, learning about the capital’s famous history or shopping on Oxford Street was up to them.

“The reason that I like participating in Study Abroad programs is to live for a time in another culture, rather than rapidly travelling through as most tourists do,” said City College student Robert Coronado.

Coronado is used to travelling. It is his third semester at City College and the London trip was the second time he travelled to Europe with the Study Abroad program.

“I learned so much,” said Coronado. “The program was very well-organized and the instructors made sure everyone felt comfortable both walking the city and taking the subway.”

Bieber taught the students about the different elements of a story and narratology in film. His goal is that the students will be able to use what they learned in London in film production courses or any writing course in the future.

“While in class we used examples from all sorts of genres and films, but would then also compare those film examples to the plays that the students were watching,” said Bieber.

Each student paid $4245 to participate but the price differs from program to program. This price included housing, transportation passes and excursions to Shakespeare’s Globe, Cambridge University, art galleries and more.

Cruz explained that his time in London gave him a truly fresh perspective on life and sparked his passion for poetry.

“Go do it. Do whatever it takes. Yeah, it’s expensive, but you can’t put a price on the experience itself,” said Cruz.