Odyssey to Oxford
Additionally, each of the program tutors presents an open lecture. Evenings after dinner permit you time on your own to explore Oxford. Or you might choose to partake in impromptu trivia nights and movie nights with other participants.
forerunner of alumni travel-study programs throughout the nation.
the incredible achievements of Britain’s World War II codebreakers in the place where it happened. Participants will also have the opportunity to experience evensong. Evensong traces its origins to the daily cycle of services of the medieval church and is a sung evening service that consists of choral music, scripture readings and prayers. Evensong services are open to anyone, whatever their religion, background or beliefs. A highlight of our second week is a reception and dinner at Brasenose College, which is located in the heart of Oxford and has amazing views of Radcliffe Camera and University Church. An educational hall, also called Brasenose, was on this site in the 13th century, but Brasenose College dates from 1509 when it was founded by Sir Richard Sutton and William Smith, Bishop of Lincoln. Tradition has it that the college takes its unusual name from its original 13th century door knocker (now in the college dining room), shaped like a snout, or nose.
Odyssey to Oxford is a two-week lifelong education abroad program that takes you on a rare adventure to Oxford—“City of Dreaming Spires”— and to the University of Oxford, famous as a great center of learning since the 12th century. This is truly a unique educational opportunity. Participants enroll in one noncredit course of study taught by an Oxford tutor and enjoy the relaxed but intellectually stimulating atmosphere of small courses and course-related excursions. A typical day’s schedule includes classes in the morning with free time or excursions in the afternoon. The course-related excursions are planned by the program tutors to enhance the curriculum and are available only to those enrolled in the course—participants cannot attend another course of study’s course excursion. Additionally, there are several group excursions planned for all participants. During our first week in Oxford, the group will take a day trip to Wiltshire for a visit to Salisbury and Stonehenge.
Salisbury Cathedral has been an iconic figure in the landscape of southwest England for centuries. Discover a medieval masterpiece—the U.K.’s tallest spire, largest cloisters and biggest cathedral close, as well as the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of 1215 Magna Carta. Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous landmarks. During our visit, you’ll experience the unforgettable atmosphere of the stone circle and have time to learn more in the world-class exhibition and explore the monuments and mysteries of the wider Stonehenge landscape. Later that week, we’ll visit the Oxford Artisan Distillery, which is the first certified organic “grain-to-glass” distillery in the U.K. Hear how a chance encounter with an Oxford-based archaeobotanist led to this distillery being the only one in the world to use sustainably-farmed populations of ancient heritage grains to produce their full range of spirts. During a behind-the- scenes tour, you’ll learn how their award-winning vodka, gin and rye whisky is made and have the opportunity to
taste some spirits. Even if you’re a teetotaler, you’ll likely appreciate the story of this local Oxford business. An optional excursion to Bletchley Park is scheduled for your weekend enjoyment. Bletchley Park was the principal center of Allied code-breaking during World War II. During this period, the estate housed the Government Code and Cypher School, which regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers—most importantly the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers. The intelligence produced at Bletchley Park shortened the war by two to four years and without it, the outcome of the war would have been uncertain. The team devised automatic machinery to help with decryption, culminating in the development of Colossus, the world’s first programmable digital electronic computer. Codebreaking operations at Bletchley Park came to an end in 1946, but until wartime information was declassified in the mid-1970s, no one who
More than 400 MSU alumni and friends have journeyed to Oxford to study at the oldest university in the English-speaking world and arguably the most prestigious worldwide. Today, Odyssey to Oxford is one of MSU’s most noteworthy lifelong education programs and we invite you to join us for a memorable experience in 2023 and take your place in history.
The city of Oxford is rich with cultural and leisure
activities, offering a variety of museums, bookstores, theaters, restaurants, pubs, shops and natural settings to visit. Free time during the two-week program offers participants many opportunities to explore Oxford and the university’s 38 colleges, home to gifted men and women such as Walter Raleigh, Christopher Wren, William Penn, Edmund Halley, Cecil Rhodes, T.E. Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Sayers, Charles Dodgson, Jonathan Swift, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, John Ruskin, William Fulbright, Richard Burton, Dudley Moore, Hugh Grant, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Odyssey to Oxford was the first noncredit, alumni residential program at Oxford and a
“The world surely has not another place like Oxford; it is a despair to see such a place and ever to leave it, for it would take a lifetime and more than one to comprehend and enjoy it satisfactorily.”
worked there was allowed to talk about it. Discover
— NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
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