Week One Done

Today was all about getting hands-on with some of the great cultural history the University of Birmingham has to offer...technology, geology, art & architecture.

We had the chance to play with multi-touch tables (think gigantic iPad like screens) in the Cultural Heritage and Learning Hub. Dr. Richard Clay described how these fun technologies will transform the way museum visitors interact with exhibits. We saw how a sort of chronological lens can be placed over a map to sift through archives to pull up and geo-locate artifacts in that time period. The former urban planning student in me got excited about how this could transform the field. They are even using Xbox-like cameras to scan people and have exhibits predict what the user might like by guessing their age. Dr. Clay described what it might be like for students of the future, as the use their mobile devices to interface with real-world materials, the classroom technologies, and even their counterparts abroad. We left imagining what it might be like if our own universities could virtually borrow a museum collection from the University of Birmingham to use on our own smart tables. 

In our small group discussions afterward we realized that the UK and the US define cultural engagement in completely different ways. Whereas the US is focused almost entirely on people, the UK is much more concerned with places and things. They are keen to preserve their art, architecture, literature and other types of museum-worthy artifacts for the benefit of future generations. They are also determined to engage the general community.This is inclusive of age (even small children) and socioeconomic background. 

After lunch we had the chance to tour Winterbourne House and Botanic Garden. I've never toured a historic home I didn't like so I was really excited about this. My interest peaked when I saw that the home was built by the "pioneer of town planning". Inside the floorplan was so unlike any other home I have visited. Each room was carefully designed to have a garden view and was positioned in the back. Running across the entire front of the home was a large wide hallway. The natural light was incredible. I can't help but think he designed it "like a planner", carefully considering the vistas :-)

In the afternoon we made two more museum visits. The first was to the Lapworth Museum of Geology.  I never knew fossils were so much fun. Honestly! They have so many specimens they are bursting at the seams. Lapworth was most certainly a hoarder. We saw everything from a T-Rex head to a fossilized bug worth nearly $38,000. They even had fossils that had been dug up in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Upstairs were old geological maps of all sorts. The most interesting was a top secret wartime map of the beaches of Normandy and a letter detailing what type of soil conditions they might find. I could have spent hours there. 

The final museum visit was the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. It is not a huge collection but it is packed full of all the big names...Degas, Rubens, Rodin, Van Dyck, Turner, Rembrandt (on loan)...It was the perfect pre-cursor to our afternoon tea and scones. I also really loved meeting the new Director, Nicola Kalinsky, and hearing her talk a bit informally about how they decide on new acquisitions.

Although I am really exhausted, I decided I had to take advantage of our free evening. We all took taxis downtown and split off in our separate ways. I bought Helen 2 adorable outfits for fall and stopped off at Wagamama's for yaki soba & gyoza take-a-way. Mission accomplished.

University of Birmingham

We had a quick session to wrap up at Royal Holloway and learned that student services are drifting ever close to the American model. We met for roundtable discussions with their Director of Student Experience, Community Action Volunteer Manager, Representation and Engagement Coordinator, and Societies Officer for the Student Union. All of these sound very much like what you might find in a division of Student Affairs. They are quite different really. 

The academic experience is entirely separate from the co-curricular experience, which prevents credit from being awarded for things like service learning or internships. That is evolving as emphasis is placed on skills development. Faculty are feeling the government pressure to innovate a bit more and go more in depth with students to help them articulate learning and become more reflective. I do sense they will drift closer to our model and are not going to be able to rely as heavily on the model where they assign a list of books and give a written or oral exam at the end. The student residences are the most similar in that they have similar programming and do intervene in terms of discipline or student welfare. But I would hesitate to call them the same. 

Our coach ride up to the University of Birmingham took longer than expected and we arrived just in time for a luncheon. (Still no bad meals here) They gave us a campus tour, showed us 2 very special archive collections--including ancient papyrus and illuminated manuscripts, and gave a great overview of some of the career services activities taking place. The staff here are very welcoming and it has a nice relaxing feel. With all of the red brick architecture, comprehensive academics, and the close ties to industry, it reminds me a bit of North Carolina State University. The campus has some impressive buildings such as the Great Hall and this enormous clock tower. We timed it right to hear it ring just before our tour. 

After checking into our accommodation, we were invited to a garden barbecue. Although the weather was a bit chilly we chose to sit outside rather than inside so we could enjoy the garden. I had another chance to try Eaton Mess and it was just as delicious.

I will admit we are all starting to slow down a bit. It is hard to keep up this pace. Tonight was great because we wrapped up at 9 pm and our rooms are next to the garden. It was quick to head home and wind down. We are enjoying every minute and so happy to be here, but tomorrow afternoon's free time is much awaited. I have hopes to head into the Bull Ring area and do some shopping or grab dinner at Wagamama's if I can. 

Royal Holloway University of London

We started out the day wrapping up with Sussex back in Brighton. A few interesting things I learned during our seminars...

~Approximately 33k students study in the UK from the US but just under 9k students from the UK do the reverse

~72% of US students cite finances as a barrier to study abroad vs. 53% of UK students

~ The UK recently implemented a new tuition scheme that tripled the cost of university (from about 3k GBP to 9k GBP per year)

~Starting in 2014 Erasmus students will be able to study in the US on exchange. However, no one actually knows how this is going to work.

~Language study is being de-emphasized in the UK, while transferrable job skills are the focus.

~The UK has been experimenting with virtual mobility schemes as a pre-cursor to physical exchange

Around 10 am we said our goodbyes an boarded our trusty blue coach to head back into London. Well, it was Surrey actually. 

The collective gasp at the beauty of Royal Holloway can't really be forgotten. We spent our first half hour taking photos when they really wanted us to enjoy the gourmet picnic on the Founders' North Quad. It was really difficult to focus on anything, given the magnificent architecture. We felt sort of out of place. Royal Holloway was established in 1886 as a university for women (and their accompanying maids). Thomas Holloway and his wife Jane were trying to emulate the Vassar model.

But after a series of helpful lectures and warm welcomes (including a reception in the portrait gallery--above) we all opened up and felt at ease. We quickly checked into our accommodation--halls gifted by Korea  University-- and changed for our dinner. We only had about 10 minutes to freshen up before our taxis arrived to take us to Windsor. We had another great dinner at Sir Christopher Wren's Hotel & Spa. And yes, it really was his place. Across the river is Eton.

Two streets over was Windsor Castle. Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to meet the Queen or Baby George :-)