University of Oxford, St. Peter’s College Summer

Program Overview
Academics
Excursions
Housing and Meals
Dates and Fees
Program Counselors
IFSA Student Stories

Program Overview

Whether it’s J.R.R. Tolkien, climate change, or England’s medieval conquests that grabs your attention, there may be no better summer destination. While based at magnificent Magdalen College, founded in 1458, you’ll experience Oxford’s legendary tutorials with no more than five students and the expert guidance of St. Peter’s faculty.

Details in a Glance

Application deadline

March 1

Minimum GPA

3.00

Credit load

Housing

Residence Hall/Dormitory

Instruction language

English

Prerequisites

None

Academics

Looking for specific classes? Explore CHART, our exclusive class database—if the St. Peter’s College Summer Program is preapproved at your institution, you’ll find classes recently taken by other IFSA students.

To view available courses, visit the St. Peter’s College summer catalog. Choose one of three academic options: English Literature, Medieval Studies, or Environmental Studies. Previously offered summer classes have included:

English Literature:

Rediscovering Shakespeare
Jane Austen in Text and Context
The Inklings In Oxford (J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis et al.)
English Language, Culture, Clues & Identity
Introduction to Topics in the English Language

Environmental Studies:

Climate Change: Global Risk & Management
Environmental Change & British Landscape Development 11,500 BP -1700 AD
Residential Field Excursions (required)

Medieval Studies:

Conquest & Colonisation: England and Her Neighbours 1000-1300
Death, Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Literature

IFSA requires students to enroll in a full course load abroad. A full course load at St. Peter's is one course for 6 U.S. semester credit hours. Environmental Studies students will receive 8 U.S. semester credit hours for an intensive Residential Field Excursion required for their course.

Students studying within English Literature or Medieval Studies have the option of earning an additional 2 U.S. semester credits if they would like to participate in the Residential Field Excursion and write an additional 2,000-word paper on a subject of their choice relating to the excursion and approved by St. Peter’s College. Those students who participate in the Residential Field Excursion but choose not the complete the written assignment will be awarded a mark of NC (non-credit) on their final transcript.

Lab & Field Trip Fees
Please review syllabi and course materials when registering for direct-enroll classes. Certain classes may have a one-off lab or field trip fee disclosed in the syllabus or during the first meeting of the class. These fees are not included in your IFSA program fee. You will be responsible for these fees, whether they are billed and paid by IFSA or billed to you.

As an IFSA student, you are entitled to enroll in undergraduate courses for which you are qualified and in which space is available. Course descriptions in the online course catalog include prerequisites you must fulfill in order to enroll in each course when applicable. You can only under one program and will take only one course within that program.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university.
Admission to Oxford colleges is highly competitive. Students typically study abroad at Oxford their junior year, having completed two (2) years of study at their home institution before the start of the Oxford term. Oxford colleges may consider an applicant with just one (1) year of completed study, but those students will be competing with students who have completed greater study in their specific subject area. A student with less than two years of completed study may be limited to first- and second-year classes.

Recommendation Letters

Your application to this program will require one (1) academic letter of recommendation on home institution letterhead.

Visa Requirement

Not required for U.S. or Canadian citizens. A visa may be required if you are a citizen of another country.

Start your application now by clicking the Apply Now button.

TRANSCRIPT

Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.

Excursions

Program Activities:

Activities and excursions are an important piece of your IFSA experience, designed to pull you into the fabric of the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. That said, at times, circumstances beyond our control — including local government regulations and health protocols — could impact our ability to hold these events as planned.

Know that we’ll make every effort to run the activities, trips, and excursions slated for your program. You’ll see detailed examples of previous outings offered during this program below. Keep in mind that the options could look different for your program, and that we cannot guarantee these activities, trips, and excursions.

Activities are optional, but they are included in your total program fee. They vary each term based on availability, but activities may include:

London Pandemics–Past and Present: This event will engage you with both an historic overview and a contemporary look at concepts of community health and global health, with a particular focus on London and the pandemic. You will attend a guest lecture at the IFSA London Flagship, followed by the John Snow Cholera Tour. This tour will take you to the nearby streets of Soho to visit important sites in the story of Dr. Snow and the cholera outbreak in 1854.
London Statue Walk: This walking tour includes stops at some of London’s most iconic statues as well as some of its most obscure, weaving in historical, cultural, literary, and political threads as it seeks to put the past into dialogue with the present.
Community Environment Initiatives & Urban Farming in London: This guest lecture explores London’s creative solutions to sustainability, food security, and community building with visit opportunities to three distinct case studies:
- Up Above: Visit to Sky Garden
- On the Ground: Visit to Calthorpe Community Garden
- Down Below: Visit to Growing Underground
Homelessness in London–A Dialogue: This event will explore the realities of homelessness in London from three perspectives. First, you will participate in a dialogue with guest speakers Tamsen Courtenay, author of Four Feet Under: Untold Stories of Homelessness in London, and a case worker from the Centrepoint charity for youth homelessness. The discussion will be followed by a tour of Central London developed, curated, and delivered by vulnerably housed individuals through Unseen Tours.

Program Excursions:

IFSA excursions are included in your total program fee and though these are optional, most students choose to participate. They vary each term based on availability, but excursions may include:

Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral Visits: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Stonehenge is a celebrated and iconic prehistoric monument of standing stones and burial mounds in Wiltshire. Afterward, travel along to Salisbury Cathedral to view one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta.
Seaside Brighton Trip: A site of significance to the 1960s rivalries between the mods and rockers, and widely recognized as the “gay capital” of the UK, Brighton features the Palace Pier, Brighton Royal Pavilion, historic streets, and bohemian shops. End the day with fish and chips by the seaside.
Harry Potter Studio Tour: Explore The Making of Harry Potter permanent exhibit which offers an authentic behind-the-scenes look into the making of the films along with an enchanting guest lecture.

Housing and Meals

Housing

Residence Hall/Dormitory

Meals

Most Included

Details

Students live on the grounds of nearby Magdalen College, in single bedrooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. Three meals are included Monday through Friday and brunch on the weekends. Once a week, the college holds a reception with a lecture from a distinguished guest speaker, followed by a formal dinner in the dining hall for which appropriate professional attire is required.