This is the itinerary that ran in 2024. It is subject to change in 2026. 

Day 1: Travel to the UK. Get through passport control, go to hotel and start sightseeing.

Day 2: Visit the British Museum, exploring cultures, art, and history from all over the world. Visit the famous Tower of London, the historic castle of the Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, located on the beautiful River Thames.

Day 3: Students can explore a variety of different well known sites in the London area.

Day 4: Visit the Imperial War Museum, one of the world's most well known museum of war and conflict, including personal stories of how that shaped peoples lives since WW1. 

Day 5: Free Day to explore on your own. 

Day 6: Travel to Oxford. Visit the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Architecture, where we will have the opportunity to meet with leading art historian and teaching curator Jim Harris. Visit the Pitt Rivers, a delightful Natural History Museum. Dinner will be at The White Rabbit, a delicious pub in the center of Oxford. 

Day 7: Take the train to Liverpool. Have a tour of the International Slavery Museum with the museum director Paul Reid, who is leading the museum through a community-led regeneration.

Day 8: Tour the Museum of Liverpool, exploring the people and history of the area.

Day 9: Take the train to Glascow, Scotland. Visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Enjoy curator Nelson Cummins, speak of how history of slavery and British colonialism has affected and still affects the city and people of Glascow today, 

Day 10: Visit The Hunterian, a museum that displays thousands of anatomical specimens. Its located in the building of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 

Day 11: Fly to Belfast, Ireland. Visit the Ulster Museum and meet Dr. Karen Logan, curator of history, archaeology and world cultures. 

Day 12: Visit the Titanic Museum. Our final leg of this journey will be a walking tour,The Troubles, where you will hear about events that started during the late 1960's, that then turned into conflict and strife for many years after. 

Day 13: Say goodbye. Time to absorb all you heard and saw over the last 10 days. Fly back to the USA. 

The program will run during Summer A in May/June, 2026

PHIS 360 - 3 credit hybrid course

The 21st Century Museum: Diversity, Equity, and Community. This course provides students with an advanced experiential survey of contemporary issues in museology by studying museums in the United Kingdom, the site of some of the oldest and newest museums in the world. Students will travel to London and then to Oxford, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast, where they will conduct grounded research and reflect on the changing mission of museums. Early museums focused on collecting objects, but contemporary museums engage audiences through an emotional experience while serving as sites of community change.  The twenty-first-century museum has embraced diversity, begun decolonizing the collections and exhibits, and built more inclusive displays by working with local and marginalized communities to share authority to do the work of social justice.

May: Summer A course begins - access set of readings and videos via Moodle on the 21st Century Museum

June: Complete two formal papers

Course assignments: Student learning will be assessed by the following:

• Posts to a Moodle Forum during the trip;
• Blog posts about the trip on social media; and,
• Two formal written assignments
• Formal paper #1: Reflection/assessment of the trip and learning experiences. 
• Formal paper #2: Review of the mission, community outreach, diversity initiatives, and inclusiveness of exhibits in English museums (7-10 pages). 

Program Fees for 2026 are still to be determined.

Funding Sources: 

SPARK-eligible students will have tuition for 3 credits covered in addition to receiving $1,500 from The Center for Life's Work.

Non-SPARK eligible students will receive a 2 credit-offset scholarship and will be responsible for the remaining tuition for 1 credit (per Summer 2026 credit cost). Each student will be eligible to receive some funding from the Center for International Education.

This program will be worth three academic credits in PHIS and will show up on your Summer A 2026 transcript. 

Program Fee Includes:

• Round trip airfare
• All hotels and accommodation
• All meals part of the itinerary
• All in-country transportation, including ferries
• All projects, activities, workshops, museum entries, etc. part of the itinerary
• Ground transportation to and from airports (if necessary) 
• Travel Insurance

Not Included:

• Passport (must be valid at least 6 months past the return date of the program). Contact Josh Fess as soon as possible for assistance with applying for or renewing your passport. NOTE: Passports are taking up to 11 weeks to be processed. Please apply for a passport as soon as possible if you want to study abroad during the 2024-25 academic year.
• Additional meals (meals not in the itinerary)
• Miscellaneous expenses (such as souvenirs, personal care items, etc.)

November, 2025: Initial deposit due 

December, 2025: Second payment due (non refundable beyond this point)

January 2026: Payment #3

February 2026: Payment #4

March, 2026: Final Payment