(Oxford, England, November 8, 2011)"”Anglophiles, take note: Your college grades don't matter to The Oxford Experience and you don't have to be recommended by the Queen. This popular  summer program in "the city of dreaming spires" has no requirements, no tests and no papers. It provides an enjoyable  week-long learning vacation at Christ Church, one of the most beautiful and prestigious of Oxford colleges, which was founded by Cardinal Wolsey almost five centuries ago.
The residential program runs from July 1 to August 11, with each week starting on a Sunday and finishing the following Saturday. The choice of some 60 courses is varied: Castles in Britain;  Anglo-American Relations and the Making of Modern Britain;  From Rasputin to Putin;  Tudor London; History of the English Language;  The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain; The Georgian Home; The Brontës; Oxfordshire Towns; King Arthur and the Dark Ages; Virginia Woolf and her Circle; Wagner's Ring; The Life and Works of Lewis Carroll; A History of the BBC; and English Country Houses.
Participants stay in student accommodations"”though rooms with private bath are available"”and dine in the magnificent Hall, which gained fame in the Harry Potter films. Three daily meals are included in the price: a full English breakfast, a buffet lunch and a served three-course dinner. Once a week each student is invited to dine on High Table and, on the final night, everyone gathers for champagne in the flowering Cathedral Garden followed by a gala farewell dinner in the Hall.
Throughout the week there are excursions to stately homes and such, tours of Oxford, pub walks, lectures, croquet and wine in the Masters' Garden, performances by traditional Morris Dancers and Evensong in the college chapel, which is also the Oxford Cathedral. At other times participants can enjoy Oxford's concerts and theater, the college picture gallery, riverside walks in Christ Church Meadow and boating on the Isis (as the Thames is called in Oxford).
The price of a one-week course"”including tuition, accommodations, all meals (except those on excursions) and evening activities"”is £1,135, or approximately  $1,819. Excursions and private bathrooms are extra. The deadline for  summer 2012 registration is May 1, 2012. For more information go to www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience or write to The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA, U.K.
