Literature of the English Country House - online course starts June 27th (Join us beginning July 17

This summer, the University of Sheffield invites us on a journey through the literature of English country houses from the time of Thomas More to Oscar Wilde. Participants will explore a literary period spanning 450 years featuring the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Ann Radcliffe and Ben Johnson and genres ranging from drawing room comedy and polite satire to Shakespearean tragedy and Gothic intrigue.

Rounding out the course will be a study of lesser known writers and literature as found in manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, magazines, private poetry and published letters.

The University of Sheffield will also open the doors to its Special Collections archive to reveal country house literature as it originally appeared.

Educators, Susan Fitzmaurice, Amber Regis and Adam J. Smith invite us to spend six glorious weeks on an unforgettable journey. A quick glance at the reading list makes this course offering impossible to resist. Literary classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Hamlet, The Sylph, by Georgiana Cavendish, Ann Radcliffe's, Mysteries of Udolpho, and The Canterville Ghost and The Importance of Being Earnest, both by Oscar Wilde, comprise just a part of the selection.

Participants who register now may join the ongoing conversation on the course social media page. The first question posed by the presenters for discussion - "Who is your favorite English country house author?" Judging from the answers I viewed very quickly, Austen fans seem to be in the majority, followed by admirers of the Brontes. Visit: www.futurelearn.com.

Photo: Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, England

And there's more: For the culinary enthusiasts among us, on June 20th, the University of Reading invites us to begin a five-week course entitled, "A History of Royal Food & Feasting." Taught by historians, food scientists, and curators from historic world palaces, this course explores the history of royal food through the tastes Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, George I, George III and Victoria. Along the way we'll learn to prepare dishes from royal recipes - from Tudor pies and Georgian chocolate to an authentic afternoon tea.