MSU’s Shackouls Honors College offers summertime C.S. Lewis course abroad to high school teachers, counselors

This June, Mississippi State’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College is offering a non-credit “C.S. Lewis and The Inklings of Oxford” course for interested high school teachers and counselors from across the Magnolia State. (Photo by Megan Bean)

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Expanding on the success of its University of Oxford study abroad program for undergraduate students, Mississippi State University’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College is offering a non-credit “C.S. Lewis and The Inklings of Oxford” course for professionals in secondary education.

Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis was a don, is among historic sites that high school teachers and counselors can tour as part of the Mississippi State Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College’s non-credit “C.S. Lewis and The Inklings of Oxford” summer course. (Photo by Megan Bean)

Up to 12 interested high school teachers and counselors from across the Magnolia State can participate this June in a five-day educational experience at one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

In addition to hotel accommodations, the trip includes tours of the Kilns, C.S. Lewis’s home in Headington; Magdalen College, where Lewis was a don; and Blenheim Palace, along with walking tours of Oxford and the Trout, Lewis’s favorite country inn.

Guest lectures by Oxford academics and a group meal in an Oxford college dining hall are included, and transportation from London-Heathrow airport to Oxford City Center also will be provided. For additional details, contact Chris Snyder, honors college dean and professor of history, at 662-325-2522 or csnyder@msstate.edu.

“C.S. Lewis and The Inklings of Oxford,” a non-credit summer course offered through Mississippi State’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, is designed to provide professionals in secondary education with a glimpse into the college’s popular University of Oxford study abroad program for undergraduate students. (Photo by Megan Bean)

Serving as lead instructor and tour guide, Snyder currently is affiliated with the history faculty at the University of Oxford and is participating in an Oxford research fellowship. He has published nine books—including two in which Lewis plays a major role—and currently is working on Lewis’s papers in the Bodleian Library.

Snyder said students who participate in the honors college’s six-week Oxford study abroad program enjoy visits to homes and other sites associated with Lewis and fellow author J.R.R. Tolkien, and they also read Lewis’s early poetry and discuss his scholarship. Snyder has designed a separate summer C.S. Lewis course to give high school teachers and counselors a glimpse into this MSU student experience.

“We hope that the teachers who participate not only will incorporate some of the C.S. Lewis material in their courses, but also help recruit students to come to MSU and enroll in our honors program,” Snyder said.

Learn more about MSU’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College at www.honors.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.