Ruskin and the Cultural Tour

John Ruskin was one of our most influential tourists, visiting places such as northern France, Venice, Switzerland, Scotland and the Lake District to soak up the atmosphere and explore the local scenery, arts and architecture. Many of his writings are guide-books which led generations of British travellers to see and understand their national culture and that of Europe as a whole.

Now, in a new MA and diploma starting in October, Lancaster University is offering students the chance to follow his journeys, both the ones he made himself and those he recommended to his readers. The MA in Ruskin and the Cultural Tour will feature a free week?s coach excursion to learn about Gothic architecture in northern France, visiting sites such as the Cathedrals at Amiens and Rouen, and the medieval buildings of Abbeville. In addition, all new students will be presented with a CD-ROM of the Library Edition of the Works of Ruskin.

A limited number of places are also offered to people who are not taking the MA at a price of £375.

Professor Keith Hanley, Director of the Ruskin Programme, said: ?This new MA is a great opportunity to learn about and through historical travelling. Ruskin enthusiasts will be able to relive some of his founding aesthetic experiences, in Normandy, Picardy and the Lakes, and to map both his and our own contemporary paths to our past and present. Students will also come away with transferable skills relevant to the travel industry and arts management.?

This is the second MA to be launched on Ruskin, and study is either full or part-time. It draws upon the resources of the Ruskin Library on campus which was opened in 1998 by Princess Alexandra.

The Library, designed by the internationally renowned architect Richard MacCormac, provides a home for the world?s greatest collection of the work of the nineteenth-century social reformer and critic, John Ruskin (1819-1900), making it accessible to the general public for the first time. The collection includes 1,700 works of art by Ruskin and his circle, Ruskin?s diaries, 8000 letters, 200 manuscripts, 3500 books and 1000 original photographs.

Described as one of the finest modern buildings in Britain, the Library won the university category of the Royal Fine Art Commission/British Sky Broadcasting Building of the Year Award and the Lancaster Design Awards competition sponsored by Lancaster City Council, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Lancaster Civic Society and the Lancaster Guardian newspaper.

Applicants to the MA should hold a good honours degree in a humanities or social science area. Bursaries are available.

Contact Jessica Abrahams (01524) 592450.

Email Ruskin@lancaster.ac.uk

http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/ruskin.ma.htm