After last year’s Shakespearean excursion to London, this summer semester provided the opportunity for 12 students to join a maritime-themed trip to London, Greenwich and Portsmouth, UK. In the context of one of Sylvia Mieszkowski’s seminars, a 4-day programme took participants to some of the most famous museums and ships related to Britain’s maritime history. The whole matter was financed largely by money granted by the University of Vienna when Prof. Mieszkowski was appointed Professor for British Literature at the Department of English in 2017.
To quote one of the students, Esther Zitterl, “together, we travelled back in time to board the Mary Rose, we followed Nelson’s steps on the HMS Victory, we crossed the prime meridian and we dived into British culture, literature and history”. From theatre to museum ships, from hull to deck, the trip included a broad range of activities in various locations, spanning centuries in the hopes to get a glimpse at Britain’s maritime history.
