You don’t need a portkey to get to Hogwarts anymore. All the charm of the Wizarding World is waiting for you at Aberystwyth University in Wales. Setting out from its beautiful campus, which includes the "Hogwarts-esque" Old College, Queens’ students will explore local history and culture alongside their Welsh counterparts through a collaborative local history project about WWI soldiers from Aberystwyth and the surrounding area. In the Spring prep course, students will explore how Wales and Britain fit into global history through readings and maps. Participants will learn basic GIS mapping technology and historical research techniques that will be used on the ground in Wales.

Upon arrival, students will have the opportunity to visit numerous related sites within the town of Aberystwyth and in the surrounding local villages. They will see how many different layers of history have affected the places we visit, from medieval castles to small country villages and larger, modern towns. Guest lectures at “Aber,” tours of local WWI memorial sites and the National Library of Wales, and mapping workshops with local students are planned. . The itinerary includes a three-day conference retreat at Gregynog, a historic manor house in the Welsh countryside, with full room and board.

This course is most appropriate for students interested in history, WWI, mapping, Welsh and British culture, geography or environmental science.

The academic course associated with this program is ENV/HST 398 and 399: Queens in Wales: Mapping History at Hogwarts for 4 total credits. It will be taught by Dr. Barry Robinson.

This is an OPEN program.

*Itinerary and planned activities subject to change.*