Clements Center Concludes London Maymester: The U.S., U.K., and Global Order

For our annual London Maymester “The U.S., U.K., and World Order” program, twenty undergraduate students from UT-Austin traveled to the United Kingdom, France and Belgium to study the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom with the world-renowned War Studies Department at King’s College London.

Throughout the month, students attended lectures including “The Foundations of British Foreign Policy: The Emergence and Dilemmas of a Superpower” and “Non-Western Perspectives on Global Order” with Dr. Maeve Ryan, “The Impact of the Cold War on World Order” with Dr. Barbara Zanchetta and “Small States navigating the Challenges of the International Order” with Dr. Hillary Briffa.

The cohort took several day trips throughout the program. In Oxford, the students attended lecture on “Colonialism and Decolonization” with Professor Nigel Biggar at Balliol College and toured Blenheim Palace. In Dover, the group toured the castle and tunnels and learned about Operation Dynamo, the rescue of allied troops out of Dunkirk implemented by the Royal Navy, and visited the Battle of Britain Memorial and Museum. The group also spent one afternoon at Bletchley Park, the home of Britain’s World War II codebreakers, where they learned about intelligence gathering, decoding and translating.

The Maymester also included several overnight trips, including a long weekend in Normandy and Brussels, and an overnight trip in Cambrige. In Normandy, the students visited Omaha Beach to commemorate the 79th anniversary of D-Day and learn about this pivotal moment in history firsthand, with our Distinguished National Security Fellow General Robert Neller. They visited the drop zones of the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions near Sainte Mère-Église, Pointe Du Hoc, Arromanches and the Pegasus Bridge. In Brussels, the students toured NATO Headquarters and visited with US Deputy Chief of Mission to NATO, Rick Holtzapple, among other notable US officials. Students toured King’s College at the University of Cambridge and enjoyed punting on the River Cam; students also had a dinner with Professor Andrew Preston at Christ’s College.

Our students also made the most of their time in London. They toured St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and visited the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Churchill War Rooms.