Author Archives: Diamond Bennah

The End of First Session

 This was the last week of classes. With the expectation of a new baby from Prince Williams and Princess Kate, the class took another field trip on Tuesday to Buckingham Palace to see the baby. Unfortunately when the class reached the palace, the gates were surrounded by people; it was difficult for anyone to get a shot of the gate even. Therefore, it was even more difficult to get a glimpse of the queen or the princess and her new baby. Nevertheless, I managed to take pictures of the gate and the surrounding beauty of the area. The class also walked to St. James’ Park which was nearby and I snapped some photos. I especially enjoyed the birdlife at St. James’ Park. The park was filled with types of birds most prevalent throughout Britain, and for the first time, I saw a swan! Other than the amazing birdlife, I saw the London’s Eye at a distance from the park.

Buckingham Palace!

   

 

 

 

 

  

A Gift Shop/Gallery  

Gate London EyeThe  main reason for the field trip was to go to the National Art Gallery at Trafalgar Square which is what the class later attended to. The gallery was very educational with paintings of  fashion/style from 1500’s to recent times! The paintings mostly brought the clothes we studied to life, showing more context along with hairstyles and societal statuses of the wearers. The class explored the royal way of dress, the scholar,  and middle/working class ways of dress of London. It was very educational seeing how outfits can be elaborated and decorated to express high status, but torn-down and humbled to express poverty or lack of money. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the National Art Gallery.

  National Art Gallery

  At the end of the class (Thursday), the class had to turn in final essays on whatever essay topic chosen. The essay was a lot of work, but I realized I learned a whole lot in the class. I had so much fun learning about fashion in these four weeks(to my surprise)! Too bad the fun is over for now until I begin my next class. Also, the class was not as rigorous as the Americans stereotype the British classes; it was surprisingly relaxing and fun!


Location: Buckingham Palace, London; Trafalgar Square, London

The Fun is Coming to an End

 It has been three weeks since my fashion class began. After this week, I have only one more week left in the class before beginning my second class. I am extremely fond of everything I’ve learned about fashion in the class. I still am surprised at how similar (if not more lenient) the British way of learning and teaching is compared to the American way. This week, Tuesday, we went on another class field trip to the Museum of London. There, we received more detailed teachings of the historic fashions in London. The museum was better than the previous museums and textbooks because it showed the dresses we looked at in motion. There were videos by the dresses we studied that had animated women in them showing the movements the women made while wearing the dresses. Dresses from the 1800’s especially, had restrictions on movement and the class could see and feel what putting on 19th century dress was like. The museum included context very unique to all other museums the class has been to. It included an indoors park that the elite British could stroll in with beautiful, fancy gowns. This way, we were able to easily picture what wearing the gowns we saw would feel like if we had to stroll in the park with them ( we had a chance to stroll in this museum-made “park” also!). The museum was an interesting and extremely unique experience. And the features mentioned were only a few of the entire experience!
  

After the museum, the class took pictures together as usual and we rode on the train from London back to campus in Falmer (two hours away).


Location: London, England

Teaching Outside of the Classroom

  Last week I mentioned about my goal to convey the differences between the American and British way of learning (if there are any). I am beginning to believe that these so-called differences are merely stereotypes. I’ve heard the British learning system is harsh, rigorous with high education quality that would leave you extremely intelligent. However, I haven’t encountered this yet. If anything, the British learning system is similar to my studying in America. Of course, I’m only speaking from only two weeks of experience in one class (The London Look) that is a fashion course. Perhaps when starting my second class, I would see more rigor or “British” learning, being it’s a Psychology class.

  Not only am I finding British learning similar to American learning, I’m seeing that it also is more relaxed! This week, Tuesday, the tutors and the class embarked on another field trip; this is the second in two weeks! We visited both the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum in order to analyze deeper into the architecture, politics, and art that influenced dress. I found it brilliant to study fashion outside the classroom and the textbook. It was a very great experience in the end because I had an opportunity to view fashion “alive” and “in person”, as if I was there. I had a deeper knowledge of not just dress, but also setting and context of dress.

 First, we went to the Royal Pavilion. There, we looked at the architecture of the building. We couldn’t quite enter it, but the outside was enough for one to become excited about.  It resembles the Taj-Mahal with an Indian look and is cream-colored. According to one of the tutors, it was being built in late eighteenth century and early nineteenth, but the design was actually out-of-style during that time period. Therefore, these architects were attempting to revive an old style–very similar to what fashion does. The Pavilion was a building in which the wealthy class could attend its events, mingle,  enjoy balls and dance parties. The outside of the building was absolutely my favorite part of it. From the look of it, it seemed to captivate the attention of  people. This is perhaps why the wealthy took to liking it; it had a “wealthy” look to it. What a beautiful sight!

 roypav

   Next, we went to the Brighton Museum. We looked at furniture/art that influenced dresses as far as pattern and design. Then, we saw portraits of women from different time periods in dresses. The Art Deco was my favorite. It was a  period that influenced fashion greatly with its geometric shapes of triangles, rectangles and circles and bold colors such as orange, black, red and brown. This inspired dress patterns and earring designs with shapes on them. These designs are still seen today. We then looked at portraits of dresses, seeing dress in a different light. Art was hugely important throughout history, and it showed in the paintings. I saw dresses from the 1600’s, 1700’s 1930’s and ’40’s. But aside from that, I saw the settings in which these women would wear the dresses, the hairstyles they would fix to go with the dresses, and also different types of shoes. The amazing difference between viewing a bunch of dresses in a book and the museum is that I can see the full context of a dress and gather all of that information together. It was the best way of learning.

   So far, the British learning is more relaxed than the American. I feel that if I were in an American classroom learning about historical fashions, I would be staring in a book for the most time. And they call the British harsh!


Location: Brighton, England

Hello England, What A Surprise!

Arriving to Brighton

  Before arriving to Brighton from the London (Heathrow) airport, I was under the impression (from online weather reports) that the weather in Brighton was roughly warm to almost hot. But I was sure in for a surprise! Not only was it cold, but windy and rainy! My summer dress and carefully done hairdo were blowing wildly in the wind. I was grateful the bus system was easy to travel with in all that chaos. After getting out of the Heathrow airport, I was able to find a bus within a five-minute time period (apparently the buses ran every minute). I rode the bus from London to Brighton about an hour. After arriving at Brighton, I met some other students from the United States that were heading to the university. To my satisfaction, a college crew was there waiting at the bus stop to take us from Brighton to Falmer, where the university is specifically located. 
  I was very excited to see them because the rain, wind and cold had me very tired of trying to figure out how to get to my destination, I was overwhelmed after the bus ride. After thirty minutes on the bus from Brighton to Falmer, we finally reached the University of Sussex where we finished registration and were assigned our dorm rooms. Other than the weather, the other surprise in England was the architecture/design of the dorms that were very different than American designs. For example, the bathroom was not in the hallway (like in America), but rather in the room, next to the dorm room door. I loved this because I am fond of privacy and my own personal space. Other features of the bathroom (toilet, shower, sink) were also very different, but elegant in a way.

   Outside, the buildings were also unique, with huge emphasis on brick buildings and glass walls. Other than the architecture, when I went walking around the campus, I found that there was a mass use of buses. Students and professors alike rode on buses rather than cars. The few cars I did see had a unique feature; the driver’s wheel was on the right-hand, rather than the left-hand side. Last but not least, the British accents were amazing! It’s interesting how although all of Britain speaks British English, one can still hear the distinct differences in the accents. A White British man has a different British accent from a Black or Indian/Asian British accent. Not voice, or tone, but the accent itself sounded unique with each person. All different, unique, surprising, but amazing experiences.

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First Week of Classes

  My main objective for these blogs is to convey the English learning/teaching styles as they are, without relying much on stereotype. However, there has been more similarities to the American learning/teaching styles than differences. The class I currently take from June to July 18th is called “The London Look”, that I took as an art requirement and also because it seemed interesting. It is art in manner, it’s fashion, but it is also fashion history. How interesting is that! The class, in summary, teaches that every belt, purse, hairdo, shoe, dress, coat, shirt, hat, glove, has a history. The two teachers that teach the class discuss the history of fashion particularly in London and how these past fashions changed with time and influenced present-day fashions. The teachers are also historians themselves which makes the lessons more engaging.

   Unlike the stereotype of the British learning/teaching styles to be rigorous, uncomfortable and with high expectations from students, this class was surprisingly relaxed. My classes this week in this course were from Monday to Thursday (Thursday being the last day during the week for class) and I arrived Monday very panicked that I did not know enough of the material to endure even the first day of class! However, the teachers treated the students like they were new to the material (which we were) and very carefully explained all the information we needed to know. I thought this was very similar to American learning/teaching; very relaxed and with less rigor, unlike the stereotypes of the British way. Another similarity was the use of Powerpoints to present the lessons to the class. Because of the stereotype, I expected to go to class Monday and see nothing but books all over the tables and students would read the books from beginning to the end of class. I expected very little contact between teacher and students. But was I wrong again! Both teachers had Powerpoints with pictures, along with lots of discussions and questions. I enjoyed all the class sessions for this week!

  There were differences in the British and American learning system, but they still strayed far from the stereotypes. Unlike American college class periods, my class took Tuesday off to have a tour of London! My teachers thought it was good to visit the fashion capital of England to learn more about London Fashion. The class went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw fashions from 1700-1980’s. Both teachers would point at the displays and explain the clothes and the history/story behind them particularly as it was in London. It was a very interesting lesson. I had no idea so much history was behind a simple dress you buy from the store. Also, I did not know that what people wore “said” plenty about their prestige and class, but also about whether they were scholars, soldiers, or royalty. After the museum, one of my teachers, Alexandria, wanted to show us other famous sites of London. I finally saw the famous Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Royal Albert Hall and so much more.

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  GEDC0168.JPGGEDC0211.JPGGEDC0207.JPG   Some college students in America do not find traveling to London for a class lesson to be unique from American college class field trips, but this is different in that throughout the course, the class will travel to cities with famous fashion histories instead of being in a classroom to view them in pictures. According to the teachers, this is done even throughout the year for students in England. I love this type of learning, I never forgot a single information taught when I was in London. Another difference in the British learning system is that the class now is being taught by tutors! Yes, both of my teachers, Alexandria and Sarah, were not professors, but tutors! They were very knowledgeable about their fields that they were offered teaching jobs, which is very common in British colleges (according to our tutors). 
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     I am very sure England has more surprises in store for me!


Location: London, England; Falmer, England

The Day Before my Trip

I leave for my flight to England tomorrow and with plenty of excitement! This entry is to explain my purpose for this journey/ trip studying abroad in England at the University of Sussex. After hearing many stereotypes about the British and their ways of learning and teaching, I hope to convey the true ways of a British learning system while at my school abroad. Stereotypes about the British learning include rigorous workload and higher knowledge requirements. I want to challenge these stereotypes and publish as many blogs as possible  describing campus life; the professors, the workload/homework, classrooms, and fellow students. Some of my blogs may include my traveling experiences on certain days I’ve traveled.


Location: Augusta, GA