Interested in spending the month of July 2025 in London and learning about British libraries, archives, and special collections? If so, you may be interested in the British Studies LIS class at Southern Miss!!! The British Studies Program at The University of Southern Mississippi is one of the oldest and largest study-abroad programs in the country as we approach our 50th year in 2025. The University is an accredited, Carnegie R1 (Research Universities/very high research activity) university and our program is accredited by the American Library Association. Please note that the application deadline for the Summer 2025 program is February 15, 2025.
The formal program dates are June 23-July 25, 2025 and the British Studies LIS class consists of 6 credit hours:
LIS 580. British Studies in Librarianship. 3 hrs. Comparative or historical studies of library and information institutions, collections, models of service, or professional practice in the United Kingdom. Assignments include two scholarly book reviews from a list of recommended books and a journal (blog) of students’ experiences related to class on-site lectures/guided tours and selected visits on their own to sites of interest or sites related to their research.
LIS 587. British Studies Research. 3 hrs. Provides the opportunity for an in-depth research paper using the resources of metropolitan London and/or the United Kingdom. Assignments consist of approved problem statement and research questions while in London to guide research and data collection, then submission of the completed research paper after returning to the States. You can read articles about British Studies as well as selected student research papers in a special issue of SLIS Connecting at https://aquila.usm.edu/slisconnecting/vol7/iss1/
You can apply through the British Studies Office here: https://studyabroad.usm.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=10350
Finally, please feel free to direct any additional questions to Dr. Brendan Fay, who will be serving as the program lead next summer. He can be reached at [email protected].
Brendan Fay, M.L.S./Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Associate Director
School of Library & Information Science
University of Southern Mississippi