AL 34131 - Trafalgar Square

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Arts and Letters (Non-dept.)

Description:

Trafalgar Square is the symbolic as well as the physical heart of London. Before it was a Square, however, it was a Royal stables, and part of the route from the City to Westminster. This course aims to study the early history of the site, the development of Trafalgar Square in the mid-nineteenth century, its meanings, its subsequent use, and its future. The objective of the course is to acquaint students with a slice of London's architectural and social history, as well as to think about how the Square has accumulated a host of different meanings during the course of its history. The course will consider the initial history of the site, and its relationship to the cities of London and Westminster, as well as James Gibbs's church of St Martins-in-the-Fields. We will then think about the British naval victory at Trafalgar in 1805, and the desire to commemorate the battle and its hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson. In the third class we'll look at the reasons behind the development of the Square in the mid 1800s, and the use of architectural styles in the National Gallery, Nelson's Column, and the surrounding buildings. In the fourth class we examine how the Square has been used since the late nineteenth-century, especially its role as a place of leisure, celebration and of protest and demonstration. The final class will be devoted to thinking about the recent redevelopment of the Square and the reasons behind it, as well as the development of the National Gallery, and also the plans that the London Authority has for the Square in the future, and in what ways it continues to occupy a central place in the mental and physical geographies of Londoners.

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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