I mainly got on myspace so that I would have another way to reach prospects for British Studies.

If you're wondering which Dave Davies I am (man, there's tons of us), I'm the one who grew up in Malvern, Arkansas (Malvern High Class of 1975, Go Leopards!), graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1979, and worked for the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Gazette in the 1980s. Now I teach at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The best way to get in touch with me is to write me at my gmail account: davidrandalldavies (at) gmail (dot) com.

Study Journalism and Mass Communication in London

The USM School of Mass Communication & Journalism will again offer Introduction to British Journalism as part of its British Studies in Journalism Program in Summer 2007. The newly updated course webpage is at http://britishjournalism.org. The website for the overall British Studies Program is http://www.britishstudies.org.

When: July 7-Aug. 6, 2007

How to get an application: frances.sudduth@usm.edu

More info: Dave.Davies@usm.edu

About the British Studies in Journalism course: The course is a general introduction into how journalism is practiced in Britain, covering editorial content, advertising, public relations and broadcasting. Our classroom is London itself, specifically the London media. We'll visit media institutions all over London, including the major dailies, a suburban weekly, the BBC, and all the British regulatory institutions. We won't be hearing from boring lecturers; rather, we'll be hearing directly from reporters, editors, PR practitioners, and advertising regulators themselves. They'll explain to you how the British media really work. We'll also do offbeat stuff like visit the pub frequented by Charles Dickens. We'll get a behind-the-scenes visit to Parliament. ( And, of course, I'll take us all to Chinatown for lunch.)

This year we'll once again take a three-day trip to Edinburgh, where we'll visit BBC Scotland and the country's most important newspaper, the Scotsman. (We'll stay in Dalkeith House...For details see http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst245.html

I usually have a wide variety of mass comm-related majors, so I try to do stuff that touches on all aspects of British media, public relations, magazines, you name it.

The class is a blast. Everyone agrees the journalism students, while working hard, have the most fun in the program. Usually I have from eight to 12 students in the class from all over the country. (Last year I had 18!) Students in the course become fast friends and also make friends with the 150 or so other students in other courses on the program. We take tours and have discussions Monday through Thursday. The rest of the time is free for you to travel. In addition, we travel a good bit as part of the course, traveling to Edinburgh in Scotland and to Oxford.

Students from all areas of communication study will benefit from the course--advertising, public relations, mass communication, journalism, broadcasting and photography. The course has no prerequisites and carries six hours of credit.

I've taught the course for eight years and am very familiar with London and with Europe. I'll help show you around and get you acclimated. Moreover, most profs in the program have been coming to London for a dozen years or more; they're also happy to help you find your way around.

We stay in central London in King's College at one of their dormitories. The rooms are quite small, but everyone gets a private room with fridge and private bath. All students have access to a kitchen. The dorm has a large courtyard that is the social center of the program. Students quickly make friends with the folks in their class as well as students from across the country.

The dorm is on Stamford Street, a hundred yards or so from Waterloo Station. The central location puts you just a few minutes' walk from Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and the theatre district. Most folks walk when they're headed to central London, it's so close.

The cost for the program is about $5,000. While the amount seems quite high, it's low when compared to other schools' tuition for similar programs. And since it includes tuition, air travel, and lodging, it's not as steep as it sounds. Moreover, WE CAN GET FINANCIAL AID FOR VIRTUALLY ANY STUDENT IN THE PROGRAM. So, money is not nearly the worry that you think it is.

I hope you find all of this information helpful. If you want I can give you a call to talk about the course. Feel free to email me or write me at the numbers below. Or, you can request an application by writing Frances Sudduth at frances.sudduth@usm.edu..