In addition to studying at Sussex as a full-time student, I will be conducting research at The Keep, a center for archives in Sussex that is located close to the University of Sussex Campus. My research project, entitled "Spatial Divides in Victorian Seaside Society: Brighton, A Case Study," is aimed at helping historians better understand the relationship between leisure culture, class differences, and urban development.
By far the largest seaside resort town in England throughout the nineteenth century, Brighton is uniquely situated to serve my research interests in British seaside resorts and leisure culture. Due to its close proximity to London and its patronage by the famous eighteenth-century doctor Richard Russell and later King George IV, Brighton was already well-established as an aristocratic leisure haven by the time a direct railway to London was established in 1841.
After the railroad was completed, the population of Brighton doubled in just three decades as working-class settlers and vacationers streamed into town. This is the period of time I will be researching – the mid-nineteenth century – a time in which aristocratic visitors vacationed alongside the middling and the lower classes, despite the departure of Queen Victoria in 1845 due to the "indiscreet and troublesome" personages that crowded around her Royal Pavilion. I'm interested in how the urban development of Brighton may have been informed by Victorian ideas of class and status. After all, the seaside town – and the beach vacation, for that matter – are distinctly modern inventions that developed in tandem with social progress.
While studying at Sussex, I also plan to take advantage of my location to explore other cities in the United Kingdom and Europe. I'm particularly interested in exploring London, Bath, Cambridge, Dublin and Paris if possible, in addition to the Sussex countryside (also called the South Downs). The University of Sussex provides several weekend trips to other cities within the United Kingdom for international students, so I definitely plan on participating in those opportunities!
The weather will be quite cold and rainy for the first few months that I am in Brighton, but things should warm up by May and June! I'm looking forward to drinking lots of tea to keep warm! In addition to the weather, travel to and from campus could be a challenge, as I will be living in town – close to the beachfront – and some 40 minutes from campus by bus. I plan on taking the bus to campus most of the time, but traveling by train or biking will also be a possibility.
Despite the commute to campus, I am looking forward to living in town and experiencing modern life in Brighton. I will get to see the town during the relatively quiet winter months, but also at the beginning of the vacation season in June. I'm sure I will miss seeing the Razorbacks play basketball back in Fayetteville, but I look forward to following Brighton's Premier League soccer team, the Brighton & Hove Albion Seagulls.
I also look forward to being present in the United Kingdom during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - an event that is sure to generate international attention. It's pretty cool to think that I will be living in close proximity to many of the modern-day descendants of visitors to Brighton - royal and common alike!
I am very grateful to the University of Arkansas Honors College, without which this trip - the adventure and learning experience of a lifetime - would not have been possible.
I'd like to lead out with a quote by Winston Churchill, who said:
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."
I hope to channel Churchill's warrior-spirit while I'm in Brighton in order to get the most out of my experience - as a student, as a researcher, and as a United States citizen abroad. In this vein, I plan on blogging at least once a week to catalog my experiences! My next post will be from Brighton!
Thank you very much for reading along and supporting me on this adventure.
Until next time,
Brock J. DeMark
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Don't wait. Make plans for your semester or year abroad today!
Check out the U of A Exchange: University of Sussex, England at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/sussex
