For more than forty years, Shimer College has offered an academic study abroad program in Oxford, England, which students can apply to  in their third or fourth year. Students in the Shimer-in-Oxford Program take at least one core course each semester with a Shimer faculty member who also serves as the Program Director. Like all students at Oxford, Shimer students also take traditional tutorials, which allow them to pursue their individual interests in one-on-one weekly meetings with respected academics from the Oxford area. Tutorials are held in one of Oxford’s Colleges, the tutor’s home, or, occasionally, in a nearby pub. In recent years tutorial subjects have included the following:

Students enrolled in the program have access to local libraries, attend lectures on English history and culture, tour historic Oxford, and enjoy informal aspects of student life in Oxford. Besides academic work, many students spend time touring England and the Continent. Regular activities have included a play at Stratford-upon-Avon, a tour of London museums and the Houses of Parliament, and visits to Bath, Stonehenge, Warwick, and Windsor Castle.

In recent years, Shimer has been affiliated with the Oxford Study Abroad Programme (OSAP) which allows Shimer students to share housing with students from other American colleges and from Oxford University. All students’ apartments are fully furnished and include telephone, television, and computers with internet access.

The Shimer-in-Oxford Program allows students a remarkable opportunity to pursue their individual academic interests within the incomparable atmosphere of Oxford University, an atmosphere that has fostered academic excellence for thousands of years.