Arcadia England

Free Faculty Led Tours

This semester we will once again be running Arcadia Explores. An opportunity for students to attend three different tours exploring London, led by our faculty.

These tours are free to all students studying with us in England & Wales and offer a unique opportunity to discover London. With Street Art, The Olympic Park and the Science Museum all on the list, once again this semester’s line-up will not disappoint...

The Information Age at the Science Museum 

With Dr Laurence Scott

The Science Museum call the Information Age exhibition their “biggest and most ambitious to date”. The gallery explores the remarkable discoveries in information and communication technology over the last 200 years and the impact this had on our lives.

"We are constantly told that we live in an Information Age, in which Big Data dominates our political and commercial lives. But what exactly is information? What is it made of? This record-breaking exhibit at the Science Museum seeks to understand the evolution of communications technology and reveals the dramatic history and possible futures of the ways in which we exchange information with one another." - Dr Laurence Scott, faculty leader for Information Age at the Science Museum tour.

The Olympic Park 

With Dr Chris McMillan

Originally built for the 2012 London Olympics, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the biggest park built in Europe for 150 years – at over 560 acres, it features 65km of waterways and 111 acres of woods and wildlife habitat. Includes entry to the Aquatic Centre, Velodrome & Olympic rings as well as taking in the redevelopment of East London.

"Sport provides a wonderful window into a culture and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the home of the 2012 London Olympics, allows us a unique insight into the British. Not only was the 2012 London Olympics a significant cultural event in itself, but the Olympics inspired a rarely cited patriotism that exemplified the state of contemporary Britishness. The park also provides an insight into the role of sport in Britain. Unlike many previous Olympic cities, the facilities are not unused 'white elephants' but have been re-purposed to serve the motto of the 2012 Games, 'Inspire a Generation'. Whilst the stadium itself will be used as the new home of West Ham football club next season, the rest of the Olympic site is a living park; the swimming pool and velodrome are open to the community and there are numerous playgrounds and cycling tracks. This is why I use the Olympic park for my faculty tour; it not only shows how sport reflects British culture, but how it produces it. Also, sport is fun and we get to take a photo with the Olympic Rings." - Dr Chris McMillan, faculty leader for The Olympic Park Tour.

Street Art 

With Dr Richard Maguire

Some of the best street art that London has to offer can be found in the East End. Places like Shoreditch & Brick Lane would not traditionally have made it into the guide books, but with visitors flocking to see the ever-changing street art, they have found themselves placed firmly on the tourist map.

"A visit to London's East End explores an area caught in a tension between ideas of gentrification and the traditions of urban working life. Street art allows us to see the grimy roads and hipster joints in a new way, from plastic mushrooms to tiny road art. This tour will persuade you to look back and catch a fleeting glimpse of things that were not there before and won’t be for long. Artists include Banksy and Eine, as well as untagged, anonymous works." - Dr Richard Maguire, faculty leader for London Street Art Tour.

For dates and to sign up for any of the tours, check out the events section in our Spring Facebook Group!