Where better to learn something new than at England’s legendary Oxford University. Their Oxford Experience - a residential program of one-week courses – is open to all from July 1 to August 11, 2012.  Thrillingly, there are no requirements, no exams and no papers to write.  Summer students live and study at the venerable 500-year old Christ Church, one of the most prestigious and beautiful of the Oxford colleges.

Students of all ages pour in from the U.S., Canada, all over Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, and Asia. Choose from a menu of more than 60 subjects: Virginia Woolf and her Circle; Castles in Britain; Anglo-American Relations and the Making of Modern Britain. The Celts in Britain; Tudor London; The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain. The Georgian Home; Oxfordshire Towns; The Brontës; Wagner’s Ring; A History of the BBC; English Country Houses; From the Blues to a Symphony; Page Fright—And How to Overcome It; and Warfare in the Modern World.

Feel an undeniable frisson entering Christ Church’s main gate beneath Christopher Wren’s Tom Tower and entering the great quadrangle known as Tom Quad.  Loll about in the college gardens, and meander along the riverside in the Meadow.

These ultra-rich courses also include excursions to stately homes, cathedrals, museums, evening pub walks, a whisky tasting, a quirky performance, evensong in the college chapel, plays and concerts. And on the last night, all together, drinks in the flowering Cathedral Garden and a sumptuous farewell dinner in Harry Potter’s Great Hall.  Cheers!

Bargain! The price of a one-week course—including tuition, accommodations, all meals (except those on excursions) and evening activities is ₤1,135 (about $1,775 U.S.)

And hey, slackers, a headsup: Sign up now and avoid the spring rush. The deadline for summer 2012 registration is May 1, 2012 and some courses have already sold out. For more info, or to register click:  www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience.