Resurrecting Robin Hood

It all started in 1993  no, really 1991. 

When considering transferring to Stetson University, I visited the campus sometime in the fall of 1991 and first learned of their study abroad program.  Yes, they had programs to Spain and to Russia (one which Stetson was known for due to their Russian Studies program) -- but I saw that I could go to England – and particularly to Nottingham.   

Was that really a real place? A real city?

I've traveled before [Europe, Mexico, South America] – mostly with my family & once on a “If it's Tuesday it Must be Belgium” trip in high school. So, I had been to London a couple of times, but never ventured out of that city.

When I found myself attending Stetson I quickly investigated the possibility of participating in the study abroad program. Squeezing in a term before my Senior year – when I would have to buckle down and do my senior thesis work, meant that I could go in the spring of 1993.  Yes, I'd miss out on the famed Stetson "Winter Term" where one gets to partake of classes like surfing or the economics of Disney World -- that would be eaten-up by work on the Senior Thesis the following year. 

So, in January of 1993 I left Stetson for England, where  I attended Nottingham Trent University - formerly "the Poly" in Nottingham, England.   I was delighted to find that Nottigham had progressed quite a lot from the days of Robin and his Merry Men.  While in Nottingham, I learned all about Nottingham's lace industry and it's keystone connection to the progression of the industrial revolution. 

Most importantly,  as Stetson students, we had an extra month that we had to stay to study and complete an individual research project -- this is where my Robin Hood journey really began.   Throughout the month of April, I worked on a project concerning the marketing of Robin Hood and use of the Robin Hood tale as an educational tool for teaching history.

Carrying this theme home with me to Stetson, with the inspiration and blessing of a faculty mentor of mine, I combined my love of film with my recent Robin Hood experience. I formulated my senior thesis as a look at the historicisim of the Robin Hood films – more specifically – how each period takes Robin Hood and “resurrects” him for their own uses and portrays the period to reflect current cultural morays. Perhaps I was stepping off the reservation a bit for a 'history' major, but so be it. By that time, I had decided that I wasn't going be a history professor – so I might as well go with what I enjoyed.