Festival to offer students a taste of Northeastern’s London campus

students walking by london red bus replica on northeastern campus
The Snell quad on Northeastern’s Boston campus will be feature all things British. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Northeastern’s Boston campus faces a British invasion this week to highlight the university’s expanded London campus—part of a global network of education opportunities available to students.

The London Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday in the Snell Quad, which will be decked out with an iconic double decker bus backdrop and strewn with Union Jack flags. The event will feature British sweets like candy floss, a chance to spin the famed London Eye for prizes, and a red telephone booth for selfies. 

“The festival is a celebration—of the great city of London, of Northeastern’s rich engagement with the city, and, by extension, of Northeastern’s truly global network of campuses and partners,” says Chris Gallagher, vice chancellor for Global Learning Opportunities at Northeastern. The university partnered with NCH at Northeastern—formerly known as the New College of the Humanities—in 2019.

The London campus recently relocated from Bedford Square to a new, larger location at the St. Katharine Docks in Central London. The 38,000 square foot building, called Devon House, is on the Thames River waterfront near the city’s historic Tower of London, and a few blocks away from the Tower Bridge.

Jeff Sullivan, global experience office advisor for the U.K. and Ireland, just returned from a 10-day visit to London where he was able to visit the new campus and get feedback from Northeastern students who are studying in London now.

“They were very excited, and so were some of their parents who were with them,” says Sullivan. “For a lot of them it’s their first time at college and their first time in London, so they’re a little overwhelmed but they feel really privileged to be able to have that experience.”

Roughly 400 Northeastern students are attending classes in London this semester through various programs, says Sullivan. The N.U.in program allows students to spend their first semester in London, while NU Bound allows students to spend their first year of college in London.

Sullivan said the spring 2022 semester will also feature career counseling from Northeastern graduates currently living in London.

“It’s a very extraordinary situation because I don’t know of many study abroad programs that offer that kind of coaching,” says Sullivan.

“We want all Northeastern students to consider spending some time there, taking courses with our amazing London colleagues in Devon House, right near the iconic London Tower; engaging with our many alumni in the city, including some that are industry leaders; and exploring the culture, history, and, yes, the night life that only this diverse, bustling city can offer,” says Gallagher.

The festival will also feature live music, including a Beatles cover band on Tuesday and an Elton John tribute band Wednesday. Students can learn more about taking classes at NCH at Northeastern and the kinds of courses offered in the spring 2022 semester at the event.

Students who spend a semester in London will live at Chapter Spitalfields, a student residential building in the center of the city close to Shoreditch and Hoxton, as well as Spitalfields Market.

NCH at Northeastern is one of many global locations offering classes and experiential learning for Northeastern students, faculty and staff. The university has campuses in Toronto; Vancouver; Seattle; the Bay Area; Portland, Maine; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Burlington and Nahant.

For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.