Fossils and the history of life

Course programme

You are welcome to arrive at any time during the morning, but please note that you will only be able to check in to bedrooms after lunch. The reception team are happy to assist in storing your bags.

Sunday

13:00 Lunch
14:30 Fossil preservation processes. Key ideas in palaeontology and evolution, and some major fossil groups
16:00 Tea
16:30 The earliest evidence of life, the Cambrian explosion and evolutionary events in the first part of the Palaeozoic Era.
18:30 Dinner
20:00 Further evolution in the Palaeozoic Era. Mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period, 250 million years ago.
21:30 Terrace bar open for informal discussion

Monday

07:30 Breakfast
09:00 Practical session (45 minutes), studying fossil specimens in the teaching room. Life in the Mesozoic Era - from ammonites and belemnites to dinosaurs and pterosaurs (45 minutes)
10:30 Coffee
11:00 Further life in the Mesozoic Era. Mass extinction by meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous Period?
12:45 Lunch
14:00 The Cenozoic Era: ups and downs of the last 65 million years. The evolutionary radiation of mammals. Hominid evolution and the influence of humans on the biosphere.
15:30 Course disperses

No academic qualification is required of applicants, and most courses are suitable for students who are new to the subject.

All teaching is in English (unless a foreign-language course). If your first language is not English, you need to satisfy yourself that you have the required near-native command of the language to get the maximum benefit from studying with ICE.

A booklist, course syllabus and detailed timetable are circulated as far as possible in advance of a course. You will receive these documents by email if you have provided us with your email address; please check your spam folder if you have not received these documents. You can also download material from the course web page.

About Madingley Hall

Madingley Hall itself is an impressive manor house dating back to the mid-16th century. The decoration of the Saloon and the formal Stair Hall was carried out 200 years later, and the whole fabric was renovated with great care around 1900. About four miles from the centre of Cambridge, the Hall stands in several acres of beautifully-maintained gardens and overlooks a landscape which has changed relatively little since it was laid out by Capability Brown. It is just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, and only 60 minutes from London, with excellent links to London airports.

Directions to Madingley Hall

We now have a mini-bus service which runs between the station and Madingley Hall. For the timetable and further information, please see our Lifelong Learning page or contact the reception desk at ICE.