Non award bearing

What makes Shakespeare’s sonnets so distinctive, and so rewarding to read? In this course we will look closely at how they work individually and as a collection, exploring the subtle interplay in them of form with content, convention with innovation, rhetorical force with emotional complexity, and self-revelation with secrecy.

Throughout the course, close attention will be paid to representative sonnets within Shakespeare’s collection. Students will learn how to see and hear the structure of a Shakespeare sonnet, how to grasp its overall meaning, discern the development of its thought from line to line, take account of double meanings and undercurrents of feeling, and evaluate its role within the larger sequence.

Learning outcomes:

1. To understand the English sonnet form and how Shakespeare uses it as an effective vehicle for powerfully conveying thoughts and feelings.
2. To learn how Shakespeare’s sonnets make innovative use of poetic and rhetorical conventions to convey a vivid sense of authentic emotion and lived experience.
3. To appreciate how the interpretation of individual sonnets is affected by reading them as part of a collection, and to see how Shakespeare’s sonnets can often be validly performed in different ways.

Session titles:

1. The sonnet form, and how Shakespeare uses it
2. Shakespeare's sonnets in context - conventions and collections
3. Storytelling in Shakespeare's sonnets
4. Complexity of tone in Shakespeare's sonnets
5. Rhetoric and feeling in Shakespeare's sonnets

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Learning outcomes:

1. Deepened understanding of the issues relevant to the period, reached through relevant reading and through debate and discussion in class;
2. Construction of reasoned and supported argument in response to questions, based on close and critical reading of the historical literature.

Session titles:

1. Great exhibitions: the latter-day Roman Triumph
2. Reichs and republics: Empires within Europe
3. The colonial cult  
4. Africa and the Europeans  
5. The colonial drive to war

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course students should:

1. Show familiarity with a range of primary sources that historians use to study the family;
2. Understand the varied forms of the family and household in England 1500-1850;
3. Be able to reflect upon the emotions that family members might have felt in the period.

Session titles:

1. The Making of Marriage
In this session we consider the process of marriage, including courtship, betrothal, and weddings, and the extent of cohabitation in the past.

2. Husbands, Wives & Children
Today we consider relationships within the biological family: firstly, husbands and wives and secondly, children and the concept of childhood.

3. The Household
Households were also composed of other members and we consider three of these: servants, lodgers, and apprentices.

4. Family Size & Family Forms
Did family size and family forms change with industrialisation and urbanisation? We explore this aspect of the family in two chronological periods: 1500-1801 and 1801-1851.

5. Broken Families & Alternatives to the Family
Families were frequently broken by death and desertion, while some couples never married yet had illegitimate children. Both of these family forms are considered here, as well as homosexual men and lesbian women.

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Andrea Palladio was born in 1508 and apprenticed at 13 to a stonemason in Padua. Had his life followed a typical course for the period it is unlikely that he would be famous at all, much less that he would become the only architect to have given his name to an architectural style in Neo Palladianism. This 5 day course introduces not only the architecture of Palladio and the element of the Palladian style, but also examines his remarkable rise to fame and considers how he was extremely fortunate in the help he received and the opportunities afforded to him in the sixteenth-century Veneto.

Learning outcomes:

• Students will understand the development of Palladio as an architect and be able to name the important influences on his architecture.
• Students will be able to identify architecture which uses Palladian language and discuss the various parts of the building.
• Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of how Palladio’s style spread and why it was popular during and after his lifetime.

Session titles:

1. Introducing Palladio, his life and times 
2. Palladio’s Villas, a new language for the working farm
3. The Palaces of Vicenza, facades and function
4. Church architecture and Public buildings, from priests to performance 
5. Palladio and his Legacy, understanding the spread of the Palladian style

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Learning outcomes: 

1. To introduce students to some of the fundamental aspects of Creativity Theory, and the History of Ideas;
2. To apply philosophical and creative practices in a range of contexts;
3. To critically assess different theoretical approaches to creativity, e.g. as a process or as a product. 

Session titles:

1. Creativity Theory, History and Philosophy
Our first sessions will focus on the nature of creativity loosely defined - or, indeed, not defined at all. We will look at different methodologies for approaching creativity, from probing philosophical problems to historicising concepts and ideas. 

2. Creation Myths and Myth-Making
"In the beginning, there was nothing." But does this idea make sense, and to what extent does the idea of creation out of nothing continue to inform how we think about creativity? Where do our ideas come from? 

3. Creation in the Age of Reason 
We will move from acts of creation to creative acts. In particular, we will turn to Kant's account of creative genius; and to Hegel's dialectic method which roots creativity, not in the individual, but in an historical process. Opposed to both of these rationalistic accounts of creativity, we will consider romantic notions of mastery over nature and of beauty as truth. 

4. Reason and the Self 
As rational beings, we will reflect on our own role in idea creation. To what extent do we generate ideas—or do ideas occur to us? There is no easy answer here, and we are called upon to view  our ability to rationalise our thoughts with suspicion. Just how useful is reason when trying to understand reason?

5. Creativity Theory in Practice
So where does this leave us today? Well, from the 60s on, various methods have been developed to enable us to unlock our creative potential. We will consider a few of these. In closing, we will consider the extent to which courses like this one help us to be creative. Can creativity be taught? Probably not. But it can be learned. But how?

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Learning outcomes:

1. Understanding the concept of nanobiotechnology and how it translates into real world applications;
2. Having an overview of the different organic and inorganic materials and chemistries that can be used in nanomedicine;
3. Being aware of the challenges and prospects of nanobiotechnology and the potential environmental and health implications of nanomaterials.

Session titles:

2. Introduction to Nanobiotechnology 
Introduction to the concept of nanosized functional and supramolecular materials. Overview of molecules/materials which have shown potential to be used in nanobiotechnology, including  polymers, transition metals, lipids, carbon nanotubes, etc.

2. Biological Barriers 
Before reaching their target, nanoparticles must cross many biological barriers. This session will give you an overview of mechanisms and factors that affect nanoparticle uptake by the cells, and strategies that are used to overcome biological barriers.

3. Healthcare Applications of nanomedicine 
Overview of different healthcare applications of nanobiotechnology and considerations upon clinical use of nanoparticles. Examples of marketed nanoparticles in clinical use. 

4. Cancer nanomedicine 
Despite manifesting itself throughout human history, cancer is still one of the most challenging diseases of the current world, affecting one in six people of all ages. It is not therefore surprising that the majority of nanomedicines generated so far have been developed for cancer therapy. This session will focus on the distinctive features of nanotechnology in oncology, as well as its challenges in clinical translation. 

5. The Yin and Yang of Nanotechnologies
In this session, two different nanomaterials will be selected and discussed in detail in terms of their medical and environmental benefits versus safety risks. The idea is to give students a good overview of the pros and cons associated with the use of different nanotechnologies.

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

For Darwin, comparative embryology was important evidence in support of the evolution of descendants from a common ancestor. In 1874, the German biologist Ernst Haeckel followed Darwin’s line of thinking with the notion that ancestral developmental processes are repeated during embryonic development, and are a record of evolutionary ancestry … ‘Ontogeny (development) recapitulates phylogeny (evolutionary history)’ …  the biogenetic law that dominated evolutionary thinking in the late 19th century.

Often misinterpreted as referring to the recapitulation of adult forms rather than the forms of embryo, Walter Garstang at Leeds University, highlighted the problems of recapitulation theory in 1921, by pointing out that an adult cannot evolve directly into another adult. According to Garstang, embryonic development represents the stages of ancestors to whatever point it was in ontogeny when divergence into new forms occurred. In effect ‘Ontogeny does not recapitulate phylogeny – it drives it’. He realised that the larval stages of adult forms of many animal taxa were, according to Henson (personal communication), precociously hatched embryos. Subject to Darwinian selection, larvae are potentially the nodes for major evolutionary innovation as the result of selection of larval characteristics consequently affecting adult morphology/physiology in subsequent generations.

Today, investigating the gene interactions controlling development and how these have changed through time resulting in the evolution of new taxa is now possible using the techniques of molecular genetics. Arkhat Abzhanov at Imperial College, UK et al have unravelled the intricacies of the genetic interactions controlling beak development in Darwin’s finches deepening our understanding of how new finch species/sub-species have evolved from a common ancestor arriving on the islands from South America about two million years ago.

Evolutionary-developmental biology (evo-devo) highlights how the interactions between genes might affect the micro- and macro-evolution of lineages (e.g. Darwin’s finches, larval forms). Today, the emerging discipline reframes the arguments of earlier evolutionary thinking, adding molecular biology to our understanding of how developmental processes influence evolution. The sessions explore a synthesis of these ideas to reassess the nature of evolution in process.

Session titles:

1. Evolution through Natural Selection
2. Development and evolution 
3. Larval Forms   
4. Galapagos Tales  
5. The Tales continue

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

Whatever else it may be, poetry is always a craft, and are poems shaped by the tools the poet uses. This course looks at two of those tools that are often misunderstood - metre and form. 

Whenever we speak there are rhythmic patterns of stress and pitch, and in poetry those patterns are organised - but the whole point of an established pattern is to allow significant variation. There are also distinctions that matter, of rising or falling, and duple or triple, rhythms, as well as the often misunderstood difference between metre and scansion. The jargon of iambs and trochees often puts people off but the substance will be clear! 

Any form has its own internal structure, like the quatrains and couplet of a Shakespearean sonnet, or the AABBA of limericks, with the shorter B-lines, and that anatomy determines how a form behaves. But there is also its history and associations, linking (say) sonnets with unrequited love - and poets have a habit of sneakily exploiting those, both boldly and subtly. 

By the end, even experienced readers of poetry will find their understandings enlarged and transformed, and those who write poetry, formal or free verse, will benefit from a clearer understanding of their tools, both in composing and revising. And those for whom poetry seems dry will discover just how much fun, and how powerful, it can be. 

No prior reading is required. The texts of poems discussed at any length will be available on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Learning outcomes:

1. To understand poetry as a craft;
2. To gain a basic understanding of metre and scansion;
3. To gain awareness of form/s with their internal structures and historical associations.

Session titles:

1. Metre 1: an introduction
2. Metre 2: putting rhythm to work
3. Form 1: internal anatomies and their effects
4. Form 2: associations and ironies
5. Plenary: poetry in the eye, mouth, and ear

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

War is depressingly constant throughout human history, and in the modern era, civilians frequently find themselves in the front line in today’s “wars amongst the people”, in Somalia, former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan/South Sudan and Syria since the end of the Cold War. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and as we approach the 20th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, questions around the role of law in regulating conflict – or indeed whether this is even a meaningful concept – lie at the heart of international relations policy.  

Building on millennia of international custom, this seminar will chart the evolution of legal attempts from the mid-19th century to the present to limit war’s excesses, and to reduce unnecessary suffering. We will look closely at the catalytic effect of the Second World War on the international legal order covering armed conflict and genocide, the resurgent role of international justice in the post-Cold War era, before moving onto to the current debate about whether, when and how States may intervene to protect human rights. Can the UN Security Council be bypassed via ‘Responsibility to Protect’? If so, when and how? What does a would-be intervener need to demonstrate in order to do so? 

Learning outcomes:

• The ability to chart the development of law of armed conflict since 1850 and demonstrate the impact that this has had on conduct of hostilities;  
• The limits and the successes of the attempt since 1945 to limit States’ recourse to force to solve international disputes; 
• Use of force in future, especially outside of the authority of the UN Security Council, in order to defend human rights.

Session titles:

Session 1

1.1 Westphalia to San Francisco

1.2 United Nations

Session 2

2.1 Regulating Conflict to 1899

2.2 The Long 20th Century Part 1

Session 3

3.1 The Long 20th Century Part 2

3.2 Law and Disarmament

Session 4

4.1 Aggression

4.2 Responsibility to Protect

Session 5

5.1 Enforcement

5.2 The world to and beyond 2030

All course content will be delivered online via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks (which may be audio and/or video), designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. You will normally have access to a range of useful resources and suggested activities.

There will also be an element of interactive work, and the opportunity for you to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director via the Course Forum. The Course Director will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis.

Some courses may also have elements of optional live discussions via Zoom.

There are no pre-requisites for courses, unless specified, and all are open to adult learners over 18 years old. Courses are taught at approximately first-year undergraduate level.

Content will be made available on each day of the course, Monday to Friday, from 8.00am BST. Course content will normally amount to c 1.5hrs per day across the 5 days, comprising of material delivered by the Course Director and activities/reading set, which would include discussions via the course forum. You may also need to complete reading or other preparation suggested in advance of the course.

We therefore suggest that you set aside approximately 1.5 hours of study per day to complete each day’s content and activities. However, this does not need to be done in one sitting, and you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish. Each course runs for one week and content will remain available to access on the VLE for 2 weeks after the course has finished.

A Certificate of Participation for the course(s) will be sent electronically, upon request via email, after the end of the Summer Festival. Details will be provided on the VLE.

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director

English Language:

To ensure that all participants on our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning are able to enjoy studying with us, you will need to be confident understanding and following arguments presented in written and spoken English at University level. You will need to satisfy yourself that you have an appropriate level of English language proficiency.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read our English language recommendations and are satisfied that you have the appropriate level of English to benefit from the course.

For details of our English language recommendations, see Booking information.

Technical requirements:

All courses will be delivered via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that allows you to study and learn online, access learning resources, and interact with your tutor and fellow students.

You will need to have access to:

- the internet via a computer or smart device

- a webcam and microphone for any interactive sessions which may be available

- speakers or headphones in order to hear pre-recorded material provided by the Course Director