Non award bearing

In the Iliad we have vivid accounts of heroic duels between those whose name and fame still resound – like Ajax, Hektor, Agamemnon – and the turning points and horrors of mass fighting; encounters of the pre-eminent fighters on both sides on the battlefield, interleaved with scenes in the camps and home life in Troy citadel: Helen, Paris, Andromache, baby Astyanax.

We will follow those stories – Paris and Helen, Hektor and Andromache, Achilles and Patroklos – but also their victims: the pathos of those whose only fame is their death at the hands of a great warrior – like one who ‘came to fight decked like a girl with gold, though his gold could not save him from sad fate’.

We have both ends of the telescope: the excitement as well as the horror of hand-to-hand, spear-against-spear fighting; battle as seen opportunistically by the pre-eminent fighters and tragically by the bard who records the pathos of young lives lost, who die ‘like an oak, poplar, or towering pine...’, ‘a bullock that mountain herdsmen have roped’ or ‘drooping, like a garden poppy heavy with seed and spring rain’.

These are set against the legendary – and possibly historical -Trojan War, between two very different alliances: Trojan allies called in to defend this important trading city from the Greeks, and of those whom Agamemnon and Menelaus have gathered to reclaim Helen (whom we know as Helen of Troy but was Helen throne princess of Sparta). As allies on both sides remind their leaders, this is not an ideological war, nor is it personal: Trojan allies have no cause to fight the Greeks; Agamemnon’s allies fight because he as commander-in-chief has promised them glory and reward. So, why do they fight? We will look at all kinds of answers to that: those of the Commanders, the heroes’ and – from the comments and framings - of the Narrator.

So, we will read the heroes’ stories and key passages of the Iliad through their layers. For the Trojan war is a place of myth – The Judgment of Paris, Helen of Troy, Great Mycenaean Kings like Agamemnon and Menelaus – of epic warfare but also of tragic encounters in the perspective of those who come after, whose re-tellings are coloured by dark as well as nostalgic, heroic, rose-tinted lenses.

Session titles:

1. Heroic Values: in search of ‘immortal fame’
2. Troy and Myth - Paris and Helen 
3. The wrath of Achilles; the deaths of Sarpedon and Patroclus 
4. Achilles, Hektor and Tragedy 
5. What is resolved in book 24?

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:

By the end of this short course, you will:

1. Know some of the key events in Ottoman history from 1300-1575
2. Understand how the Ottoman state became an empire
3. Learn the basics of analysis Ottoman primary sources

Session titles:

1. Osman's Dream
Examining the first Ottoman sultans in the 1300s, we will look at some of the problems with researching and understanding early Ottoman history. 

2. Caesar of Rome
Using the reign of Mehmed II (the Conqueror) as a focus, this session will consider how far the conquest of Constantinople represents the Ottoman state becoming an empire. 

3. The Shadow of God on Earth
In a reign lasting just eight years, Sultan Selim I changed the nature of the Ottoman state forever. In this session we will explore his conquests and how they resulted in a new relationship between the sultanate and Islam.

4. Süleyman and Hürrem
The reign of Süleyman I (the Magnificent) and his consort Hürrem Sultan traditionally marked as a 'golden age' in Ottoman history. This session will question what makes Süleyman's reign so important in Ottoman history. 

5. The end of an era?
The post-Süleymanic age has often been associated with stagnation or decline. But how fair - or useful - is that assessment? Looking at the reign of his son Selim II, this session will draw together the short course's themes.

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. Know about a range of scientific achievements from the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500).
2. Understand medieval scientific milestones, such as the development of timekeeping and the universities, within their social and cultural contexts.
3. Be able to use a long view of the history of science to critically assess claims about modern scientific prowess.

Session titles:

1. What's medieval about medieval science?
We will examine the idea of the "Dark Ages" and the pejorative label "medieval". We will discuss the relationship between the (problematic) concepts of "science" and "religion". We survey the sources available to historians of medieval science, and we learn some basic medieval mathematical techniques.

2. Clerics, clocks and calendars
For much of the Middle Ages the most advanced science was done in the service of religion. Monks telling the time by the stars and inventing advanced clocks; churchmen computing coded calendars and memorising festivals. We will see how the rituals of Christianity depended on increasingly advanced engineering and astronomy.

3. Translations, schools and universities
We will examine the foundation of the universities, institutions which have shaped science ever since. We will also survey student life and the look at the curriculum, which depended hugely on newly translated works from Greek and Arabic.  Why was Aristotle so important? What did ibn al-Haytham have to tell us about our eyes? Find out here.

4. The medieval textbook
This session will be an in-depth look at the most important science book of the Middle Ages, The Sphere by John of Sacrobosco. Studied by virtually every university student for centuries, it had an enormous influence on how people saw the world. It demonstrated that the Earth was round, showed how you could calculate its size, and much more. We'll take a deep dive into it.

5. Instruments and astronomy
Some of the most important science of the Middle Ages was done not through books, but through instruments. In this session we will look at a few instruments, focusing in detail on the most important gadget, the medieval smartphone: the astrolabe.

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

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 be able to describe the basic functions, processes, pathways and molecules of the innate immune system
2. To be able to describe an overview of how adaptive immunity works
3. To have an understanding of how the immune system can contribute to health and disease using examples from major infections

Session titles:

1. The Innate Immune System
You will be introduced to the key processes, pathways and molecules involved in the function of the innate immune system. This will include examples of some of the key signalling pathways involved in the detection of infection through the use of Pattern Recognition Receptors.

2. The Adaptive Immune System
In this session you will explore how the adaptive immune system works and how it interacts with the innate immune system. You will be introduced to the role and importance of T cells, B cells and antibodies.

3. The Immune System in Health and Disease
Using a series of case studies and examples you will learn how the immune system is crucial to keeping us alive and healthy, as well as how it can contribute to the development and maintenance of disease. Examples will be drawn from the areas of acute and chronic inflammation, vaccination, and allergies.

4. Viral infections and immunity
Focusing on the cases of SARS-CoV-2, influenza, smallpox and polio you will learn about the complex interplay between viruses and the immune response, and what this means for the long-term.

5. Bacterial infection and immunity
Plague and cholera will be used as primary examples to demonstrate how bacterial infections interact with the host and the immune system and how this contributes to disease.

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

This course is designed for those who want to learn about the way poetry works, with a view to enhancing their own writing practice. It will examine the nature of poetry, the value of close observation, economy of style, the uses of memory, and the transformative power of the imagination.

Some of you will have read poetry with pleasure but never written it, while others will already have experience of putting thoughts and feelings into poetic form; in either case you are likely to benefit from this informal approach to the pleasures and challenges of the poet’s art.

Learning outcomes:

1. A fuller understanding of the nature of poetry;
2. A greater confidence in both the writing of poetry and the practice of critical analysis.

Session titles:

1. The nature of poetry; the uses of memory 
2. Poetic observation; poetic expression 
3. Imagination and inspiration 
4. The music of poetry; poetic form 
5. The importance of reading; finding your own voice

Writing exercises
A writing exercise will be set on each day of the course, and will be explained in the pre-recorded material.

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.

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.  (Please see below.)

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.

Notes specific to this Creative Writing course

Welcome to your creative writing course, part of the Summer Festival of Learning organised by Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education.

You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded talks, designed to help you address different aspects of the main topic. There will also be an element of interactive work: you may, if you wish, put forward questions to be answered by the tutor. These questions will be in written form and sent to the tutor via the Virtual Learning Environment [VLE]; they will be answered, also in written form, on a daily basis. Both questions and answers will be visible to all members of the course.

Questions should normally be related to the day’s teaching and the associated daily writing exercise. Please note that it will not be possible to provide text-specific feedback on the work you produce in response to the exercise assignment, though questions arising from the assignment will be welcome. Please note too that, depending on the number of questions, your tutor may have to work selectively. Where this applies, selection will tend to favour questions of general interest to the group as a whole.

The first day's talk will be introductory, and thereafter a typical session might run as follows:

• the tutor will give a broad account of the territory to be covered in the session
• the tutor will offer close analysis of relevant published texts or images. These will be posted on the VLE in advance of the course
• the tutor will set a writing exercise based on the session's focal concerns, giving you guidelines and making you aware of key issues
• the tutor will summarise the session's concerns and give a brief outline of the next day's focus

We look forward to working with you during the period of the course.

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

Escapes from monsters – the Cyclops, Scylla and the Laestrygonians - avoiding the whirlpool and the attractions of the Sirens and Lotus Eaters; negotiating every kind of society and culture, divine, magical and all too recognisably human….Odysseus is truly the man of many adventures of the epic’s opening words.

These fabulous stories are told in response to Queen Arete’s deeply difficult question, asked even today – tis pothen: who are you, where from?  The easy answer is Odysseus, son of Laertes, from rocky Ithaca, but then as now the underlying question is ‘who are you, really? And how did you get to be that?’ We will explore the more difficult answers: the journey from Troy to Ithaca involves so many different possible identities and alternative homes.

Session titles:

1. Odysseus Tells his Story
2. Odysseus’ Women  
3. Odysseus the Bard 
4. Ithaca 
5. Penelope

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

From painted diagrams of the constellations to a photograph of a black hole taken from a “virtual telescope” the size of planet Earth; from medieval astrological “zodiac men” to “Nuclear” MRIs: science has always produced images. Such imagery may educate or advertise; it may communicate theories or arouse wonder. It may be intended as – or may later become – great art.

This course will ask how science has produced art, and how art has shaped science. It will be richly illustrated with examples of manuscripts, printed books and digital images. We will examine some works by self-proclaimed artists, from the Limbourg Brothers to JMW Turner, which have been inspired by science and technology. But the bulk of our time will be spent working with the art produced directly by scientists themselves. Ornate brass astrolabes; engravings of the earliest objects to be viewed through a microscope; ultrasound photographs, which expectant parents can now print onto a cupcake... each speaks eloquently of a particular scientific culture. Even at its most abstract and diagrammatic, visual and communicative choices shape each work’s form and reveal its multifarious functions.

The story of humanity’s evolving understanding of nature may be told through scientific images, but we must first learn to read them. Across three periods – the Middle Ages, the age of print, and the modern era, we will discuss why and how they were made, and what they can tell us.

Learning outcomes:

1. Know about a range of scientific developments from antiquity to the present, and how they were reflected in the art of each age.
2. Understand the complex relationship and blurred boundaries between scientific and artistic communication of ideas.
3. Enjoy seeing, and critically appraising, depictions of science and scientists from various forms of visual culture.

Session titles:

1. Ancient and Medieval Art and Science
2. Renaissance Science and Art
3. Early Modern Scientific and Artistic Cultures
4. Modern Ways of Seeing
5. Objects and Museums

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:

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