Non award bearing | Page 3 | Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)

Course code:

2526NOE107

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

10057

Emily Hill

Course ID:

31671

Tuition fee:

£525

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To explore a range of copywriting styles and techniques and how these can be applied across mediums such as websites, blogs, emails and social media pages.
To develop students’ abilities as effective and engaging copywriters.
With a focus on multiple, short writing exercises, the course will give students the opportunity to learn and apply the fundamental techniques of copywriting.

Course content overview

This online course introduces the craft of copywriting, with a focus on techniques that can be applied across a range of channels and formats.
Participants will be taught the principles of writing clear and compelling copy via a series of weekly short writing exercises. Feedback from the tutor will be available throughout the course.
This course will examine the threats and opportunities posed by generative AI and will explore the human copywriter’s role in the business of the future.
Participants will be taught the basic principles of search engine optimisation (SEO) and how these apply to digital copywriting.

Target audience

People who are looking for their first job in copywriting.
New copywriters who want to improve their skills.
People who are interested in becoming freelance copywriters.
People who are working in related disciplines (e.g. marketing, journalism), and want to add copywriting to their skill sets.
Career changers who wish to explore copywriting.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Teaching Week 1 - Writing for readability and accessibility

This week will introduce the principles of readability and accessibility, and to explain why these are the starting points for writing user-friendly copy.

Learning objectives:

To understand the need for copy to be easy-to-read, and accessible to a wide audience.
To learn about using short words, in short sentences, in short paragraphs.
To practise using some readability tools.
To explore the role of text formatting in making copy accessible.
To read several best practice copy examples and discussed with the group.
To complete a short readability exercise (around 300 words), with feedback from the tutor.

Teaching Week 2 - Writing words that sell

This week we will look to understand the role of copy in driving sales and other user actions, and to explore a range of copywriting frameworks.

Learning objectives:

To understand the difference between sales copy and editorial content.
To work through a range of copywriting frameworks designed to motivate users.
To consider the impact of tone and style.
To explore the role of power words and verb phrases in writing sales copy.
To practise writing clear calls to action.
To write a website landing page (around 400 words) with editorial feedback from the tutor.

Teaching Week 3 - SEO copywriting

This week we will learn the basic principles of search engine optimisation (SEO) in order to write copy that ranks for relevant search terms.

Learning objectives:

To learn about how search engine algorithms rank web pages.
To understand the principle of topical authority, and how web content needs to be organised to reflect this.
To practise researching and grouping keywords.
To explore the structural elements of pages that rank well in search results, including meta title and description.
To complete a page optimisation exercise.

Teaching Week 4 - AI: friend or foe?

This week we will explore the impact of the recent explosion in generative AI technology on the art form of copywriting. We will consider and discuss the role of the human copywriter in an increasingly AI-powered business world.

Learning objectives:

To learn about the threats and opportunities posed by generative AI.
To explore ways in which ChatGPT and other tools can assist in research and idea generation.
To examine the limitations and risks of generative AI and discussed with the group.
To complete an AI-editing exercise (around 500 words) and discussed the process with the group.

Teaching Week 5 - Multi-channel copywriting

This week we will explore how to apply the principles of good copywriting across a range of channels and formats.

Learning objectives:

To learn how to match a message to its audience.
To consider which channels are best suited to which audience groups.
To explore how to tailor a message to resonate with the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
To consider how written copy, imagery and video can all work together to communicate a message.
To create a mini-campaign to promote a product or service via a web page, email, and social media post (around 600-700 words in total), with editorial feedback from the tutor.

Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.

While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).

Virtual Learning Environment

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards etc).

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees & financial support

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Fees

The course fee includes access to the course on our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a Certification of Participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes.

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

The Institute is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our virtual learning platform, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses.

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Canonical Course ID:

31557

Ukrainian Art from the Baroque to the Modern

Short description:

Course image: Yov Kondzelevych, Icon from the Bohorodchany Iconostasis, National Art Museum, Lviv, Ukraine. Detail. CC BY-SA 3.0 (Author: Mykola Swarnyk)

Subject ref:

History of Art

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE106

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

9606

Dr Louise Hardiman

Course ID:

31670

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To provide an overview of Ukrainian art, architecture, and design between the sixteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. The course touches upon related areas such as literature and music and explores historical links with other artistic centres (e.g., Paris, Rome, Warsaw).
To understand how Ukrainian visual culture has responded to a wide range of cultural, artistic, and political contexts, including the Byzantine Empire, Kyivan Rus, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Cossack Hetmanate, the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Soviet Union.
Through the case study of Ukraine, to learn about international art movements, styles, and traditions, such as Baroque, Romanticism, Realism, Art Nouveau, and Modernism.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Teaching Week 1 - Ukraine in context; Cossack Baroque

Week 1 explores the geographical, historical, and religious contexts of Ukrainian cultural history. Our focus then turns to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the rise of the Cossacks and their state called the “Hetmanate” (1649—1764).

Learning objectives:

Understand how Ukraine’s geography and a variety of cultural, historical, and religious contexts have shaped both the path to statehood and the country’s complex visual culture.
Learn about the Cossacks, the Hetmanate, and their relationships with Muscovite Russia and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Study the key works of art and architecture for week 1, to include Cossack leader portraits, icons, and church art and architecture.
Learn about Baroque art and its features.
Discover icons and the historical links of Ukrainian art with Byzantine art.

Teaching Week 2 - The Effects of Empire

In Week 2, we explore the art histories of Ukraine’s lands and peoples within the context of empire, focusing on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Learning objectives:

Learn how art and architecture was influenced by the Russian Empire, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, and later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Explore how Ukrainian artists took part in the creation of a “Russian” national school of painting, after the founding of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg.
Learn about the Academic training system, including teaching methods and the “hierarchy of genres”.
Study the key art and architecture works for week 2, to include history and portrait painting, and church architecture.
Learn about Romanticism and Neo-Classicism.

Teaching Week 3 - Taras Shevchenko and the Rise of Nationalism

Week 3 considers the artistic impacts of Ukrainian nationalism as it developed over the course of the nineteenth century, and the leading role played by the poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, known as Ukraine’s “kobzar” [bard]. It then examines the emergence of the Realism movement in the mid-century and considers how this enabled more political ideas and national content in art.

Learning objectives:

Discover some of the leading figures in the Ukrainian national movement and their long-term importance in Ukrainian cultural history.
Understand some of the ways that Imperial Russia suppressed Ukrainian national aspirations.
Study the key art works for week 3, to include portraits, genre painting, prints, and landscapes.
Learn about Realism and how artists adapted these ideas to the Ukrainian context.

Teaching Week 4 - From Realism to Fin de Siècle Modern; Folk Art and Design

In week 4, we explore further how Ukrainian nationalism shaped emerging modern art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We will consider the importance of folk art and discuss how this could influence new types of art and infuse local character.

Learning objectives:

Explore the importance of a wider range of art, such as embroidery and wood carving.
Understand how art and design invoked Ukrainian national themes, while also being influenced by artistic movements across Europe, such as Impressionism, Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and Arts and Crafts.
Learn about the rising influence of women in the arts, including Marie Bashkirtseff (painter and diarist) and Mariia Raievska-Ivanova (painter and founder of an art school in Kharkiv).
Study the key art works for week 4, to include genre painting, book illustration, architecture, decorative arts, and landscape painting.

Teaching Week 5 - Avant-Garde between East and West; The Ukrainian People's Republic; Soviet Ukraine

This week we will gain an introductory understanding of avant-garde art and its local and international contexts. We will also consider the impacts of the First World War, the revolutions of 1917, and the Ukrainian War of Independence (1917-1921).

Learning objectives:

Explore the national and international contexts of the “avant-garde”, including movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and Suprematism in the 1910s and 1920s.
Discuss the collapse of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires and Ukraine’s independence between 1917 and 1920 (the Ukrainian People’s Republic), and the transition to the USSR (or “Soviet Union”).
Consider how Ukrainian artists began to institutionalise the national art tradition, including the creation of a Ukrainian Academy of Arts and the impact of the Soviet policy of “korenizatsiia” [indigenisation].
Learn about repression of Ukrainian artists and intellectuals (“Executed Renaissance”) and famine (“Holodomor”) in the 1920s and 1930s.
Study the key art works for week 5, to include graphic design, theatre, painting, architecture, and decorative art.

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Canonical Course ID:

31603

King Lear: tragedy and beyond

Short description:

"For in this the most terrible work of human genius it is with the very springs and sources of nature that her student has set himself to deal...We have heard much and often from theologians of the light of revelation..but the darkness of revelation is here." Algernon Charles Swinburne

Subject ref:

English Literature

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE113

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

1406

Dr Paul Suttie

Course ID:

31677

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Course information

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Aims of the course:

To introduce participants to critical study of Shakepeare's King Lear.
To show participants how this drama has a long history of challenging established ideas about tragedy, the wider aims of literature, and the human condition at large.
To enable participants to assess the merits of some established critical views of the plays, and to engage critically with modern productions (including film versions).

Course content overview:

King Lear has often been regarded as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies. But it is also a play which has frequently been seen as, in one sense or another, exceeding the conventional bounds of tragedy, and thereby challenging received definitions of what tragedy is or can be.

Participants on this course will see how the history of the play, both on the stage and in criticism, has been marked by attempts either to adapt the play to prevailing ideas of tragedy, or conversely to find an idea of tragedy adequate to describe what happens in the play as Shakespeare wrote it. They will also see how such a challenge to the idea of tragedy has necessarily involved a wider challenge to fundamental and often cherished ideas, not only about the wider purpose of literature, but likewise about the very nature of good and evil and of humanity's place in the world.

Particular attention will be given, through collaborative close reading, to the ways the play's text itself initiates such a profound challenge to conventional ideas about tragedy, and to our wider moral bearings in the universe, by the way it represents its characters themselves as grappling with such questions in the face of their often incomprehensible experience.

Each week will focus on a particular part of the play, as well as on one of the key themes the play holds up for scrutiny and on a corresponding aspect of the critical tradition. The five themes around which the five teaching weeks will be organised are: Justice, Nature, The Gods, Virtue and Vice, and Nothingness.

This course will refer to the following editions:

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Cambridge University Press, 2005. (paperback or Kindle edition)

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Course schedule overview:

Week 0 - Preparing to study this course

Purpose/Learning outcomes

Become familiar with navigating around the VLE and from VLE to links and back
Tested their ability to access files and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team.
Learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources.
Used the Forums to introduce themselves to other students.
Contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out their studies and also to respond to a question set by tutor aimed at initiating critical discussion of the set text.

Week 1 - Justice in King Lear (focus on Act One)

Purpose

Students will be introduced to the theme of justice in King Lear through Tate’s 17th century adaptation of the play and the 18th century critics (including Addison and Johnson) who debated the merits of Tate’s radically altered and ‘poetically just’ ending as compared with the Shakespearean original.
Students will begin to explore the importance of the idea of justice in Shakespeare’s text by means of a close look at Act One. We will see that different characters in the play express radically different ideas about what justice consists in and who is entitled to administer it.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

Understood why the concept of ‘poetic justice’ was key to the way in which the play was rewritten, performed, and perceived critically in the period 1660-1800.
Seen in detail how the opening act of Shakespeare’s King Lear explores concepts of justice.
Discussed the place of justice in tragedy in light of Shakespeare’s play and its early reception.

Week 2 - Nature in King Lear (focus on Acts One and Two)

Purpose

Students will be introduced to this week’s theme by way of the growing emphasis in 18th and 19th century criticism (including Schlegel and Coleridge) on nature as a criterion for judging Shakespeare’s text, and will give especial attention to the 20th-century critics (including Stephen Greenblatt and Kathleen McLuskie) who aim to historicise and politicise the concepts of nature that feature in the play.
Students will explore in detail the ways in which the ideas of nature and naturalness are evoked and contested by the play’s characters in Acts One and Two of King Lear.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

Encountered the range of contrasting ideas current in Shakespeare’s time concerning nature and human nature, and observed how these ideas are alluded to in the play.
Seen how, in literary criticism of the past two centuries, ‘naturalness’ has gone from being a touchstone of critical evaluation to a target of critical interrogation.
Discussed with what dramatic function and what political aims various concepts of ‘nature’ and ‘naturalness’ are expressed by characters in Shakespeare’s King Lear (Acts One & Two).

Week 3 - The Gods in King Lear (focus on Acts One – Three)

Purpose

Students will be introduced to the play’s concerns with the divine by way of the approaches taken to Shakespearean tragedy around the turn of the 20th century by Swinburne and Bradley and responses to those approaches among subsequent generations of critics (including Empson, Kott, and Greenblatt).
Students will look closely at the reasons for which the gods are evoked by the plays’ characters, and the various qualities that are attributed to them, in Acts One to Three.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

Understood the importance in 20th-century Shakespeare criticism of the concepts of divine providence and universal order as a context for interpreting the human situation in the play.
Considered in detail the depictions and invocations of the gods by characters in the play.
Explore and debated some key aspects of the 20th-century critical legacy in light of this detailed reading.

Week 4 - Virtue and Vice in King Lear (focus on Act Four)

Purpose

Students will be introduced this week to the theme of moral character, by way of the play’s insistent questions about the nature of human virtue and vice and whether they have transcendent or human origins. We will consider the concern among mid-20th-century critics (including Knights, Wilson Knight, and Orwell) over whether virtue can be a viable end in itself without reference to ultimate rewards or happiness in life; and, with some more recent critics (Kiernan Ryan, Richard Halpern), we will explore the play’s intimations that the origins of evil may lie in the structure of human society rather than in human nature.
Close reading for this week will concentrate on Act Four, with reference as appropriate to Acts One through Three.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

Seen how the theme of moral character, its origins and importance are explored in the play.
Understood and assessed some important 20th-century critical views of the play which focus on these issues, either from an ethical or from a political-historical standpoint.
Discussed the play’s exploration of these themes in the light of additional reading.

Week 5 - Nothingness in King Lear (focus on Act Five)

Purpose

In view of the gap opened in the ground, in previous weeks, under conventional ideas about Justice, Nature, the Gods, and Moral Virtue, students this week will explore the resonance in King Lear of the word ‘nothing’ and the associated idea of absence, with some input from post- structuralist criticism (notably Jonathan Goldberg).
Close reading will focus on Act Five, drawing on Acts One to Four as appropriate. We will consider in particular the strong tendency among the play’s characters to try to impose meaning and resolution on their experience as the action draws towards a close; we will ask what, if anything, these attempts achieve, and how they figure in our experience of the play as a tragedy — or as something beyond.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

Considered in detail the thematic role of ‘nothingness’ in Shakespeare’s play, and the dramatic significance of attempts by the play’s characters to find or make meaning in their experience in the closing scenes of the play.
Learned about the role of this theme in criticism and productions of the last half-century.
Revisited earlier weeks’ discussions, and some central aspects of the history of the play’s reception, in light of this week’s reading and study.

Week 6 - What Next?

Purpose

Assessment of student learning
Assessment of student satisfaction
Encouragement of further study

Certificate of Participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say:

"This was my second time taking Dr Paul Suttie's class, which was even better than the last one, which was already beyond my expectation. Dr Suttie read all the posts and closely examined students' questions and what kind of advice we needed from him. His knowledge is profound, but he is always open to new ideas."

"Very good" is ridiculously inadequate to describe what an outstanding tutor Paul Suttie is. He brings a very high level of scholarship to the topic but makes it accessible and enjoyable. I particularly appreciate his answering every student comment in a thoughtful and respectful way."

“The content was beyond my expectation. The selection of themes and supplemental resources was quite rich and designed to cover various viewpoints in balance.”

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Entry requirements

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This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology

Subject ref:

Psychology

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE105

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

9688

Dr Giulia Mangiaracina

Course ID:

31669

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To introduce participants to the history and key debates in psychology and neuropsychology, exploring the main different cognitive functions and how they interact with one another.
To learn the key techniques and methods to study the mind.
To introduce participants to the main theories, models, and concepts of attention, memory, language, perception, and emotional processing.

Target audience

Anyone with an interest in psychology. This course will touch on the fundamental theories, models, and methods of cognitive psychology with a specific focus on the different functions (attention, memory, language, language, perception, and emotional processing).

Course content overview

Psychology is the study of how we feel, see, hear, speak, learn and narrate our story in the world. Cognitive psychologists primarily focus on how our mind works and how it develops from the moment we are born and during childhood to reach its full capability.

This course is intended for anyone with an interest in psychology and it does not require any previous expertise or knowledge of psychology. We will explore the key ideas, models, and findings of the main cognitive functions, including memory, language, attention, and perception.

The course will also provide insights into the core research methods used to study the mind, brain, and behaviour (from behavioural experiments, to the study of patients with brain damage and the use of neuroimaging techniques). In doing so, participants will learn about the main methods and materials used to explore human feelings, sensations and thinking, as well as the way humans learn and interact with their own selves and others.

This course will give students an understanding of the historical development of modern psychology, a familiarity with what we now know about our own mind-body system through an exciting journey inside our mind and how it evolves throughout our lives with the help of brain plasticity.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Teaching week 1 - What is Cognitive Psychology? History and current core debates

This week will give an overview of the main ideas that underlie modern research in psychology. Content will explore key debates such as the nature and nurture discussion and their role in forming personality and behaviour; the relationship between brain, mind and behaviour and the extent to which the mind-body system can be observed and investigated scientifically; the extent of plasticity in the adult brain; and the extent to which the mind can be conceived in a modular way, with different functions regulated by different neural paths. This will stimulate a critical understanding of psychology in a broad way and of the principles at the heart of its research.

Learning outcomes

To learn about the key findings and assumptions of cognitive psychology;
To get familiar with some of the central debates in cognitive psychology
To understand the relationship between the mind and the brain, as well as the role of genes and experience in shaping human behaviour.

Teaching week 2 - How do we measure the mind? Introduction to psychology's main research methods

This week explores the key research methods of psychology. It will outline the most important techniques at the heart of cognitive psychology and evaluate the contribution they can make to what we now know about the mind and its development. Content will introduce the role of neuropsychological research in understanding how brain lesions can help us understand how the brain normally functions. A review of the key neuroimaging techniques will be given, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emotion tomography (PET), electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and single cell recordings. The podcast will also consider techniques for actively manipulating neural activity (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Learning outcomes

To understand the main methods in cognitive psychology.
To learn about neuroimaging techniques and neuropsychological findings and how they contribute to our knowledge of the human brain.
To develop a critical approach to methods and how each of them helps answer specific research questions.

Teaching week 3 - Introduction to the psychology of human language

This week provides an introduction to the study of language and to the core aspects of language processing. Particular focus will be given to how we learn language and whether we have an innate predisposition to language acquisition. Content will provide an overview of the main theories of language acquisition and the nature of the learning context, discussing the theory of shared attentional orienting (between the parent and the infant) during language development. Lectures will also provide an overview of the different components of language from phonology and morphology to semantics and syntax.

Learning outcomes

To learn the main theories and models related to human language acquisition and to critically evaluate the extent to which empirical studies support different theoretical claims.
To understand the main models accounting for the development of the different components of language.
To develop a critical approach to theories highlighting the crucial role of the learning context during language acquisition (shared attentional orienting).

Teaching week 4 - Introduction to memory, perception, and cross-modal interactions

This week will introduce the concepts of working memory and the most influential models theorised to explain its role. We will also explore evidences for the idea of a ‘phonological loop’ and ‘visuo-spatial’ sketchpad for short term memory. Content will also highlight how language and memory interact with perception to facilitate some aspects of our daily life. In particular, cross-modal effects will be explored, that is how one sensory system (for example what we see) can influence another sense (what we hear); or how perception and language have an influence on each other (such as how language influence how we see colours); or how perception influences memorization.

Learning outcomes

To learn the main ideas and models of working memory and its role in relation with short- and long-term memory.
To understand how language and memory interact with perception to facilitate some aspects of our daily life.
To develop a critical approach to the modular understanding of the mind and appreciate how sensory modalities greatly influence each other.

Teaching week 5 - Introduction to attention, consciousness, and free will

This week will explore the idea of attention and the idea that our experience is shaped by what we focus on. In particular, this week will be dedicated to the influence of attention in our mind’s life and on how our internal and external landscape is designed by our attention (such as the role of attention on memory, language and perception). Videos will also discuss cases of impaired attention and the symptoms it causes (such as the visual spatial neglect). Finally, the session will also provide an overview of the relationship between attention and consciousness, of their co-dependency as well as dissociation. Content will also be dedicated to the relationship between consciousness and free will.

Learning outcomes

To learn the psychological concept of attention and how it shapes thinking.
To understand the contribution of neuropsychology to our understanding of human attention.
To develop a critical approach to the literature on the relationship between attention and consciousness.

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say

"This course offered a variety of fascinating insights into cognitive and neuropsychology. It is amazing how much science has discovered and how much still is to uncover. Comparing evolving theories and receiving glimpses of ongoing debates was very enriching to me."

"Dr Mangiaracina has a very effective way of explaining complex topics and making them accessible to laymen. The course was well structured to allow a high level understanding of neuropsychology and cognitive psychology."

"I like the way Dr. Giulia Mangiaracina presents the course very much. And I also appreciate the clear explanations and perfect preparation of materials which make it easier for me to understand this new stuff better. I´ve already attended one course of Dr. Mangiaracina before and I chose this one partly because of the fact, Dr. Mangiaracina is the tutor. I find her really very good."

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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31601

Creative writing: telling your family story

Short description:

Do you want to write up your own story or that of a forebear? Do you want to produce a record for generations to come, or simply write for your own pleasure? Plan your narrative, make use of old photographs and other artefacts, and mine history to paint your own picture of the past.

This is isn’t a course about researching family history. It is primarily a creative writing course where students use their own family histories as source material. Learn how to find information, what you can draw from it, and how you might shape it to produce your own story.

Subject ref:

Creative Writing

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE103

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

8652

Derek William Niemann

Course ID:

31667

Tuition fee:

£525

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Course information

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Course outline

Welcome week

By studying this week the students should have:

Become familiar with navigating around the VLE and from VLE to links and back.
Tested their ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sorted out any problems with the help of the Helpdesk.
Learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources.
Used forums to introduce themselves to other students.
Contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out of their studies and also to respond to news sent out on behalf of the tutors.

Week 1: A creative approach to life writing

By studying this week the students should have:

An appreciation of the different creative approaches to life writing.

Week 2: The joy of research

By studying this week the students should have:

Gained awareness of the types of historical records available.
Understood what the records will tell you, and what they won’t.
Explored five key genealogical sources (birth, marriage and death registers; census; wills; passenger lists; army records).

Week 3: Finding and using archives

By studying this week the students should have:

An understanding of how to find sources online, and in libraries & archives.
An appreciation of how to make the best use of their time in researching.
An understanding of how to explore key sources for adding colour to writing (newspapers & magazines, private papers & memoirs, visiting where your ancestors lived).

Week 4: A sense of place

By studying this week the students should have:

Learned how to contextualise a family story using places.
Examined how other narratives or documents can support and inform a family story.
Experimented with writing using supporting material.

Week 5: Bringing objects to life

By studying this week the students should have:

Understood how objects can be used to bring a family story to life.
Discovered how we can interpret objects – and photographs in particular – to bring emotional depth and how they can enrich our writing.
Examined different ways in which objects can be incorporated into creative writing.

Week 6: Feedback and future directions

Assessment of student learning.
Assessment of student satisfaction.
Encouragement of further study.
Making your work ‘future proof’ – adding references and citations; depositing copies; writing non-fiction (i.e. articles for family history society journals).
Where to take it from here – this is the end of the course, but it may be a beginning for students who want to pursue their family story to a ‘published’ conclusion.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Certificate of Participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say:

"It was a good mixture of practical elements (the 'how to' of research), access to texts to critique/extend our understanding of associated genres, and writing tasks, with constructive feedback. I think the 'academic content' was pitched correctly for the nature of this course."

"I've done two courses with Derek and he is a first-rate tutor. His speed of response to our assignments was absolutely fantastic, and I always looked forward to reading what he had to say."

"I appreciated Derek's individual feedback on each person's writing, and in an online course it was very helpful that he was available and responsive throughout the week, not only on a particular day. It was helpful that we could read comments on other people's work, as in a masterclass, so we all learned from that teaching. I particularly liked the selection of published work we were given to read. The optional Zoom chat was a welcome opportunity to see and talk to others in person, and I particularly liked how Derek and other students shared recommendations of published memoirs and family stories which might be helpful or especially interesting to others on the course."

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Our online courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.

Given the nature of creative writing, it is important that students' use of English is sufficiently fluent to be able to understand in English nuances of meaning and have a familiarity with the structure and grammar of English. Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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31584

British Children’s Literature in the 20th Century

Subject ref:

Literature and Film

English Literature

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE112

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

9337

Daisy May Johnson

Course ID:

31676

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To explore the history of British children's literature across the 20th Century.
To recognise the impact of cultural and social changes upon published material for children during this period.
To understand some of the trends, patterns, and authors of the 20th Century.

Target audience

Anyone who is interested in children’s literature, children’s reading habits, the history of the twentieth century, and those considering children’s literature as a programme of further study. This course will also be of benefit to writers for children in understanding more about their area of publishing (please note, however, that this is not a creative writing course).

Course content overview

This course will discuss the development of British children’s literature across the twentieth century. We will consider how children’s fiction has been impacted by the changes in society and culture, changing ideas of “the child” and of “childhood”, whilst also recognising some of the key trends and influences from the period. Each teaching week will focus upon a particular period such as the dawn of the twentieth century or the war-years and offer a broad introduction to the period before exploring specific angles of interest.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Teaching Week 1 - Golden Ages and New Girls (1900-1914)

This week will introduce and consider British children’s fiction published between 1900-1914. This was something of a “golden age” in children’s literature where many of the titles published are still considered as classics now, along with the rise of the school story and the birth of children’s literature as we recognise it today. We will consider how golden age fiction celebrated a particular idea of both child and childhood, the newly felt impact of girls as a readership, and the associated rise of the boarding school story.

Learning objectives:

To understand how educational and cultural reforms impacted upon the rise of popular children’s fiction for girls.
To identify some of the key characteristics of golden age children’s literature.
To examine how golden age children’s literature constructed the child.

Teaching Week 2 - The War Years (1914-18 & 1939-1945)

This week will look at children’s fiction published during the first and second world wars. We will explore the fierce patriotism of the first world war, with all its legacy of empire and colonialism, before then comparing this against the patriotism of the second world war. We will also discuss how authors approached writing in wartime and how children’s literature came to function as a form of support and resistance for its readers.

Learning objectives:

to recognise some of the differences between children’s literature published in World War One and World War Two.
To analyse how some authors for children approached their writing in wartime.
To understand how children’s fiction both contributed to and challenged the ‘home front’ national identity.

Teaching Week 3 - New Beginnings and Radical Leanings (1950+)

The post-war period saw a period of radicalism in children’s literature with many new imprints being formed by publishers in order to explore a brave new world. We will consider how these imprints and their editors influenced post-war publishing and helped generate a new form of golden age literature. We shall also consider the foregrounding of representation and social diversity within children’s literature, how authors dealt with the legacy of their own and their reader’s wartime experiences, and the rise of the fantastical in children’s fiction.

Learning objectives:

To consider how editors and post-war imprints guided and formed public taste.
To recognise how authors for children dealt with the legacy of individual and collective war experience.
To understand the impact of changing ideas around children and childhood upon children’s literature.

Teaching Week 4 - The Recession, the Natural and the Fantastical (1970+)

This week will consider how children’s publishing navigated the heightened political and personal circumstances of the 1970s. We will look at the rise of young adult literature and consider how the social and cultural movements of the wider world, such as financial austerity, impacted upon publishing for young people. We will also consider how authors looked towards the natural world for inspiration and how this interacted with ideas of the political.

Learning objectives:

To describe some of the differences between children’s and young adult literature.
To consider the role of the “political” within children’s literature.
To analyse some extracts of nature writing within children’s literature.

Teaching Week 5 - A New Golden Age? (1990-2000)

The final decade of the 20th Century saw British children’s literature experience something of a cultural boom with the publication of titles such as the Northern Lights series by Phillip Pullman, the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and the assertion of another “golden age”. Discussion also turned to issues of diversity and representation and publishing became increasingly big business. Students will consider the relationship between the industry and creativity, issues of representation within children’s literature, and how the children’s literature of this period talks back to what has come before.

Learning objectives:

To consider diversity and representation in children’s literature and in particular “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” (Dr Rudine Sims Bishop, 1990).
To recognise and explain some of the overarching themes in children’s publishing of the twentieth century.
To consider the “golden age” of the nineties in relation to previous golden age periods.

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Canonical Course ID:

31544

The law of England and Wales: an introduction

Subject ref:

Law and Criminology

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE104

Start date:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 5 July, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 18 May, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

9621

Rosalind English

Course ID:

31668

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

Course photo:

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To help those who have decided to commit themselves to a degree in law in this country;
To enlighten non-lawyers who need to know how the law works (journalists, social workers, etc.);
Anyone interested in how legal systems hold societies together.

Target audience

This course is open to anyone with an interest in the field: potential law students; anyone interested in the law, and people with an interest in how politicians have to engage with legal constraints.

Course content overview

Teaching week 1 - How law cements society

To enlighten non lawyers and those who have just embarked on a law course how the rule of law arose in medieval Britain to restrain the powers of the ruler in respect of the citizen. How private law was essential for the maintenance of justice between citizens, so that a wrong perpetrated by one citizen against another is compensated/punished, depending whether it is civil of criminal.

Learning outcomes

A thorough understanding about why and how the rule of law underlies the maintenance of a civil and peaceful society
The different types of law: legislation, common law and equity

Teaching week 2 - Criminal Law vs Civil Law

Learning outcomes

An understanding about the divide between a civil wrong, which usually leads to an award of compensation to the victim from the wrongdoer, and a criminal act, which does not necessarily result in a monetary award but some sort of punishment for the wrongdoer
Why this difference is so important: the distinction between negligence and intention to do harm

Teaching week 3 - Tools and resources

The use of materials in law is quite different from other disciplines. This unit is designed to teach students how to handle legal materials, rather than passing exams.

Learning outcomes

An appreciation of the importance of primary sources
Understanding why it is so important to find a relevant precedent in the law reports
To appreciate the significance of being able to read statutes and judicial decisions, over second hand textbook analyses
Understanding the structure of a law report and statute books

Teaching week 4 - Who's to judge?

To explain the structure of the English court system, and the dual professions of barristers and solicitors.

Learning outcomes

An understanding of the doctrine of precedent
The practical difference between levels of court: the High Court, the Crown Court, the Court of Appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeal, Magistrates’ Courts, County Courts etc.
An appreciation of the rulings of the various International Courts and their effect on domestic law

Teaching week 5 - Civil rights and wrongs

To acquaint participants with the range of civil actions available to the individual: breach of contract, tort, breach of trust. Civil rights enjoyed by the individual against the state enforceable by judicial review.

The post-Brexit future of European Union law (Brussels) and the rights set out in the European Convention of Human Rights (Strasbourg).

Learning outcomes

Understanding of the difference between actions between citizens (“private law”) and actions against the state (“public law”)
An appreciation of why there is so much controversy about the proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 under the present government

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Weeks: 25 May-28 June 2026

Feedback Week: 29 June-5 July 2026

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say:

"Very well presented material and so available English, which is reflected not only as legal language, but also in comprehensibility for a person who is not fluent in English."

"The lectures that Rosalind English gave were excellent. The course developed week by week just as the legal system had evolved over the centuries. I have been through each lecture more than once. I did enjoy writing essays in response to the course work."

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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31541

The big questions in archaeology

Subject ref:

Archaeology

Type ref:

Dr Isabelle Vella Gregory

Course code:

2526NOE097

Start date:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 24 May, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

1928

Course ID:

31663

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

Course photo:

City or Town:

Postcode:

Single capacity:

Double capacity:

Twin capacity:

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To explore key questions about humanity via archaeology
To learn the contribution of archaeology to these questions
to acquire new skills and methods in answering questions

Course content overview

Archaeology studies humanity’s past via material remains - but it does much more than that. As a discipline, it deals with some of the fundamental questions about humanity. Where do we come from? What makes us human? Are we the result of our genes? Do civilizations rise and fall? How does change happen? If you are interested in these questions, then this course is for you. Join me as we explore some of the big questions about what makes us human. Specifically, we will look at how archaeology can help us answer these questions. We will look at the key events and material remains and trace where ideas come from. Are our interpretations rooted in evidence or are they the result of wider historical forces? If you are interested in challenging what we know about our world, then this course is for you. Over the duration of the course we will explore some of the most challenging and fascinating questions with a mix of illustrated lectures, podcasts and discussions.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 6-12 April 2026

Teaching Weeks: 13 April-17 May 2026

Feedback Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Week 1 - Where do we come from? Are we just big apes?

What does it mean to have a common ape ancestor? This lecture offers an overview of humanity’s fascinating journey from the common ape ancestor to modern humans (H. Sapiens sapiens). Our journey starts in Africa, an Africa that was very different from the one we know today. The journey to ‘becoming human’ is full of twists and turns. We will encounter different species, trace ancient footprints and follow a complex but fascinating puzzle. What was the world before us like?

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the participants should have:

Understood the basic mechanisms of human evolution
Traced the spread of humans

Teaching Week 2 - Are we the result of our genes? Exploring genetics and race 'science'

What exactly is a gene? Is something invisible to the naked eye really important? We are all familiar with the idea of DNA, whether we are watching a TV show or sending off samples to a “genetic ancestry” company. It looks simple: provide some saliva and catch the killer or find your long-lost ancestor. In reality, it is not straightforward. Join me as we explore what a gene is, and how this thing, so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye, has been used and abused. What can genes tell us? What cannot they tell us?

This week we will explore the basics of genetics. Genetics is an important and vibrant field, but it has its limitations. More importantly, concepts of genetics, superiority and adaptation pre-date the actual scientific study of genetics. This week we trace the complex history of the gene and focus on what we can and cannot learn.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week participants should have:

Familiarized themselves the basics of genetics
Explored the origins and impact of race ‘science’

Teaching Week 3 - The rise of civilisations

What is a civilisation? How does a civilisation emerge? This lecture will focus on specific examples of ‘civilisations’, but fundamentally it asks what a civilisation is. Why does the idea of a civilisation conjure up visions of the Roman Empire but not of Nubia, for example? Rather than exploring individual civilisations, this week we will look at the fundamental issues, while examining a number of key places and societies.

The aim is not to explore a specific ‘civilisation’ but, in line with the course ethos, to engage with the idea of civilisations. Participants will be taken on a journey, documentary-style, and their attention will be directed to the Big Questions.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week participants should have:

Developed an understanding of what a civilisation is
Developed a solid interpretive framework

Teaching Week 4 - Empires, Kingdoms and Power

What is an empire? If the concept of a civilization is hazy, how about an empire? What happens when empires fall? In this lecture we will delve further into power, and what happens when power is concentrated in the hands of one ruler? This week we will challenge what we think we know about kingship. Is kingship synonymous with empire? What does a king look like? Our journey will take us to Sudan, Mali and beyond as we explore different forms of power.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week participants should have:

Furthered their understanding of what a civilisation is
Developed experience in constructing their own arguments

Teaching Week 5 - Empires: ancient and modern

In the 21st century we are witnessing a widespread debate with imperialism and decolonization. Are empires a thing of the recent past? How might they differ from ancient empires? We will explore how ancient and modern empires conceptualize allies and enemies. How are divisions defined? Have they always been based on ideas of racial superiority?

This lecture discusses some hard-hitting topics. For example, what is the difference between Romans owning slaves and the Atlantic slave trade? Is discrimination a modern phenomenon? It is not, but its nature has changed considerably across time. This is something that archaeologists can and do trace in the archaeological record. It is also a multi-disciplinary project – because in asking the Big Questions we need to use a number of methods.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week participants should have:

Understood the different types of empires
The impact of different empires

Feedback Week

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say

"This is another fascinating course from the ICE. Besides touching upon human evolution (which I wrongly thought would be the main theme), the tutor also gave an overview of various subjects. The topics of civilisation and the development of empires/kingdoms are particularly interesting and the related course materials certainly gave a different perspective compared with the conventional views. Overall speaking, I gained much knowledge through this course and the coverage of the course and the course materials surely exceeded my expectation."

"Isabelle's lectures where clear and she made tricky topics easy to follow and understand."

"It was brilliant to discuss archaeology with an expert such as Isabelle. I had private conversations on the invited zoom and participated in one of her lectures Jebel Moya. I'd never studied any aspects of archaeology before...and Isabelle informed me about Certificates and Diplomas with ICE."

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees and financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Canonical Course ID:

31613

Shakespeare and the interpretation of history

Short description:

The interpretation of history mattered to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Not only did the legitimacy of the Elizabethan regime under which they lived depend on a very particular reading of history, but retelling stories about the political past was a recognized way of talking obliquely about the political present. We will look closely at two of Shakespeare's plays, Richard II and Henry V, asking what interpretation they make of history, and what they have to say about the ways in which history is shaped by interpretation, not only in retrospect but at the very time when it is being made.

Subject ref:

English Literature

Type ref:

Course code:

2526NOE095

Start date:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 24 May, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

1406

Dr Paul Suttie

Course ID:

31661

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

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Course information

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Aims of the course:

To introduce students to critical study of two of Shakespeare's most important history plays, Richard II and Henry V, in both of which the interpretation of historical events is a central concern.
To show students how these dramas have played a role in the interpretation of English history, both in Shakespeare's day and in our own.
To enable students to assess the merits of some established critical views of the plays, and to engage critically with modern productions (including readily available film versions)

Course content overview:

Students will learn how these plays, rather than merely recounting a particular version of history, themselves explore how important historical events come to be differently and often tendentiously interpreted, both at the time when they occur and in retrospect

Attention will be given to the ways in which a play's interpretation of history could prove disquieting to the authorities of the day, and hence dangerous to those who staged it.

In weeks 1-3 the text is Richard II, with special emphasis on its significance and reception in Shakespeare's own time. in weeks 4-5 the course will turn to Henry V, revisiting questions from weeks 1-3 but also moving on to consider the interpretation of a Shakespearean history play (and of history itself as received through Shakespeare) in modern times, especially on film, from World War II on.

This course will refer to the following editions:

Shakespeare, William. Richard II. Cambridge University Press, 2003. (paperback or Kindle edition)

Shakespeare, william. Henry V. Cambridge University Press, 2005. (paperback or Kindle edition)

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):

Orientation Week: 6-12 April 2026

Teaching Weeks: 13 April-17 May 2026

Feedback Week: 18-24 May 2026

Detailed Course Schedule

Week 0 - Preparing to study this course

Purpose/Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

• Become familiar with navigating around the VLE and from VLE to links and back.

•Tested their ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team.

•Learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources.

•Used Quickmail to introduce themselves to other students.

•Contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out their studies and also to respond to News item sent out on behalf of tutor.

Week 1 - Richard II and the politics of English history (Richard II, Act One)

Purpose:

Students will be introduced to the official version of English history promoted by the Tudor dynasty, and will begin to consider why and in what version Shakespeare’s Richard II and its sequels set out to retell that familiar history to their original Elizabethan audiences.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

•Understood why the period of English history from the reign of Richard II onwards was so important to the Tudor dynasty and so interesting to Elizabethan audiences.

•Grasped how the opening act of Shakespeare’s Richard II alludes to key events in this history.

•Discussed what interpretation the play puts on those events, and how the principal characters in the play interpret their own roles as historical actors.

Week 2 - Richard II and the Renaissance monarch (Richard II, Acts Two and Three)

Purpose:

Students will be introduced to the diversity of political thinking in Elizabethan England, and will see how a range of distinct political views are appealed to by characters in Shakespeare’s Richard II. They will consider how the play engages with a specific political issue which was important to its original audience and yet perilous to discuss, namely the nature and limits of a monarch’s authority.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

•Encountered the range of contrasting ideas current in Shakespeare’s time concerning the basis of a monarch’s authority and the possible grounds for resisting it.

•Considered why a history play might have been an apt vehicle for exploring such ideas.

•Discussed with what dramatic function and what political aims some of these ideas are expressed by characters in Shakespeare’s Richard II.

Week 3 - Richard II as political dynamite — royal anger and state censorship (Richard II, Acts Four and Five)

Purpose:

Students will learn how Shakespeare’s Richard II proved politically controversial and even dangerous in its own time, both on stage and in print. They will be introduced to the nature of Elizabethan censorship and propaganda, and to the delicate relationship between the professional acting companies and the monarchy.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

•Learned about the involvement of Shakespeare’s play and acting company in a significant Elizabethan political crisis, the Essex rebellion, and seen how political censorship affected the text of the play as printed in the earliest editions.

•Considered the relation of Shakespeare’s acting company with state power and propaganda.

•Explored and debated the politics of the play itself, especially its closing acts, in light of these events and considerations.

Week 4 - Henry V — nationalist propaganda, subversive critique, or something in between?

Purpose

Students will apply what they have learned in weeks 1 – 3 to another important Shakespearean history play, Henry V, focusing on some scenes which illustrate the complexity of its interpretation of history and the attendant difficulties it presents to criticism. They will encounter, and debate the merits of, some seminal critical views of the play.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

•Applied the learning content of weeks 1 – 3 to a second English history play, Henry V.

•Understood and assessed some important critical views of the play.

•Discussed the play’s exploration of the theme of the interpretation of history.

Week 5 - Henry V on film — Shakespearean history still open to interpretation

Purpose

Students will be introduced to the modern production history of Shakespeare’s Henry V, with especial attention to film versions (which they will be encouraged to watch). Discussion will focus on (1) how different productions adapt the play to convey a particular interpretation of history, and (2) how modern productions cope with the difficulty that modern audiences are unlikely to have the relevant historical background knowledge assumed by the playwright.

Learning outcomes

By studying this week the students should have:

•Learned about, and encountered at first hand, some significant modern productions of Shakespeare’s play.

•Considered how particular productions interpret the historical events represented by the play, and how they adapt Shakespeare’s text to that end.

•Discussed the difficulties of staging Shakespeare’s history plays for modern audiences.

Week 6 - What Next?

Purpose

•Assessment of student learning

•Assessment of student satisfaction

•Encouragement of further study

Certificate of Participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

What our students say:

"The short video followed by the short audio presentations were very helpful and easy to take in. The resources were good supplementary reading."

"Excellent. The course delivery felt personal and accessible as well as serious and challenging."

"The tutor, Paul, gave very nuanced and interesting perspectives on the plays. He challenged all of us to think more deeply about many meaningful aspects of Shakespeare's interpretation of history. I learned a great deal."

"I love the personal notes, that every comment and query or uncertainty is picked up and addressed. The challenging of thoughts presented but always in a positive way and never speaking down to the participants. BA very engaged and engaging tutor - I look forward to logging on every day and learning more."

“There was good course feedback, with all of us participants being involved and our responses acknowledged. I learned that there was much more to Richard 2nd and to Henry 5th than I had realised.”

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Entry requirements

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This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees & financial support

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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Fascist Heritage: legacies of Mussolini's Italy

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History

Architectural History

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Course code:

2526NOE098

Start date:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00 to Sunday, 24 May, 2026 - 01:00

Apply by:

Monday, 6 April, 2026 - 01:00

Course tutor id:

10056

Dr Flaminia Bartolini

Course ID:

31664

Tuition fee:

£415

Course programme:

Short online courses

Duration description:

7 Weeks

Non-accredited

Course photo:

City or Town:

Postcode:

Single capacity:

Double capacity:

Twin capacity:

Single usage:

Double usage:

Twin usage:

Maximum places:

Booked places:

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Overview

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Aims of the course

To introduce participants to the heritage of fascism.
To encourage participants to think critically and creatively about heritage and how this can be manipulated by dictatorial regimes.
To enable participants to work collaboratively with their peers to further the understanding and presentation of this period.

Course content overview

Dictators and authoritarian leaders have always relied extensively on art, architecture and culture as a powerful way to deliver their ideology. The Italian fascist dictatorship is no exception, but how were art and architecture used to work as constant reminder of the will of the leader? This online course will explore how heritage sites connected to Mussolini’s life and period of rule are places with legacies that are difficult for Italians to deal with today. As many sites were the material representation of fascist beliefs and values, this course will examine the narrative behind these ‘reminders’ and think through why these sites are still problematic today.

Target audience

This course will be of interest to participants interested in archaeology, history, conservation, heritage management, political studies, ethics, historic environment, architecture, etc. No previous knowledge of the subject is required.

Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)

Orientation Week: 6-12 April 2026

Teaching Weeks: 13 April-17 May 2026

Feedback Week: 18-24 May 2026

Teaching Week 1 - A general introduction to Italian fascist heritage

This week will introduce the relationship between heritage and fascist regime, in particular how Mussolini relied on Culture as a powerful ideological tool. Participants will gain an understanding of the material legacies of fascism and of how propaganda works.

Teaching Week 2 - Fascist heritage in Rome and key case studies

Mussolini had a very special relationship with the city of Rome, he hated and loved the city at the same time. This week we will explore why Rome and the myth of Rome were so important for propaganda and how Mussolini used art and architecture to leave an enduring legacy. Participants will gain a basic understanding of how Roman antiquities have been used by the regime for political gain; an overview of the main fascist sites in Rome; an understanding of the importance of contemporary debate over contested monuments.

Teaching Week 3 - Difficult heritage and the legacies of the regime

This week will look at what the term ‘Difficult Heritage’ means, what are its political implications in light of the contemporary debate over contested monuments, and what the different positions are on this topic. Participants will gain an understanding of what makes heritage ‘difficult’ and what this means when referred to fascist heritage.

Teaching Week 4 - Mussolini's home at Villa Torlonia in Rome

This week will look at Mussolini’s villa in Rome, how the place has changed from the post-war to present day , and how the site is currently presented to the public. Participants will gain an understanding of the different issues that emerge in presenting a difficult site to the public.

Teaching Week 5 - Mussolini's birth and resting place in Predappio

Mussolini’s birth and resting place in Predappio is a difficult heritage site in the post-war period. It has become a neo-fascist pilgrimage site. This week will discuss the dangers of heritage sites like Predappio and possible ways to address the various issues. Participants will gain an understanding of the perils of fascist sites to turn into neo-fascist sites of memory and how to deal with them.

Virtual Learning Environment

Certificate of participation

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.

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Requirements

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Entry requirements

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course.

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Fees & concessions

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Fees

VAT does not apply to course fees and there is no service charge (gratuities to domestic staff are left to your discretion).

Concessions

For more information on available concessions, please visit the Concessions information page on our website.

Alison Fordham Bursary

Application criteria:

Applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study.
Applicants who can demonstrate financial need.
Apply here https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/bursary-application

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