Daily schedule
Academic timetable
The academic timetable runs from Monday to Friday each week.
The programme provides a minimum of 46.5 contact hours, comprising:
- 24 hours of seminar meetings (12 hours per seminar)
- 22.5 hours of talks (15 sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours).
Each seminar has two two-hour meetings per week, and classes typically contain no more than 15 students.
Students are also expected to complete private study during the programme (eg reading, work in libraries, writing papers).
Meals and special dinners
All meals included in the programme take place in Exeter College's dining hall and are self-service, with a range of options available. The only exceptions are the summer school's opening and closing dinners, which are formal served set menu meals.
Details of which meals are included in the residential and non-residential options can be found in the 'accommodation' section.
Social programme
A range of optional social events* will be offered throughout the summer school. These usually take place in the evenings and weekends and are likely to include:
- walking tour of Oxford
- after-dinner talks and discussions
- weekend excursions to sites of historical and/or literary interest.
Beyond the summer school, Oxford is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with a busy cultural and social scene offering a wide variety of plays and shows, concerts, films and exhibitions.
*Please note that most of these activities incur additional costs.
Seminar options
Applicants choose two seminars from the list below. Please check the seminar timetable when choosing your options to ensure they do not run at the same time.
British Political History: 1945-Present
This course introduces students to the main themes of British political history in the post-war years. Starting with the reforming Labour Government elected in 1945 which brought in the National Health Service and nationalised major industries, it will take you through the onset of the Cold War, the dismantling of empire, the change from austerity to affluence, the impact of the 'swinging sixties' and the 'transforming' decades of the Thatcher and Blair governments, ending with the divisive years following the referendum on membership of the European Union. The focus with be on the ideas and movements that drove the political, social and cultural changes and the impact of key political figures on the important events of this period. Among questions addressed by this course will be: Was the idea of a 'People's War' behind the election of the 1945 Labour government? What role did the Cold War play in British politics? Did the 'swinging sixties' benefit the left or the right in the long-term trajectory of British politics? Was 'Thatcherism' Conservatism or something else? Is Britain more divided after 'Brexit' than it was in 1945?
Tutor: Dr Geoff Andrews is Senior Lecturer in Politics at The Open University. He has written widely on the history of political ideas and movements, including aspects of British and Italian history and the politics of the 1930s.
Europe in Times of Polycrisis and Uncertainty
The recent times have been the most challenging in the history of the European Union as it navigated from crisis to crisis - from the eurozone to the refugee, from Brexit to COVID, and from the war in Ukraine to energy crisis. Faced with economic, political, social and geopolitical challenges, the EU is adapting to a new reality of crises and unpredictability. This course looks at how the EU responds to crises and uncertainty within a competitive multipolar world, and seeks to understand whether all these consecutive critical events make it stronger or weaker internally as well as eternally in the world. As such, the course will look into the progress of European integration vis a vis main challenges in the fields of security and defence, climate and energy, migration and populism, as well as competition with other world powers.
Tutor: Dr Othon Anastasakis is Senior Research Fellow and Tutor in South East European Studies at St Antony’s College, Oxford. He supervises post-graduate students at Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations and at the Faculty of History. He teaches at the Oxford School of Global and Area Areas Studies and at the Oxford Prospects Programme. He is Director of the European Studies Centre, Oxford, and Director of South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX). He is an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, a Visiting Professor at the Prague School of Economics, and Region Head of Europe at Oxford Analytica.
Gender, Power and Social Change: Western Perspectives from the 1950s to the Present
Are sex and gender synonymous? Does gender power have an evolutionary explanation or is it socially constructed? How fluid is sexuality? This course will examine the main theories of gender utilised in evolutionary psychology and sociology with particular emphasis on the origins and perpetuation of a gendered power dynamic in modern Western societies. The course will explore gender and sexuality in the context of the family, personal relationships, employment, education, the media, criminality and the state.
Tutor: Dr Amanda Palmer is a Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and the Director of Studies for Human Sciences at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. She is also Chair of Examiners for Human Sciences. She is the Director of the History, Politics & Society Summer School.
The Making of the Modern Middle East
This course will examine the key historical period - from the British and French defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1916 to the end of the first Arab-Israel War in 1949 - that created today’s Middle East and its enduring complexity and conflict. This will set in context the modern and contemporary political, strategic and social realities in the region, allowing us at the end of the course to examine regional war and peace dynamics today, including studying maps that were used in the room at past Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, some of which the course tutor personally participated in.
Tutor: Hagai M. Segal is a multi-award-winning academic, consultant and analyst, specialising in geopolitics, international security, and the Middle East. A New York University London professor, he is twice a recipient of NYU annual teaching awards, and has previously helped plan and facilitate a round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Modern Political Leadership: The Powers of the US President and the UK Prime Minister Compared
This course will provide students with an insight into the study of political leadership in the executive branch of the US and the UK government. And, applying comparative politics tools to compare and contrast the US president and the UK prime minister, it will explore how executive leadership is enacted differently in presidential, federal political systems compared to parliamentary, unitary ones. The course will provide a means for students, irrespective of prior knowledge, to develop a set of skills to analyse the form and functions of contemporary political leadership. It will also provide an informed appreciation of the place of the presidency in US politics by a detailed comparison with the UK prime ministership. It offers some conceptual tools helping students appreciate the varied environments within which political actors operate, namely historical processes, political, party and electoral systems, electoral and public opinion, social, cultural and economic events, interest group activity, forms of political communications, and the impacts of the mainstream news media.
Tutor: Dr Richard Heffernan is a Reader in Government at the Open University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame, teaching on its Undergraduate London Programme. His research interests are in comparative politics and government, specifically British politics, and particularly the British prime minister.
The Politics of Migration: Colonial Legacies, Nation-Making, and Cultures of Resistance
This course explores global migration patterns with a particular focus on the UK. We will begin by understanding the causes of migration and methodological approaches to understanding these, which will be rooted in interdisciplinary approaches including but not limited to anthropology, geography, and sociology. We will then turn to considering the colonial legacies of migration, laying the foundations to understanding why migration is a highly politicised subject in contemporary society. We will focus on the way the politics of migration particularly employed in nation-making practices and the implications for lived experiences, including forms of discrimination such as Islamophobia. In later sections of the course, we will turn to examining cultures of migration and resistance. This course aims to provide a multi-dimensional and decolonial examination of migration in the 21st century.
Tutor: Dr Suriyah Bi is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Bristol, and Lecturer in Islam in Britain at SOAS University of London. She has previously lectured at Oxford University and the University of Edinburgh. She also works to translate academic research into policy through the Equality Act Review, which she founded in 2018.
The Social Mind and Matrix
To properly understand the events that have influenced the contemporary world, it is important to understand the minds of the people who have been part of them. This course begins by introducing students to the scientific method used to examine some of the main mental principles guiding social behaviour and macro thought. We then explore how individuals change when in groups, crowds and cults, to better understand how seemingly evil acts can be committed by seemingly ordinary civilians. We end the course by exploring how best to utilise the powerful social forces within us for good, leading not only to individual thriving, but also societal and global thriving.
Tutor: Sabina Funk has a background in neuroscience and now works at Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre as a research associate. She is fascinated by the mechanisms of the mind and why we feel, think and behave as we do. She focuses on how this knowledge can be used to better understand the nature of events influencing the modern world.
