Archive of South East | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations - Part 4
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Writing non-fiction: bringing the past to life
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe past might be your grandfather's experience of the Great War, the secret life of your house or your parents' early years as newcomers to post-war Britain. Whether you're just starting out or have already begun writing, this weekly course will help you to think more deeply about the past and the most compelling way...
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Research at the museums
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesTaking a behind-the-scenes tour of a different Cambridge museum each week, this course will explore how the collections housed across Cambridge are still being used in cutting-edge research. We will see that, far from being a record of past discoveries, Cambridge collections are still leading to surprising discoveries about the past, as well as helping...
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The exotic Universe
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesFrom exploding stars to dark matter, join us for a non-mathematical exploration of some of the strangest places in the Universe. Each session will introduce a type of astronomical object (e.g. pulsars, quasars, supernovae), then we will investigate its extreme behaviour and explore how it fits into our understanding of the lives of stars and...
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Intermediate German: Die Berliner Mauer – DDR und Wiedervereinigung
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis weekend course, conducted in German, is designed for those who can already speak some German, but who wish to gain more confidence in their use of the language. The level of linguistic competence expected is a B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Through the medium of short non-fictional and...
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English medieval towns: Norwich, King’s Lynn, Canterbury and Cambridge
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesFour towns will be examined, all in Eastern England, each with a different story. Norwich was largely swept clear by the Normans in a dramatic exercise of royal authority. Canterbury evolved more slowly and came to be dominated by the Church and the Cult of Becket. King's Lynn was totally invented by the Normans, a...
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In the merry company of Dutch Golden Age art
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesArt was a key element in the 17th-century Dutch Republic's process of self-definition, with domestic life pictures clarifying the values that underpinned the emerging culture. By the time of Dutch independence from Spanish rule in 1648 the United Provinces had the highest standard of living in Europe, so who were the people who had achieved...
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Divided kingdom: Social class and inequality in modern Britain
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesAll complex societies are characterised by the unequal distribution of resources. In this course, we will take a fresh look at the extent to which Britain is united or divided in the early 21st century by exploring social class, ethnic and gender inequalities. We will consider definitions of social class and its impact on life...
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Gloriana: the life and times of Elizabeth I, 1533-1603 (online)
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesShe was called Gloriana! The Virgin Queen! Elizabeth created a propaganda image of herself embodying English victories and English power which has endured into the 21st century. But what was the reality of her reign? This course will seek to explore the life and times of this extraordinary woman and, in the process, uncover something...
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How did Christianity begin? (online)
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe appearance of Christianity is one of the great events in world history but how should it be explained? This course will introduce the latest thinking by scholars in the field and is intended to help participants arrive at their own, informed, conclusions. Each unit will focus on a question key to making sense of...
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An introduction to design thinking and design process (online)
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis short course aims to provide participants with an insight into design, design thinking and how that translates into a design process through a variety of disciplines. In developing an open way of thinking about design, problem solving, and design process, participants will be able to connect with design in a variety of active ways;...
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Shakespeare and the interpretation of history (online)
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe 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...
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Interpersonal dynamics of executive coaching
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis online course explores the role of psychological and emotional factors within the coaching process. During executive coaching programmes, coaches are often engaged in triangular relationships - not only with the individual client, but also with stakeholders from the sponsoring organisation. This course explores the coach's inter-personal and relationship management skills that enable effective coaching...
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Tey time: the works of Josephine Tey
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesTime to revisit the novels of Josephine Tey! You will gain from this course an overview of her life and works and come to appreciate the variety of her narrative techniques in The Man in the Queue, Miss Pym Disposes and The Franchise Affair. Lastly, we will follow Inspector Grant's investigation into the case of Richard III in The Daughter...
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Learn to code: developing simple web applications
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis one day course will take you through the process of developing a simple web application that uses Java and HTML services. The course will consist of a number of programming lab sessions which step through the process of editing, assembling and running a simple program. By the end of the course you should be...
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From here to the edge of the observable Universe
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesHave you ever wondered about planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, dark matter, vacuum energy, or if we are alone in the Universe? If so, this non-mathematical introductory course on modern astronomy is for you. The course will take the form of a tour starting in our solar system and ending at the limit of our...
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Creative writing for teachers
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesWhether you aim to teach adults or children, this course is designed to equip you with the skills you need to get the best results from your students. The fundamental elements of creative writing will be covered alongside coaching in how to create a class atmosphere conducive to creativity and how to encourage, support and...
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One day, one novel: Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis day school is part of the 'One day, one novel' series for 2015-16. Each day school focuses on one novel and through a series of lecture and class discussions, helps you to study the novel in great depth, getting to know the author and the text as closely as possible.
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One day, one novel: Middlemarch
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis day school is part of the 'One day, one novel' series for 2015-16. Each day school focuses on one novel and through a series of lecture and class discussions, helps you to study the novel in great depth, getting to know the author and the text as closely as possible.
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Beginners’ French: Meet the French
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesWanting to improve your communication skills? This course will give you the opportunity of practising your French no matter how rusty or hesitant. Get an insight into the life and personality of a few French celebrities and also learn how to engage with people you meet in everyday situations. The course is conducted entirely in...
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Advanced Italian: A cultural grand tour of Italy
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesA weekend on Italian language, literature and culture, offering those with a fair or good knowledge of Italian the opportunity not only to practise and improve their language skills, but also to read, translate and discuss a selection of work by Italian writers and to watch original audio-visual material related to the topic of the...
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John of Gaunt
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesJohn of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340-99) is one of the most high-profile, and best-documented, English noblemen of the Middle Ages. This course will explore his life as a way into topics such as the Hundred Years War, the Great Revolt of 1381 (in which Gaunt was public enemy number one) and developments in the...
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French crime fiction: from Vidocq to Vargas
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis course examines the French side of cross-Channel competition and exchange, through key authors who have influenced crime writing since its establishment in the mid-19th century. The themes will be: i) the growth of French detectives in in inquisitorial system of justice; ii) the educational importance of the historical past on the events of the...
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Prehistoric Britain: an archaeological introduction
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe course will look at all aspects of prehistoric development in Britain. We will explore topics such as Bronze Age burials, flint and metal implements, Stonehenge, megalithic burial mounds, stone circles, Iron Age hill forts and settlements, agriculture, fields and farming. We will discover how prehistoric societies developed from their early origins into the formalised...
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The promise of Enlightenment
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesWhat is the Enlightenment? What was its promise and has it failed? The Enlightenment ushered in a modern era of belief in progress through reason and science. This course is an opportunity to participate in the great philosophical debate over the promise of Enlightenment.
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Masters of British landscape from Gainsborough to Goldsworthy
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesLandscape is everywhere; an obvious subject for painters and one which has inspired many of our greatest masters, from Gainsborough, Constable and Turner to the Pre-Raphaelites and Stanley Spencer. Come and spend a weekend exploring their struggles, their triumphs, and the passion that drove them to change the ways we look at nature forever.
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Tracing the origins of the British using genetics, linguistics and chroniclers
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThe origins of the British seem to have been securely laid out since Bede in AD 731, who described the coming of the Anglo-Saxons, and since Buchanan in AD 1582, who suggested that the early British were from Gaul, ultimately leading to the modern concept of an Iron Age 'Celtic' Britain. However, the traditional views...
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The Spanish Civil War
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThis year sees the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The war was a major event in 20th-century Europe and attracted passionate interest across the world. This course introduces you to debates over the war's origins, its effects and the causes of Franco's victory as well as the passions roused in...
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Music for the cinema: the neglected art
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesWhat exactly does music do for films when we wouldn't expect it in the theatre? Why is it no longer the force it once was? From the closing years of the silent era to close on a hundred years of 'the talkies', we trace and analyse the role of music 'in the film cast' with...
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Conservation science
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesThere is no doubt that natural habitats and the species they contain are under severe threat from human disturbance; from tropical rainforests to the polar ice-caps, no area of the planet has escaped. In this course, we will explore key issues in modern conservation. Rather than bemoaning losses, we will focus on what can be...
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A history of English furniture, 1500-1830
Listed on January 29, 2016 by Madingley Hall in Featured CoursesA history of English furniture from its beginnings in 1500 through to the beginning of the Victorian period using, as a framework, the woods principally utilised, and combining this with art and social history. The course will aim to provide an appreciation of English furniture, and there will be an opportunity to handle some items.
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