CAM1 - Our Changing World

3 July 2016 – 30 July 2016
Hosted by University of Cambridge

The leaders of tomorrow need to be aware of the type of events that change the world, and the key issues resulting from these changes.

Using specific examples from both past and present, the core course addresses such topics as climate change, scientific discovery, international development, international relations, financial crises, disease, diplomatic incidents, war and natural catastrophe, to identify a number of world-changing events.

Sessions will explain the key causes, impact and repercussions of these events. Additional wide-ranging plenary talks help set discussions in context. Students write - and have supervisions - on related historical or literary topics.

Field Trip

Short visit to Madingley Hall, our 16th-century headquarters.

In addition, optional weekend visits are available at an additional cost to places such as Bletchley Park, Canterbury, Hampton Court and Stratford-upon-Avon.  London is easily accessible by coach or train. Cambridge itself has lots of sites to visit and enjoy.

Target Audience

The programme is aimed at students in their penultimate or final year of undergraduate degree course.

Students should be of high academic standing in their own university.

Students should be open to learning in disciplines beyond their immediate field of study, and be absolutely fluent in English: discussion of topics and clear expression of ideas will be essential parts of the programme. 

Prerequisites:

All applicants should send two academic references with their application. (One referee can be one of the selection committee in the home institution. At least one of the referees should have taught the applicant.)

High academic standing in current degree.

High fluency in English.  For non-native English speakers, one of the following test scores: minimum 7 IELTS, with not less than 7 in each element; Cambridge CAE, minimum score A; Cambridge CPE, grade A, B or C. (Intending applicants should ensure they have their proof of language proficiency in advance of their nomination.)

Delivery Method & Learning Outcomes

At the core of this programme is a course of 14 sessions, team-taught by experts, which examines the impact on the world of a wide range of events. A number of set morning plenary sessions augment the learning on the core course, and offer the opportunity for the GSP group to interact with participants on other programmes. Discussion sessions (for the GSP group only) follow 4-5 of these plenary sessions.

GSP participants are also expected to attend at least an additional 12 plenaries, which they can choose from the range on offer for the Literature, History, Science, Ancient and Classical Worlds, and Interdisciplinary programmes. Plenary talks for each programme are themed:

• Discovery and exploration (Ancient and Classical Worlds);Life at the limits (Science);
• Revolutions (History);
• Connections and conflicts (Literature);
• Ideas and influence (Interdisciplinary Terms I and II).

Many will relate well to the IARU GSP theme: Our Changing World.

Also central to the experience is the supervision meeting per week (2-3 students with their supervisor) and one feedback meeting per week. Students submit one paper each week in advance of the supervision:  submission of weekly papers and discussion of written work at the supervision sessions ensures academic rigour. Supervision topics will relate to the theme of ‘Our Changing world’, interpreted through history, international relations and literature.

This programme format - a combination of self-directed research, lectures, discussions and supervisions - also largely mirrors the experience of regular Cambridge undergraduates who, in many subjects, can elect to hear particular lectures on topics within and beyond their immediate field of study.

The four weeks of study will be very intensive. Students are also required to attend a weekly meeting with the GSP Programme Director and Coordinator, which allows for further discussion, and consolidation of the various elements of the programme.

Participants in the programme will gain transferable skills, valuable for the completion of their current and any subsequent degree course, and for their future career development.

The programme will:

• Hone investigation skills, showing how to place any investigation in a wider context
• Encourage a more global perspective
• Foster the ability to think beyond an immediate and narrow field of interest
• Enable students to apply research and study skills to new areas of focus
• Expose students to a rich and broad range of information, via lectures, discussions and supervisions
• Enable students to draw together ideas, particularly via questioning and reasoning in discussions and supervisions
• Allow participants to benefit immensely from the exchange of ideas both with lecturers and with their student peers
• Teach time-management and succinct writing skills, crucial for further study and in any leadership or management career

Assessment

Supervision and essay marks.

Supervision meetings take place each week (2-3 students with their supervisor). Students submit one paper each week (four in total) in advance of the supervision:  submission of weekly papers and discussion of written work at the supervision sessions means a rigorous programme for the full four weeks.

The final grade takes into account performance in supervisions, as well as paper grades.  Students are informed of grades after the end of the programme.

Credit equivalent at host university & contact hours

Contact hours: 65-70+ total contact hours (classroom) + c28-32 hours for preparation, research and essay-writing).

Self-study tours could account for an additional 8 hours for each Saturday or Sunday optional excursion a student takes.

Credit: please note. The undergraduate Cambridge system is not credit-based. IARU participants who wish to receive credit from their home institution will need to arrange this themselves, typically by submitting to their home institution, after completion of the program, the marks for their written papers as well as their study timetable.

Based on the previous experience of colleges and universities that have dealt with University of Cambridge International Summer Programmes students, and using a typical ratio of contact hours to semester credit hours, most institutions have followed (or awarded more than) the following suggestions for the award of credit:

• A student who completes a two-week special-subject Summer Programme with a minimum of 48 contact hours and who writes two 2000-3000 word essays would probably be awarded four (4) undergraduate semester credit hours by their home institution.
• The Cambridge IARU GSP (four weeks) offers 70+ contact hours and requires four essays and four supervisions. Credit awarded should be adjusted accordingly, perhaps to eight (8) undergraduate semester credit hours, amount to be determined by the home institution.

Lecturer(s) / Tutor(s)

Course Lecturers and Supervisors, tbc

Accommodation

Students must arrive and register by 4pm on Sunday 3 July 2016, in time for an orientation session that afternoon (c5.00pm).

Students should go first to Gonville and Caius College to leave their bags in a designated storage area.  They will be able to check in for registration at the Summer Schools Office on the Sidgwick Site from 11.00am and will get their room keys from 2.00pm onwards.

Check-out date is Saturday 30 July.  Students will need to vacate their rooms by 9.00am.

Students have the option of additional study for one or two weeks immediately after GSP, if they wish, by applying and paying for a place on one of the open-access programs: one or two weeks of the Medieval Studies, Shakespeare or Creative Writing Programmes, or two weeks of the Interdisciplinary Summer Programme Term III.

Please note:  if participants wish to arrive in Cambridge before the programme begins or after it finishes will need to contact the College directly to book and pay for that accommodation.  Further details can be given after acceptance to the programme.

Costs

Figures are estimates only. Click on each item for details.

Required and/or Recommended Insurance

Insurance is essential, to cover illness, injury, loss  of property, additional accommodation charges in case of a need to arrive early or stay later than the program, or in case of circumstances which prevent or delay attendance or require early return.

Further Required Application Material

Students need to send proof of English language proficiency (test results) and two references from academics who have taught them, at the point when short-listed applications are forwarded to Cambridge.

After acceptance, students are asked to forward electronically a recent colour photograph of themselves. Selected applicants are also asked to complete an ‘indications’ form, outlining the area in which, broadly speaking, they might wish to write papers for supervisions. (Papers are most likely to be written on subjects informed by lecture attendance and discussions, to focus primarily on Our changing world, interpreted through History, Literature or International Relations.)

So in summary:

To be sent with the application to Cambridge:

• two academic references, stating suitability for the programme
• for non-native English speakers: proof of proficiency in English

Original or certified copies of results must be sent, of one of the following only:

• IELTS 7 (minimum 7 in each of the speaking listening, writing and reading elements)
• Cambridge CAE, minimum score A
• Cambridge CPE, grade A, B or C

A minimum of 200 points is required in either CAE or CPE. Minimum scores must be achieved in the same sitting, and no more than two years before the start of the program.

To complete after acceptance:

• the ‘indications form’ (which will be sent to accepted applicants)
• photos should be sent after acceptance to Cambridge GSP

Accepted students must ensure they have applied in sufficiently good time for an appropriate visa (currently, a Student Visitor Visa) so that they are in a safe legal position to complete their course of study in Cambridge.

Further Information

Materials to be sent to students before the course

In acceptance emails, students will have the structure of the program explained, and will receive a draft (then final) timetable, and draft (then final) grid to show optional and compulsory plenary lectures. Sections which are compulsory will be clearly marked.

They will also receive personalised versions of Supervision lists and the first supervision topic, before their arrival. A reading list will be compiled with articles suggested by the course co-teachers, and sent in advance.

Attendance requirements

Participants are required to attend orientation and briefing meetings, all core course sessions, weekly supervisions, compulsory plenaries, discussion sessions. This is a rigorous course, and students are expected to be in Cambridge every weekday. There are no scheduled sessions at weekends, but some of each weekend will be needed for study, preparation and essay writing.

It is hoped that all participants will want to share in the activity and short visit arranged for them during two late weekday afternoons.

There are optional weekend excursions on some of the Saturdays and Sundays whilst the IARU GSP program is in session, and participants might elect to take one or more of these, however they are strongly advised to save any more extensive travel plans for periods before or after the actual dates of the program.

Visit: IARU GSP at Cambridge

Cancellation charges appear on the Cambridge website for students who withdraw after a place has been confirmed.