For a typical week at Cambridge Summer Institute, please click here. 

Draft schedule for Cambridge Summer Institute at Magdalene College (University of Cambridge) (click to enlarge)

*Disclaimer* Changes to the course description, topics, programme structure, and schedules may occur due to the availability of faculty members at the actual time of the programme.

As part of Cambridge Summer Institute, you have the opportunity to attend courses to expand your historical knowledge. By spending part of your summer in the UK, there is the option of taking British history courses which provide an excellent background to understanding British culture and political systems today. With such a rich history and noteworthy empire, the study of Britain both past and present is an excellent complement to other Cambridge Summer Institute courses. With many delegates taking courses in International Business Management, there is also the choice to study the history of economics, and why today’s systems have been adopted. Courses will look at important events such as the Great Depression, Industrialisation, as well as the more recent financial crash to look at why these events occur and how they are resolved.

1. The Origins of the Industrial Revolution

This course will look at the history of economics from the Renaissance period including Machiavelli up until Industrialisation. Delegates will learn about the foundations of economics from a historical context and how these original theories were applied. In addition, the evolution of economics over these centuries will be studied in order for delegates to understand how it has changed.

2. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Context

Following on from Economics I, this course will analyse the development of economics from Industrialisation until post World War II and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Delegates will look at the development of the modern economic system and how it has been adopted globally as well as identifying how historical events have impacted on economics.

3. British History

The World of Magna Carta: The Magna Carta has been established as one of the most eminent documents throughout world history and recently celebrated its 800th anniversary. This course provides participants with essential knowledge about the issue of the grant, its implications and effect on history by looking at more modern examples of declarations, and treaties such as the American Declaration of Independence.

4. The Birth of Modern Britain

In this course we will discover how this cultural revolution in post-war Britain was achieved. We will examine the birth of the teenager and the advent of mass marketing and culture industries, such as popular music, during the late 1950s and early 1960s. We will analyse the phenomenon of ‘Beatlemania’-in other words, how four working-class lads from a Northern industrial city, Liverpool, became the most significant and creative force in the history of popular music-either at the time or since. In addition, the course will explore the influences shaping British cultural life since the Second World War: for example, the process of ‘Americanisation’ and what this entailed. Furthermore, the course will examine the revolution in the lives of young people brought about by the emergence of mass higher education in Britain; the increase in affluence and the greater social and occupational mobility of the era. The course will introduce students to innovative new historical work being undertaken on Post-war British Culture by historians such as Dominic Sandbrook, David Fowler, and Doug Rossinow (from the US). We will discuss the pivotal places in the cultural history of post-war Britain, such as Carnaby Street, the fashion centre and Mod capital of the 1960s; Abbey Road, where the Beatles recorded their path breaking albums ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’; and the London School of Economics, where the first student ‘sit-ins’ in Britain took place-and in fact, the crucible of the student revolution in 1960s’ Britain. The course will illuminate a period of recent British history when British culture was at the forefront of creative ideas and global influence.

5. Espionage and International Terrorism (c. 1990 – the Present Day)

This course covers the world of espionage from the Cambridge Spies to the ‘War on Terror’. The course explores the role Cambridge has played both in generating code-breakers during World war II and, more notoriously, in nurturing Soviet agents; especially since the 1930s, with the emergence and subsequent influence on international affairs of the ‘Cambridge Spies’. The course takes as its wider theme, the history and role of intelligence gathering in the twentieth century; exploring key themes in this fascinating history including the Fenian Bombing Campaign in Late Victorian Britain; the ‘Red Menace’ (1920s), the Cambridge Spies, British Intelligence and Fascism, Churchill and British Intelligence during World War II; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the CIA and Student Radicalism during the 1960s; Britain and the Irish Troubles since 1968; 9/11; Afghanistan and Iraq; and the ‘War on Terror’.
 

6. Business and Legal Communication

During this course, the delegates will learn about the economic risks that underlie in each deal, and the legal means that are used towards their mitigation. Through the analysis of actual deals, delegates will be able to improve their understanding of transactional risks, enhance their commercial awareness, and learn the fundamentals of business and law. Moreover, they will learn and develop their negotiation skills in an interactive and practice-oriented manner.