Climate Change: From Deep Past to the Present

Level and demands

This course is open to all, and no prior knowledge is required.

This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but we warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements, please see here.

Course aims

This course introduces key concepts of palaeoclimate science, and how it can be used to better inform our projections of future climate change. It is underpinned by the idea of ‘time machines’, travelling back through the geological past to focus on key periods. For each of these, the climate will be explored (based on reconstructions and climate modelling), before looking at parallels with present and future climate. For more recent periods, the influence of climate on human activities (and vice versa) will be explored, taking the course partly into the realms of social science, including anthropology and archaeology.

IT requirements

Any standard web browser can be used to access course materials on our virtual learning environment, but we recommend Google Chrome. To access the virtual learning environment you will be required to verify your identity using an authenticator app on a mobile device or laptop in addition to your username and password. Full instructions will be sent to you on the start date of the course. We also recommend that students join the live webinars on Microsoft Teams using a laptop or desktop computer rather than a phone or tablet due to the limited functionality of the app on these devices.

Programme details

This course begins on the 12 January 2027, which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting, which will be held on 19 January 2027, 15:00-16:00 (UK time).

Week 1: Introduction, logistics and fundamentals of climate change

Week 2: How do we study the geological past? Part 1 (data)

Week 3: How do we study the geological past? Part 2 (modelling)

Week 4: Time period 1: early Eocene (~50 million years ago)

Week 5: Time period 2: mid-Pliocene (~3 million years ago)

Week 6: Time period 3: Last Interglacial (LIG, ~127,000 years ago)

Week 7: Time period 4: Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~21,000 years ago)

Week 8: Time period 5: mid-Holocene (MH, ~6,000 years ago)

Week 9: Time period 6: Historical period (~2,000 years ago to present)

Week 10: How does it all come together? – Looking forward to the future

Teaching methods

This course takes place over 10 weeks, with a weekly learning schedule and weekly live webinar held on Microsoft Teams. Shortly before a course commences, students are provided with access to an online virtual learning environment, which houses the course content, including video lectures, complemented by readings or other study materials. Working through these materials over the course of the week will prepare students for a weekly 1-hour live webinar you will share with your expert tutor and fellow students. All courses are structured to amount to 100 study hours, so that on average, you should set aside 10 hours a week for study. Although the course finishes after 10 weeks, all learning materials remain available to all students for 12 months after the course has finished.

All courses are led by an expert tutor. Tutors guide students through the course materials as part of the live interactions during the weekly webinars. Tutors will also provide individualised feedback on your assignments. All online courses are taught in small student cohorts so that you and your peers will form a mutually supportive and vibrant learning community for the duration of the course. You will learn from your fellow students as well as from your tutor, and they will learn from you.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

• Understand key concepts in palaeoclimate science, data and modelling, and evaluate the main approaches used to understand climate change during the geological past across different timescales.
• Identify and understand major climate changes during key periods of the geological past, and interpret what these might (or might not) tell us about projections of future climate change.
• Use the knowledge gained on the course to communicate and present, in writing, the main ways in which an understanding of climate change during the geological past can be used to inform our understanding of present-day climate, and possible future climate change.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Mr John Callaghan – Tutor

Dr. John Callaghan has been working on topics at the nexus of business, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability for 25 years. He was previously an engineer and manager in the renewable energy industry, undertaking roles related to innovation and strategy. He created a £40m applied research programme on offshore wind energy and arranged a capital investment in one of the world’s first ‘tidal farms’. Now a full-time academic, he is progressing research about social entrepreneurship and business sustainability alongside teaching about strategy and entrepreneurship in general.

John holds degrees in engineering and management from the University of Durham (MEng), IMD in Lausanne (MBA), and Imperial College London (MRes, PhD). He is a Chartered Engineer and a Sainsbury Management Fellow. John has been a Tutor with the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education since 2019 and is currently also a Teaching Associate at Judge Business School and a Research Associate at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on a Short Online Course are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses

Recommended reading

Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

View our terms and conditions

Book now