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 2-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, below.
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 (available from late January 2026) when choosing your options to ensure they do not run at the same time.
Confirmed seminar options are listed below. Please note that we also expect to add two more options during January 2026.
British Political History: 1945-Present
This seminar introduces you 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 (NHS) 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 seminar 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 seminar 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, this seminar 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 seminar 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. We 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 and Society Summer School.
The Making of the Modern Middle East
This seminar 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 seminar 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 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.
Security, Foreign Policy, and Identity in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia: 1990s to Present
This seminar provides a practical and analytical foundation for understanding the evolving security, foreign policy, and identity dynamics in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Through interactive sessions and case studies, you will explore key themes in these three states from the 1990s to the present, including conflict, war, and peace, political transitions, elections, revolutions and protests, national identity, nuclear security and non-proliferation, and diplomacy and geopolitical alignments.
No prior background is required. The seminar is designed to equip you with new and sharpened tools to interpret current developments, engage with policy debates, and apply insights to real-world contexts.
Tutor: Dr Anna Davis is Co-Founder and Director of Sefton Analytics, Fellow and Contributing Editor at the Jamestown Foundation, and a tutor at Oxford University. She is a subject-matter expert in international relations, energy security, and nuclear technology and critical minerals policy, with a regional specialisation on Eurasia and the Arctic. She provides analysis and strategic insights across these areas to companies, government agencies, international organisations, and research institutes.
Dr Davis completed her PhD (DPhil) at Oxford University in 2024 on nuclear energy and foreign policy in Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Russia. She is a Grímsson Fellow with the Arctic Circle Secretariat, and a Non-Resident Fellow of the Center for International Trade and Security (CITS). She was previously Editor of the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor based in Washington, D.C., as well as an Aramco Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Energy Analyst with Oxford Sigma, and Researcher at the Oxford Belarus Observatory. She has been teaching at Oxford University since 2020.
The Social Mind and Matrix
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? How things appear are often not how they truly are. This seminar takes you through a journey of discovery about how our minds and brains create the reality we encounter. Ultimately, we are only prisoners of the mind until we get the chance to observe it. To truly understand the events that have shaped the modern world, it is also crucial to understand the minds of those who shaped them. We begin by revealing the main mental principles and hidden patterns guiding human psychology, social behaviour and macro thought. We then move on to exploring the mystery of how things change in large numbers; in particular, how individuals change when in groups, crowds and cults. This understanding sets the ground for better appreciating how seemingly evil acts can be committed by seemingly ordinary civilians. We end by exploring how to best utilise the multiple and powerful social forces within us for good, leading not only to individual thriving, but societal and global thriving too.
No scientific background or understanding is required.
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.
