Art, Humanities and Law subject sessions

Anthropology, as a discipline dedicated to understanding human cultures and societies, often engages with issues of social justice and inequality. What is the role of anthropologists in the face of exclusion and oppression? Should they simply observe and describe, or do they have a responsibility to help fight for change?

Drawing from their own involvement in housing struggles and anti-eviction movements in Birmingham, Dr Marco Di Nunzio will discuss how anthropology can not only document but also challenge how local governments and big corporations displace communities and contribute to new forms of urban precarity. A hands-on session will follow, which will explore how anthropology can engage with our communities and support ongoing campaigns and movements for change.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General subject taster

Academic lead: Dr Marco Di Nunzio

The Ancient World continues to influence our day-to-day lives in ways that we might never imagine or realise. From the language we speak to brand names like Nike and Hermes, from Harry Potter to Marvel superheroes, from food to inventions, this session will demonstrate how Ancient Greece and Rome continue to shape our modern world in surprising ways.

Through interactive discussions and visual examples, you will uncover hidden connections between classical antiquity and contemporary culture, gaining a fresh perspective on both the ancient and modern worlds.

Year group: Years 7-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General subject taster

Academic lead: Hebe Barlow, Doctoral Researcher

This workshop is to support students with their Humanities based Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). It is run by current University of Birmingham students who have successfully completed an EPQ. Topics covered in the session are research skills (including literature searches), methods and challenges faced and how these were overcome.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 90 minutes

Session type: Workshop

How is political power performed? How can a protest be seen as a performance? How to 'read' a live performance, not only on theatre stages, but also in (public) life?

With a special focus on political performances and politics as performance, we will start this workshop by looking at skills of reading 'live' performance in general, before turning to analysing how public life is staged, rehearsed and embodied, using examples of recent political debates, rallies and protests.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General subject taster

Academic lead: Dr Ellen Redling

An Inspector Calls is a popular GCSE set text, studied by the vast majority of UK students. It is often described as a modern morality play. What exactly does this mean?

How does An Inspector Calls concern itself with morality?

Who is moral, who immoral?

And - the particular focus of this masterclass - how might the study of medieval morality plays inform our knowledge and understanding of Priestley's play?

In this interactive, discussion-based two-hour workshop, you will be introduced to the inspiring medieval play Everyman and have the chance to explore the morality - or lack of - of An Inspector Calls.

Year group: Years 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: GCSE curriculum

Academic lead: Prof. Emily Wingfield

This interactive lecture will centre on the debate between Aldous Huxley and George Orwell regarding the methods needed to control people in their respective dystopias: Brave New World (1932), on the pleasure side, and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), on the pain side.

We'll think not only about how Huxley and Orwell very differently imagined socio-political and technological control, but also about how Anglo-American culture has privileged Orwell's vision of the future over Huxley's, and why that privileging matters in today's world.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: A-level curriculum

Academic lead: Professor Nathan Waddell

Why do Shakespeare's characters use such difficult language? Wouldn't it be better if they expressed their feelings by laughing, crying or running around with their hands in the air?

In this workshop, we'll look at extracts from a Shakespeare play currently set for GCSE. This is likely to include Macbeth, but please contact us in advance at cal.outreach@contacts.bham.ac.uk to request another play that we might also discuss.

We'll see how characters think by using creative language and literary devices. This close reading will allow us to see how Shakespeare creates characters and where tricky speeches belong within the tragedy as a whole.

Year group: Years 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: GCSE curriculum

Academic lead: Dr Peter Auger

This session introduces students to Old English riddles and the pleasures of reading early literature in translation and context. Students explore how riddles challenge readers to think carefully about language, imagery and meaning, while discovering a playful side to early English literary culture.

Year group: Years 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Dr Liv Robinson

This workshop explores how drafts, revisions and redrafting shape literary works. Students consider what authors’ drafts can reveal about the creative process, editorial choice and the making of literature, using examples to think about writing as a process rather than a finished product.

Year group: Years 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Professor Rebecca Mitchell

This film studies lecture explores films/ tv programmes such as The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Grinch, Nightmare before Christmas, Gremlins and Doctor Who Christmas Specials.

Year group: Years 12

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 30 minutes

Session type: Lecture

Academic lead: Dr Catherine Lester

Martin Luther (1483-1546) is widely known as the father of the Lutheran Reformation and indeed the broader Protestant movement as a whole.

For many in his own day and some still today, he was a hero: the man who stood up against the might of Pope and Emperor; the man who gave the German people scripture in their own tongue; and the man who harnessed the power of the new-fangled printing press to bring revolution on a scale never seen before.

Yet there is another side to Martin Luther. His views on women - that their chief place was in the household- restricted female lives for centuries, and the ferocity of his language in the peasants sparked warfare and mass slaughter. Most notoriously of all, Luther’s comments on the Jews were so vicious and condemnatory that they were seized upon by the Nazis and used in their propaganda in the 1930s.

This masterclass will explore these very contrasting sides of a particularly complex and influential historical figure. We will consider how reputations can change over time; how the past can be used (and abused) by the present; and why the skills of the historian are critical in helping distinguish fact from fiction.

*Note that this talk will make reference to anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery from the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.

Year group: Years 11–13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours 

Session type: GCSE and A level curriculum

Academic lead: Professor Elaine Fulton

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StreetLaw began in the US in the 1970s. It involved law students going into local high schools and teaching young people about legal issues using practical and interactive teaching methods.

Streetlaw programmes have evolved and are now firmly established in law schools across the globe including at the University of Birmingham. The aim is to improve legal literacy by promoting the understanding of law. By knowing their legal rights, young people will have greater confidence in handling legal issues and understanding Law courses at University.

Year group: Years 11–13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours 

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Assistant Professor Nia Stead

This History Masterclass will start with the pivotal presidential election of 1968, uncovering the key factors behind Richard Nixon’s victory, from deep divisions within the Democratic Party to the personalities and policies that shaped the Nixon administration.

We'll then move on to look at:

• The restoration of conservative social policies, the reaction to protest movements and forces of social change, economic change and the end of the post-war boom
• The limits of American world power: peace negotiations and the continuation of the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as the influence of Kissinger on US policies towards the USSR, Latin America and China
• The Watergate Affair and its aftermath: the role of Congress, the resignation of the President, and Nixon’s political legacy

Year group: Year 12

Delivery format: On campus

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Assistant Professor Nia Stead

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Learn about checking the sources of content and creation. This lecture includes examples from Social Media and interactive quizzes on guess the influencer. In the lecture we'll also consider the questions for reflection when considering social media messages.

Year group: Year 12

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 30 mins - 1 hours

Session type: Lecture

Academic lead: Professor Ruth Page

To do well in GCSEs in English Language and English Literature, students have to comment on the ways in which authors use language. This can be a difficult thing to get the hang of. What kind of language is worth commenting on, and what can be said about it? This workshop addresses these questions by looking at the language of some carefully selected key texts.

Year group: Year 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: GCSE curriculum

Academic lead: Dr Joe Spencer-Bennett

This session explores how social media and memes can shape public debate and contribute to social change. Students consider how digital communication circulates quickly, how humour and remix culture carry political meaning and how online communication can influence communities, campaigning and activism.

Year group: Year 10-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Dr Abi Rhodes

Sessions in German, Spanish and French run by academic staff who coordinate the Undergraduate curriculum. These popular workshops are designed to help students prepare for A level assessments, combining grammar boosters and cultural aspects (eg. song, film and literature) alongside fun and engaging activities.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: A level curriculum 

Academic lead: Dr Edward Boothroyd

A range of taster sessions from among Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, delivered by current academic staff. The workshops will include videos, games and interactive content to inspire secondary school students to take up or continue Modern Languages.

Year group: Years 10-11

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: A level curriculum

Academic lead: Dr Joe Spencer-Bennett

Why do people endorse conspiracy theories?

In this exciting session we will explore the factors that contribute to the spreading of conspiracy theories, from biases that characterise the way people think at times of crisis to social factors. This session will conclude with some ideas about how to improve our ways of thinking and implement societal changes that will reduce the influence of conspiracy theories.

Year group: Years 12-13

Delivery format: In school, on campus, or online

Duration: 2 hours

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Professor Lisa Bortolotti

Are you wondering what it's like to study Modern Languages at degree level? In this webinar, our University of Birmingham students will talk about their experience of their Modern Languages degree so far.

You are welcome to attend whether or not you are currently studying a language; we offer nine languages at the beginner level. If you would like to pre-submit a question for our student panel, please add it when you register.

Year group: Years 10-12

Delivery format: Online

Duration: 45 minutes

Session type: General taster session

Academic lead: Elystan Griffiths

Register for this masterclass