- Published on May 15, 2026
June Weekend Courses
Taught in the beautiful setting of Madingley Hall, our Weekend Courses offer you the opportunity to discover new subjects, learn from some of our finest academics, expand your professional and social networks and become part of a supportive learning community.
You can book to stay in the comfortable rooms at Madingley Hall, with views over the woods, gardens and courtyard. Each en-suite room has wi-fi, TV, phone, and tea- and coffee-making facilities. Breakfast is also included.
If you choose to stay nearby, no problem. You’ll still be able to enjoy the grounds during the day and enjoy the award-winning cuisine in our elegant dining hall.
The following courses will run from 12 – 14 June 2026:
Evolution and the fossil record
This course provides a wide-ranging introduction to the fascinating subject of evolution from a geological viewpoint. Aimed at beginners, as well as those with some previous knowledge, topics will include the processes of natural selection, the formation of species, aspects of fossil preservation and evidence of evolution seen in the rock record. The course will provide an overview of major events in the history of life, including evolutionary radiations and mass extinctions, recent fossil discoveries and remaining mysteries.
Tutor – Dr Peter Sheldon. Honorary Associate in Earth Sciences at the Open University; Panel Tutor for University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education (PACE); Associate Tutor, University of Oxford Lifelong Learning, Department for Continuing Education
Reading Classical Greek: Hesiod Theogony
Hesiod is probably Homer’s contemporary, writing c.700 BC. His Theogony (family tree of the gods) begins with Muses who inspired him whilst pasturing sheep on Mount Helicon, and takes us from the beginning of the world to the kingship of Zeus. It includes the story of Prometheus and a description of the Underworld. Hesiod’s narrative aspires to poetic authority, bringing order to a vast array of local traditions. This course will appeal to those with a confident grasp of the fundamentals of Classical Greek, who want to explore (most of) this text in the original language and develop an understanding of early Greek poetry.
Tutor – Dr John Taylor. Panel Tutor, University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
Seven Renaissance giants: Van Eyck, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Holbein and Dürer
The European Renaissance, which blossomed in the 15th century, marks the moment when artists became celebrities for the first time, their work commissioned and collected because of who they were. In this course we will explore the lives and output of seven major figures of the period: from Italy – Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo, from the Northern Renaissance – Jan van Eyck, Hans Holbein and from the German Renaissance – Albrecht Dürer. In each case we will examine key artworks and place the artists in the context of the time.
Tutor – Dr Sarah Pearson. University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education Teaching Associate in History of Art; Architectural Historian and Writer
Trials of a Century
This course offers an outline of modern history through a series of historic trials: the Dreyfus Affair which tore the French Third Republic apart; the Scopes ‘monkey’ trial’, which put Darwinism in the Dock in Tennessee; the Nuremberg Trial which established the authority of law over the State; the trials of Marshal Pétain and Adolf Eichmann, which revealed the operation of a nazi continent; and the trial of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, which tore apart what remained in Britain of Victorian morality.
Tutor – Dr Seán Lang. Honorary Visiting Fellow, Anglia Ruskin University