- Published on September 1, 2026
October 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 23 – 25 October 2026:
AI and Society
As is true of skyscrapers and the internet, the actualisation of artificial intelligence (AI) connects a dizzying number of contingencies—copper heat sinks, cobalt mines, racial capitalism, mass surveillance, data positivism, sub-gig economies, faith in political modernity; the list goes on. You will survey the materials, infrastructures, and ideological commitments contingent to the historical development of AI, machine learning, and prefigurative knowledge systems. AI emerges as neither inevitable, universal, nor definitively emancipatory.
Tutor – Dr Jonnie Penn
Creative Writing Retreat
Our Creative Writing Retreats balance tutor-led sessions and motivational starts to your writing day, with time to focus on your own projects and small-group workshops. Each short, intensive retreat is designed to inspire writing and forge a writing community, and includes scheduled time to write, discussions and sharing your work and readings with fellow students. We aim to support you in starting a project, developing a short story or novel, and/or encouraging you to complete a draft. Fellow participants may have varying writing experience or be at different stages in their writing project. You’ll have opportunities to learn from everyone’s writing over the course.
Tutor – Dr Yvonne Battle-Felton
Reading Classical Greek: Intermediate
This is a follow-up course for students who have already covered (either on beginners courses or independently) the grammar and vocabulary in Greek to GCSE Part 1, or the equivalent. In this concentrated language course we will aim to cover the first two chapters of Greek to GCSE Part 2. These bring in a wider variety of grammatical features: the passive voice, various pronouns, comparison of adjectives, result clauses and the middle voice. Reading passages (lightly adapted from Plato, Aristophanes and other sources) introduce us to Socrates and other Greek philosophers.
Tutor – Dr John Taylor
The Bayeux Tapestry and the Conquest of England, 1066.
The Bayeux Tapestry presents us with an unique visual narrative of the key events of the Conquest of England in 1066. In this weekend course we will explore the key questions of who commissioned this text, when it was made, and where it was intended that it be displayed. We will explore some of the imagery on the Bayeux Tapestry to better understand the multiple messages that it was intended to convey to its audience.
Tutor – Professor Stephen Church