University of Kent: Canterbury Summer School

The University of Kent in Canterbury is proud
to offer a range of exciting summer courses to international students:

Hidden Histories of the Second World War: This summer school will explore several of these contradictions and omissions from the popular memory of Britain during the Second World War. It will also consider the implications of the popular memory of the war on more recent issues, notably the case of ‘Brexit’. With a heavy focus on primary sources, this course will provide a useful and fascinating stepping stone towards postgraduate study, enhancing your research skills, your abilities in oral and written communication, and encouraging you to consider the creation of popular memory in a more nuanced and in-depth manner. We have planned field trips to Dover Castle and The Imperial War Museum in London as part of this summer school.

Global Business in a Dynamic Environment:
The Kent Business Summer School is part of the University of Kent Summer School programme. It will allow you to make lasting connections with students from around the world, studying a range of subjects but sharing your own enthusiasm. This course will draw upon high level meetings such as the Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business and students will take part in a project to influence stakeholders in International business issues. Tailored seminars and case study exploration will enable students to produce and publish a finished documentation for social media, YouTube films or traditional commentary pieces addressing core issues of concern.


Investigation the Social Mind: This course will examine contemporary concepts, theories and findings in social psychology, with particular emphasis on how individuals understand themselves, other people, and the world around them. Students will participate in lectures, discussions and presentations surrounding a range of questions, for example: Why do you like the things you do? How well do you know yourself? Is social behaviour largely automatic, and does this undermine free will? Students are expected to complete the course with an understanding of the real-world implications of major findings in social psychology.

Quantitative Research (Kent Quant GROUP
Summer School): This is an introductory course to quantitative methods and statistics. The course starts with the very core elements of statistical analysis and covers descriptive statistics for categorical and continuous data, analysis of contingency tables, proportions, measures of central tendency and dispersion, before moving onto correlation and simple linear regression and working up to multiple linear regression. The course finishes with a brief overview of further regression techniques such as logistic regression and is designed to prepare students for further statistical courses in later years. It is designed to give a good grounding in the use of the statistical software SPSS.

Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design: The Summer School is aimed at those who have an interest in architecture and design, wishing to explore specialist areas. This dynamic programme has been developed to give participants first-hand experience of architectural specialisms while working with leading practitioners.Students will be given an exiting design brief and incorporate various techniques throughout the two weeks to fulfil the brief.The Summer School programme will be delivered by Kent’s leading academics and professionals from the School of Architecture; comprising of presentations, design workshops, lectures and site visits.

Molecular Biology & IVF:  Aimed primarily at students studying on a Biology related degree. The Summer School will supplement your existing knowledge with valuable practical and applied training, and allow you to discuss research in depth with the academics who are leading experts in their area. You will thus explore the basics of lab technique and good practice, pipette making, egg collection and in-vitro maturation, sperm assessment, insemination, ICSI, embryo grading, assisted hatching, spreading and preimplantation diagnosis. For obvious reasons embryos from non-human model species (e.g. mouse, bovine, pig) will be used. It will prepare you for your senior year and enhance your appeal to potential employers and graduate schools.

From Plantagenet to Tudor; Kingship, Society
and Political Culture in Late Medieval England:  Throughout this summer school students will encounter famous characters such as the chivalric Henry V and the devious Richard III. It will also go beyond these figures to explore the complex and tension-filled relationship between the centre and the localities. Key themes that will be covered include: kingship, governance, diplomatic relations, the development of popular politics and public discourse, rebellion, political theory and ideas of ‘common weal’. Students will encounter a wide variety of primary materials, ranging from popular poetry and chronicle accounts to acts of attainder, royal statutes and Parliamentary Rolls. The workshop format and field trips to local archives will allow students to get to grips with different types of primary sources and the skills needed for postgraduate study.

European Security and Foreign Policy:  This course focuses on contemporary security issues facing Europe today and on how European states are adapting to their new role in providing security both within and beyond the European territory. The aim of the course is to give students a thorough overview of contemporary security issues and how they are addressed by European and international security institutions. The course will provide a conceptual overview of the most important topics and will discuss specific case studies to illustrate concepts and explore key themes.