With its stunning variety of architectural styles, Oxford provides students with the perfect environment to find inspiration, appreciate architectural history and aesthetics, and improve their design and model-making skills. Students develop a portfolio of sketches before turning ideas and designs into three-dimensional models to display in the program exhibition.

Materials fee of $75 US for the Major

Students are introduced to one of mankind's oldest and most scientifically advanced areas of study. They learn about Cosmology, the Big Bang, the formation of stars and planets and their deaths, and Black Holes. They discover why astronomers and physicists study phenomena such as quasars, gamma rays, cosmic rays, and pulsars, and how they collect and analyze the data produced by the phenomena. The class also addresses the search for exoplanets and the possibilities of life elsewhere, the exciting work undertaken in Astrobiology, and the technical, legal, and ethical issues involved in the search for habitable worlds beyond ours.

This course seeks to identify the trends and themes in British history and society that combined to make Brexit possible. Concentrating on the period since WWII, it assesses the real and imaginary impacts of the loss of Empire and great power status, of the development of the welfare state, of the sense of national decline, and of the seemingly impossible adjustment to new economic and political realities, while analyzing the emergence, power, and longevity of the anti-EU movement. It goes on to consider the state of Britain’s soft power, its cultural equity, in the context of possible post-Brexit futures.

Students are introduced to the world of corporate finance and its primary institutions through dynamic workshops and exercises. They cover 21st-century financial realities for budding entrepreneurs and multinational corporations. Major course projects include real-life case studies, a stock exchange investment game, and the design of a theoretical start-up venture.

Students compose fiction and poetry under the guidance of a published author, with Oxford's rich literary history as their inspiration. They experiment with new forms and styles of writing. Published authors give workshops in which students learn about the creative process and the practicalities of publication. Students develop a portfolio of their best writing and collaborate to design, edit, and publish a literary magazine.

From toxicology and fingerprints to DNA samples, students taking our CSI summer course discover how forensic science has progressed over the years to meet ever-changing legal standards. They learn how modern crime scenes are secured and searched, how material is treated in laboratories, and how different types of evidence are used to sort legal fact from criminal fiction. They also explore how forensic science has achieved breakthroughs in a multitude of disciplines, such as archeology, history, and geology.

Students explore the principles of engineering science through both world-renowned and local examples. They apply the findings to a variety of case studies to solve mechanical, structural, and architectural problems. They complete the course by designing a model engineering project of their own.

Loosely basing itself on the undergraduate syllabus, this course engages with some of the great works of English literature amidst Oxford’s evocative surroundings. Working from a range of texts drawn from every age, students improve their skills in close reading, textual criticism, and clear, informed writing. Each student engages in a close study of an Oxford text or a Shakespeare play and presents a special project in the final week.

Students discover how biotechnology combines principles of biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering to create the products, processes, and technologies of the future. Through experiments and seminars they engage with pharmaceuticals breakthroughs, genetic diagnoses and therapies, sustainable biofuels, and genetically modified foods. Students also explore the social, ethical, and economic implications of biotechnology.

This course focuses on key issues of the day. Subjects covered include globalization and its political, economic, and social effects; environmental challenges; new forms of war and peace; the changing nature of security challenges; peacekeeping operations; regional complexities of areas like the Middle East, Africa, and South-East Asia; and the relationships and rivalries that define global order today.