ORACLE Comes to ORA This Summer

ORA is delighted to announce ORACLE – the Oxford Royale Summer Schools Collaborative Learning Event!
This academic bazaar, for students aged 16-18 attending session 2, will combine TED-style talks and demonstrations with a range of personal development workshops. The event will span a huge range of subjects, from contemporary music to the psychology of associated senses, so there’ll be something for every student’s interests.
Here’s a closer look at some of what will be on offer.
For the first part of the day, students will be attending a series of short and interesting talks on subjects they may not have considered before. Two of these are:
Dr Sundas Ali will be speaking on Leadership Lessons from Around the World – what makes a leader good or bad; effective or ineffective? This will be of particular interest to students on our Global Leadership Programme, though any participant is sure to learn a great deal.
Shamim Gammage will be speaking on hip-hop culture – how it evolved, how it ties in with racial discrimination in the USA and how it operates today. Plenty of audio and video clips will keep the session lively!
The third talk slot will be in the form of multiple speakers in a soapbox-style forum, so students can roam between the options and explore multiple different options. A couple of the subjects will be as follows:
The Illusion Machine shows us how our brain processes information from our senses, and, intriguingly, how easily our perception of an experience can be misled. With the use of food, smells and sounds, students will find out how our senses operate and how the illusions our brains create can be disrupted.
Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer and motivational speaker who believes in getting the most out of life, both in the form of the full-blown adventures he has undertaken  – such as rowing the Atlantic and canoeing the Yukon – and in the form of micro-adventures, which suggest that if you’re working 9-5, you should also make the most of your time from 5-9.
For the second part of the day, students will get to choose between a variety of six different interactive workshops on a variety of topics, in a soapbox-style forum. Here are a couple of the workshops on offer:
Mapping the Journey of Evolution considers the basics of evolution and recent arguments in the field. Using chalkboard skulls, researchers will explain physical changes that have occurred over time, and what those changes mean for the future of evolution.
The Skills Focus Workshop will address an area of concern for any ambitious student: what skills will they require for their future career? The approach will be much broader than the standard CV workshop, and it will help students find focus and direction in their plans for future life.
This has just been a sample of the wide variety of interesting and informative treats on offer at ORACLE! Join us this summer for a great learning experience – browse our courses now ➙