Masterclasses are a range of online, subject-specific, hour-long sessions for students in Year 12. Sessions run weekly on Tuesday and Thursday (4-5pm) from January to April. Applications are now open!
Masterclasses are online, subject-specific, hour-long sessions for students in Year 12 to get a taste of university. Masterclasses will introduce you to subjects available at UCL in 2024. The hour-long sessions will feature a lecture on a specific topic from UCL academics and PhD students.
This year, Masterclasses will be online. The sessions are interactive, and we encourage you to engage with the presenters, as there is an opportunity at the end to ask questions about the topic presented.
Find out more about our March schedule below! We will also be offering Masterclasses in January (Arts & Design), February (Sciences), and April (Sciences and Social Sciences).
March - Social Sciences
Economics
Topic: 40 Years of Economics: a Global Perspective
Presenter: Dr Ramin Nassehi
Date: Tuesday 05 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
In this Masterclass, you will learn about the economic story of the world over the past 40 years. You will look at interactive data to help you answer the following questions: Which technologies have the most improvements to our standard of living in the last four decades? Who have been the main winners and losers of automation and globalisation since the 1980s? What has happened to the income gap between rich and developing countries in the past 40 years? And what has happened to the gap between rich and poor within these countries?
Sociology
Topic: Sociology and Food
Presenter: Dr Sonya Sharma
Date: Thursday 07 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
This Masterclass will foreground the study of sociology through food. This interactive session will explore how food can be a fascinating way to examine current social issues related to the environment, health and wellbeing, the intersections of class, gender, and ethnicity, and belonging and connection.
Geography
Topic: Human Geography: Space and Society
Presenter: Dr James Kneale
Date: Tuesday 12 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
The UCL Department of Geography is a world-renowned centre for education, research, and public engagement. Their programmes tackle global challenges, giving students the skills to make a positive impact. This Masterclass will be an introduction to how human geography is taught at UCL, using geographical scholarship to help explain, understand, and critically analyse the relationships between space and society. You will be encouraged to grasp and analyse the ways that spatial and social prosses are always entwined.
Political Sciences
Topic: What is freedom?
Presenter: Dr John Filling
Date: Thursday 14 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics. This Masterclass will provide an overview of what it’s like to study Politics, and related areas such as Philosophy, at a university like UCL. The session will focus on key concepts in politics, like freedom, and we will ask key questions such as: What does freedom mean? What threatens our freedom? And are we entitled to more freedom?
Law
Topic: Contract Law: Mistake and Misrepresentation
Presenter: Dr Niamh Connolly
Date: Tuesday 19 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
UCL Laws is a law faculty for the world: a diverse and progressive community of researchers, students, leading academics and alumni embedded in a top, research-oriented university. In this Masterclass, you will be learn about the key doctrines of contract law. Contract law is a compulsory module on the first year of the Law LLB (Latin Legum Baccalaureus) degree.
School of Management
Topic: An Introduction to Strategy
Presenter: Dr Maya Cara
Date: Thursday 21 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
This Masterclass will give you an introduction to the essence of strategy in business. You will delve into the foundational concepts of strategic management, looking at the importance of goal, mission, and values. You will learn about strategy formulation by understanding both the internal and external business environment, and how to make strategic choices at corporate, business, and operational levels. The Masterclass will also explore strategy evaluations techniques, with a discussion about successful strategy examples.
History
Topic: History as a Discipline
Presenter: Dr Emily Corran
Date: Tuesday 26 March 2024, 4 - 5pm
The UCL History department, which dates back at 1830, is one of the best in the world for history research and teaching. The History Masterclass will invite you to think about history as a discipline. We will discuss examples of innovative research currently taking place in UCL’s History department, and we will ask: What is history? What do historians really do, and what makes us different from other disciplines in the social sciences?