24 hours at York St John Programme

Forum Theatre workshop

Lecturer: David Richmond

When studying to work within the theatre and the performing arts there are many different approaches to theatre that form a language that the performer or theatre maker can pick up and apply to their own theatre making or direction of a selected script. In the West, theatre practitioners and theorists such as Constantin Stanislavski, Berthold Brecht and Antonin Artaud have long been part of this language, which is why they are key to the curriculum content for GCSE, BTEC and A-Level. In this session we would like to focus in on a lesser known but very important practitioner – Augusto Boal – who invented The Theatre or the Oppressed. This includes methods such as Forum theatre, which is an approach that applies strategies for performance in order to directly prompt social change. It is a method that empowers people through drama by reflecting on social injustice in order to present the many possible alternative ways of living with each other in the world. This method is used across man different industries and communities today, including, interactive and participatory theatre, Immersive Theatre, Theatre in Education, Community Theatre and even forms the basis of most drama based professional career development training methods.

Boal was highly influenced by Brecht and Stanislavski and much of their work is embedded in his approach. This practical workshop will give you the opportunity to put into practice the skills you may have already have learnt from these practitioners in order to develop a piece that can either make a social or political point of your own choosing. If you have never heard of any of these people – don’t worry! This workshop is for all levels.

Closer Reading: Interpreting Poetry

Lecturer: John Marland

In this interactive workshop, we will demystify the process of 'close reading' and equip you with the skills required to convincingly interpret any poem with clarity and confidence. Along the way we'll look at a range of celebrated poems from various points in the history of English Literature, concluding with a closer look at the radical Romantic poet William Blake.

Not only will you be able to use the skills in the session to succeed at University, but they will also help you to unlock poetry in your final years at school.

The Soviet Union and Society in the Second World War

Lecturer: Peter Whitewood

Identify the offence:

Lecturer: Adam Wilson

Lecturer: Fran Yannon

Lecturer: Jaz Khan

What offence has occurred when a person dies after one punch in the heat of the moment?

You will view footage of an assault and learn more about the build up to the incident. You will be guided on the relevant law to enable you to reach a reasoned view as to what has occurred.

You will explore the law relating to arrest and evaluate the arrest that occurred in this case to decide whether it was lawful.

Is the arrest lawful?

Studying the Holocaust and Genocide in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

Lecturer: Victoria Nesfield

"The Holocaust has become a touchstone of public and intellectual discourse – political, ethical, and religious" (Hayes and Roth).

What is it about the Holocaust that sets it apart from other histories and genocides? Has the long-standing impetus to teach the Holocaust turned it into a "benchmark of oppression" which we measure other events against?

This session will explore some religious, philosophical and ethical responses to the Holocaust, and other genocides and histories, and give you the chance to challenge some of these responses.

Forum Theatre workshop

Lecturer: David Richmond

When studying to work within the theatre and the performing arts there are many different approaches to theatre that form a language that the performer or theatre maker can pick up and apply to their own theatre making or direction of a selected script. In the West, theatre practitioners and theorists such as Constantin Stanislavski, Berthold Brecht and Antonin Artaud have long been part of this language, which is why they are key to the curriculum content for GCSE, BTEC and A-Level. In this session we would like to focus in on a lesser known but very important practitioner – Augusto Boal – who invented The Theatre or the Oppressed. This includes methods such as Forum theatre, which is an approach that applies strategies for performance in order to directly prompt social change. It is a method that empowers people through drama by reflecting on social injustice in order to present the many possible alternative ways of living with each other in the world. This method is used across man different industries and communities today, including, interactive and participatory theatre, Immersive Theatre, Theatre in Education, Community Theatre and even forms the basis of most drama based professional career development training methods.

Boal was highly influenced by Brecht and Stanislavski and much of their work is embedded in his approach. This practical workshop will give you the opportunity to put into practice the skills you may have already have learnt from these practitioners in order to develop a piece that can either make a social or political point of your own choosing. If you have never heard of any of these people – don’t worry! This workshop is for all levels.

Shakespeare Now

Lecturer: Dr Saffron Vickers Walkling

Join Dr Saffron Vickers Walkling and a couple of their students from the Shakespeare: Perspectives module for an interactive workshop on the relevance of Shakespeare in the 21^st century. In this session, we will be looking at how the themes and ideas in Shakespeare’s texts still resonate with us today.

For example, Shakespeare’s love poems, the Sonnets, are believed to be written for two different people that the poet desires: a Fair Lord and a Dark Lady. How can we give Shakespeare the queer eye? What does he tell us about the different ways we can express our gender identity? Or about love across different cultural boundaries?

American crime culture in the 1930s and 1940s

Lecturer: Sarah Trott

The session will draw upon examples of crime fiction and Film Noir to explore a range of historical, social, and cultural representations of gender, class, and the urban environment.

We will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine how crime writers and film directors represented Los Angeles in the 1930s/40s.

The police interview

Lecturer: Adam Wilson

Lecturer: Fran Yannon

Lecturer: Jaz Khan

You will be split into two groups to prepare for the police interview with the suspect from either the perspective of the investigating officer or defence solicitor.

As a group, you will then carry out the interview reflecting on the techniques involved and the legal significance of the evidence that emerges.

Aliens, Elvis and the Grateful Dead: Implicit Religion in our Cultural Lives

Lecturer: Sharon Jagger

We have not scheduled in any breaks during our academic sessions; however, the academics may send you for a short break during the 90 minutes, especially if the weather is quite warm.

If at any point you need the toilet or to refill a drinks bottle, please let a student ambassador or academic know.

Our campus is a lot quieter over the summer than during term time, and not all of our catering outlets are open.

The dining hall in Holgate building is open from breakfast until 2.00pm and you can purchase snacks and hot or cold here.

Costa Coffee in Fountains building is open from 9.30am to 3.30pm, where you can buy sandwiches, cold drinks and snacks, as well as usual Costa items.

You can refill bottles at the water fountains in the Holgate dining hall and dining hall extension.

Please do not drink directly from the fountains. 

Please keep your lanyard on and visible while you are on campus and in York for free time, as well as in Panda Mami for our evening meal.

You can remove your lanyard once we are in the Students' Union in the evening but must put it on again whilst walking back to the accommodation site, where you may remove it again.

Please be respectful and use phones and headphones appropriately. We recommend that you do not wear headphones or earphones when walking around campus and into York, so you can listen to any instructions from staff and for any vehicles. 

Most lecturers will be happy for you to have your phones out and may ask you to use them during the session. 

We do not have a photographer present at these events. However staff (including ambassadors) may take photos on their work phones or iPads. These images will not be used for any marketing purposes. They will only be used in a slide show on the last day of the event and then deleted.

We would love for you to share your experiences on social media and tag the main university accounts. If you do decide to post photos on social media, please make sure you have checked with everyone who appears in them that they are happy for you to post. 

Please do not try and add or follow staff or student ambassadors on social media - we are unable to accept due to safeguarding regulations.

Please be aware that all fire alarms on campus are tested on a Wednesday afternoon. This usually takes place at around 2.00pm in the De Grey building, where many of our sessions will be taking place. You do not have to leave this space as the fire alarm is just a test.

If you hear the fire alarm at any other point during the residential on campus, please proceed to the fire safety point at the grassed area at the front of campus, on Lord Mayor's Walk.

If the alarm sounds while you are in Baldwin House hall of residence, please exit the accommodation and proceed to the car park in front of St Mary's House where a headcount will take place.

For health and safety reasons, the following rules will be in place for the safety of all involved.

24 Hours Code of Conduct (PDF 0.2 MB)

Acceptable Use of IT Facilities and Systems (PDF, 62kB)