Recorded talks and workshops

Please note that sewing kits (enough for a few needles and different coloured thread per person) and scissors will be required for this session.

This session will look at the impact of colonialism on waste accumulation in West Africa and how artists in West Africa use waste as part of their arts practice and how we can use recycled material to make art. Students will think about how to use waste material in their own arts practice and get creative with cutting, stitching and arranging compositions. At the end of the session, we will have formed a textile artwork that is reflective of students’ own identities.

Our interactive KS3 talk covers the benefits of studying Creative Arts subjects at GCSE, the skills gained by pursuing Creative Arts study and the career opportunities available. Our Student Ambassadors share their inspirational journeys and experiences studying the Creative Arts, including opportunities to study abroad and work in industry!

Our interactive KS4/5 talk covers the benefits of studying a Creative Arts subject at A-Level and beyond, with an introduction to potential career pathways, supported by alumni case studies. Our Ambassadors provide an overview of Creative Arts course options and facilities at the University of Leeds and the highlights of our campus. They also share their inspirational journeys studying the Creative Arts, including opportunities to study abroad and work in industry! Please note the audio on this video is uneven, so you may need to adjust the volume between each speaker - we apologise for this technical issue.

This is a hands-on creative writing workshop which engages students in a piece of descriptive writing. Students will be introduced to the ‘show, don’t tell’ technique; they will perform analysis and practice activities to familiarise themselves with the technique and its effect before using it in a piece of their own creative writing.

This interactive reading session incorporates various levels of reading skill and focus. It familiarises students with the Eco-Memoir and its defining traits before situating examples of the genre within (eco-)critical responses to it. The session aims to stimulate students’ critical engagement with texts in order to evaluate the effectiveness of texts in communicating with a readership in the midst of a climate emergency; in other words, does a text promote environmental consciousness just by virtue of being “about nature”.

This session practices close reading skills within the context of place writing. Students will read extracts of literature and analyse the devices used by the author to create engaging descriptions of a place. The session has the potential to be extended through the addition of a creative writing element in which students would then use these devices themselves. Similarly, a separate creative writing session could be designed which uses the devices identified in the close reading activity from this session (please mention this on the online form if you are interested in this extension session).

Dr Fiona Douglas from the School of English delivers a lecture on Discovering Dialect for Year 12 students taking part in the Explore English project.

PhD student Jess’s video talks about how to read comics, showing us that why we read comics, and how we read comics, can help us to think about how we tell stories.

Watch the video here.

Ambassadors Jennie and Henna talk about their experience studying English at the University of Leeds, and answer audience questions!

Professor Peter Trudgill (University of Adger, Kristiansand, Norway) is a prominent language expert and author of a wide range of books on sociolinguistics. After a public lecture that he delivered at the University in 2017, we created a follow-up workshop that can be delivered to A-Level English Language students.

Would your students like to gain a better understanding of the transferable skills that come from studying History and career paths that are open to graduates?

This interactive recorded workshop is delivered by two History PhD students, who will guide your students through a range of activities, all designed to highlight the relevance of studying History and open their eyes to a wide range of jobs.

This interactive session will provide key information on using a variety of primary sources with a focus on written as well as non-written sources. It will help students engage with the past in order to interpret and understand it from first-hand documents.

This interactive session will consider various primary sources in order to combat the notion that medieval people were incredibly devout and religious and therefore, could not have a sense of humour. We will look at drawings, poetry and riddles which all point to Medieval people having a great sense of humour!

Have you ever wondered how an early Medieval coronation ceremony might differ to a modern church ceremony? This session will highlight a particular aspect of primary source analysis: understanding what the scope of a particular source is for understanding the past. This session will help students understand how to identify which questions certain sources can help us answer, and what their uses are, as well as provide some understanding of what happened in an early medieval English coronation ceremony.

A taster lecture on The Cuban Missile Crisis delivered by Dr Robert Hornsby.

Let’s get your students EXCITED about studying languages!! Our language taster workshops introduce your students to a language subject they may not have studied before. The workshops can be delivered online and have been designed to show your students just some of the other language options available to them in the future. They will spark your students’ interest and encourage the uptake of languages through school, college and onto Higher Education.

Katie, who studied Linguistics and English Language at the university, is an Organisational and Workforce Development Officer at Leeds City Council. She tells us how she chose her course, the skills she developed at university, and how they helped her get to where she is today!

Our Ambassadors answer all sorts of questions submitted by our #Linguastars participants!

For A Level Spanish students, this undergraduate taster session explores meta-art and meta-literature.

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-spanish-session-tr.pdf

Discover what it's like to study International Relations (IR) alongside a language at university as we ask the question 'Who should solve climate change?'.

The transcript for this talk can be found here: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-international-rela.pdf

Find out about the career opportunities available and the skills that languages graduates build during their time at university.

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-employability-sess.pdf

Discover what it's like to study Linguistics alongside a language at university as we explore accent variation.

Worksheet: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-linguistics-sessio.docx

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-linguistics-sessio.pdf

Find out about the course options available in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds.

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-courses-talk-trans.pdf

Learn the basics of the Italian language and culture with this beginners taster session - you probably know more than you think!

Activity Sheet: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-italian-session-ac.docx

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-italian-session-tr.pdf

For students studying German at A-Level, our undergraduate taster session explores identity, through the music of pop-star Namika!

Activity Sheet: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-german-session-act.pdf

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-german-session-tra.pdf

For A Level French students, this undergraduate taster session highlights the importance of debating skills at university, whilst looking at far-right politics in France.

Transcript: https://artsoutreach.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2021/05/linguastars-french-session-tra.pdf

What is Political Communication and has social media changed the way politicians’ communicate? If you are interested in studying politics or media at university then this is the session for you. This interactive recorded workshop will provide you with an opportunity to act as a Social Media Officer for a government department to see some of the challenges faced when trying to communicate politics on Twitter!

Do you think studying music is just about learning to play an instrument? Think again! The session will be suitable for students interested in music, psychology and general wellbeing. In this interactive workshop, students will discuss the impact of music on physical, psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. Drawing from current research in music psychology, including key models of wellbeing, as well as their own experiences they will explore what we mean by ‘wellbeing’, and how it relates to our musical engagement. Together we will consider the ways in which we use music for wellbeing in our own lives and reflect on the impact of music through lockdown. This workshop is available as a pre-recorded session or it can be delivered live online whilst your students are at home.

In this session, our Education Outreach Fellow will share an overview of the varied careers available in the music industry, including hidden careers you may not have considered. Drawing from her own varied experiences in the industry, including working for a major record label, as a music teaching assistant, a freelance singer and music facilitator, and a music psychology researcher, Melissa will reflect on her own musical pathway and the skills required to find success in the industry. This session will also discuss the transferable skills you can gain from studying and/or engaging with music, including how to frame these for an employer and some hints and tips on how to build your CV for a career in music.

The aim of this workshop is to introduce students with little or no academic background in philosophy to some of the basic concepts and issues involved in the study of reasoning and argument. What is an argument, and what makes for a good one? What does it mean for an argument or be valid or invalid, sound or unsound? Students will learn how to distinguish between opinion and knowledge, articulate why they believe something to be true, identify the premises and conclusion of  and reconstruct an argument, and identify the difference between a valid argument and a sound argument – valued skills in many different subject areas.