U21 Summer Schools

Since 2004, there has been an annual U21 Summer School. Each Summer School has had a global theme and attracted some of the best students from around the U21 network to engage in an exchange of culture, experiences and intellect.

The Summer Schools have been hosted by National University of Singapore, Lund University, Hong Kong University, the University of Virginia and most recently the University of Birmingham. Themes have included: Leadership in a Global Society, Asia as the Global Future, Sustainable Development in a Global Society and Embracing Diversity through Creativity, Culture and Innovation.

2009, University of Queensland

The 2009 Summer School will be hosted by the University of Queensland with the theme of Climate Change Adaptation. 

Students interested in attending should contact the International Office at their university.

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2008, University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham was pleased to host the U21 Summer School 2008 which took place between 30 June and 11 July 2008.

The theme of the school was ‘Embracing diversity through creativity, culture and innovation’ and 47 students and four faculty members from twelve U21 institutions came to discuss and investigate this topic.

Click here for the full report

2007, University of Virginia

The 2007 Student Summer Conference took place from 1 to13 July at the University of Virginia with the theme of Leadership in a Global Society.  The programme was designed to help participants understand and develop their own personal leadership skills by exploring the lives of leaders from different disciplines and different areas of the world.

The curriculum had a strong experiential learning component and makes extensive use of cross-cultural groups. Inspiring lectures from knowledgeable professors were integrated with structured opportunities for thoughtful discussion, field trips, films, active learning activities and service learning opportunities.

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2006, University of Hong Kong

The 2006 Summer School was hosted by the University of Hong Kong from 3 to 23 July 2006 with the theme of Asia as the Global Future.  It offered a programme on Asian Studies organised by the University of Hong Kong's Centre of Asian Studies and Faculty of Social Sciences. The goal of the Summer School was to expose students to carefully designed lectures, seminars and experiential learning with site visits in Hong Kong, Beijing and Macau so as to enhance their awareness of the importance of Asian and world affairs.

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2005, Lund University

The U21 Summer School in Lund from 4 to 15 July 2005 was the second of the kind organised within the Universitas 21 network. In all, 74 students from the universities of Glasgow, British Columbia, Auckland, Melbourne, Nottingham, Birmingham, Virginia, Singapore, Queensland, Edinburgh, Korea, Hong Kong, McGill (Canada) and Fudan (China) participated alongside students from Lund University. Fifteen visiting lecturers from a range of academic disciplines joined academic staff from Lund to lead this two-week activity.

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2004, National University of Singapore

The inaugural U21 Summer School & Symposium - a new initiative by the U21 network - was hosted by the National University of Singapore from 5 to 12 July 2004. With a theme of Global Technology Entrepreneurship, the aim of the initiative was to inculcate a global and entrepreneurial mindset among the students through interactive learning and exposure to opportunities outside their own countries.

Click here for the full report