h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry about the rather mundane subject line, but I can't think of anything witty at the moment!

We had a Year 12 'curriculum enrichment' day yesterday on the topic of Ethics. We ran this for the first time last year and it was very popular (although it didn't result in many undergrad applications), so we decided to do it again this year. 78 visitors signed up, but two schools didn't turn up - a bit annoying because it had been oversubscribed and we had a waiting list. They all receive a personalised information pack about the College (collated by me!), including leaflets on the subject(s) they are interested in studying.

We start off with a little introduction to the College and university applications, then our Principal, who is a philosopher and the 2002 Reith Lecturer, gives a short talk on the freedom of the Press. She is great - she just talks for about 10 minutes, then invites questions and discussion. There's usually a bit of a silence at first, but once they have heard her serious treatment of the first question, they come thick and fast.

Second talk is on the ethics of cloning and is given by the Prof of History and Philosophy of Science. Very accessible, clear list of points pro and con given on a handout.

Between the two talks they have a tour of the college, taken by current undergrads, who can answer their questions as they go round. Then lunch in the main dining hall (beautiful room).

In the afternoon, we put them in groups of about 8 (schools can send up to four participants, so 2 or 3 schools per group), again with a current undergrad, to work on a 5-minute presentation about any of the points raised in the talks. They usually choose the cloning one, because it's easier for them, but they produce some very good presentations (dialogues, mock TV shows, straight list of points etc) and the Principal comes back to judge them and we give prizes to the best three.
Luckily it was a lovely day and they all went out and sat on the grass to do the workshops.

Today I've been tidying up from that event and starting preparation for the next one - Year 12 Cultural Literacy Day on Thursday, at which I'm giving a talk . Also writing letters to a couple of schools pointing out that we weren't specially pleased when their students "had" to leave at lunchtime - and particularly when they departed without telling us!