At City Lit we want you to be able to find a course that is relevant to you. As the world continues to change around us, we continue to invite new tutors and courses to our provision across history, politics, philosophy and science to reflect the world around us.
In our first presentation round this summer, we are delighted to be able to share our new tutors who will offer new courses. Their courses range from sustainability studies over African History, British History, and South Asian history to Latin American Studies to geology.
Aidan McManus
Aidan McManus is an award-winning tour guide, historian, broadcaster, and curator of music-related film events. West London-born of Irish heritage, he was a teenage participant in the city’s early punk scene and later its soul, 2-Tone and rave cultures. His first tour guiding experience came in San Francisco, where he created walks exploring the city’s bohemian subculture, literature and music. Returning to London, he went on to research and build critically acclaimed walking tours on
subjects as diverse as gangland Soho, David Bowie’s early years, and the social history of West London. He served as a consultant to Westminster Council for its 2025 Joe Strummer memorial event, and he has been a featured commentator in BBC and Sky Arts documentaries and on Radio
London’s Robert Elms Show. He is the host of Flipside London Radio, a fortnightly Portobello Radio programme focusing on books, music, history and youth culture.
Anita Punwani
Anita holds a MSc from University College London in Global Governance & Ethics, School of Public Policy, also in Construction Economics & Management, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. She studied civil engineering and management at Imperial College, as well as art, art history, politics and philosophy at City Lit. Her 30 years’ experience in education, training and senior advisory roles spans the public, private and not-for-profit sectors including an international children’s charity and across UK Government. Anita is involved in developing international standards in sustainable development and presented ‘Global Governance at Risk’ at the 2025 United Nations Association UK Conference. She was interviewed by the BBC and CNBC in relation to handling the risks posed by the Covid-19 global crisis. Her artwork was selected for a World Bank exhibition on climate change. Anita’s approach to teaching is to facilitate sessions in an inclusive and collaborative manner. You can learn more about and enrol in Anita’s courses here:
Apeike Umolu
Apeike Umolu is a historian of 19th century Black and African history, with a specialism in the history of political thought. She is a Supervisor at the Faculty of History and the Department of Political Thought and International Relations at the University of Cambridge, where she is completing her doctoral studies. She teaches modules on the political, social, and economic history of the Global South, and the history of political thought from 1700. You can learn more about and enrol in Apeike’s courses here:
Dr Louise Hawkins
Louise has spent over 15 years studying and working in geoscience, including working as a geoscientist for an oil & gas consultancy and as a university researcher. She holds a degree in Geology and a PhD in Palaeomagnetism, a branch of geophysics that looks at the behaviour of the Earth’s past magnetic field. Most recently Louise worked as an editor, reviewing high-impact papers for the science journal Nature Geoscience. She has also worked as a Public Explainer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, teaching the public about planetary geology, and a demonstrator teaching undergraduates about different aspects of geology, including palaeontology.
Natalee Garret
Natalee Garrett studied History at Queen's University Belfast (BA & MA) where she discovered a passion for eighteenth-century European history. In 2022, she graduated with a PhD in History from the University of St Andrews after completing a doctoral thesis which examined satirical prints of the monarchy and aristocracy in eighteenth-century France and Britain. She has taught at the University of St Andrews and currently teaches on a range of History modules at the Open University. Her first book, a biography of Queen Charlotte, was published by Routledge in 2024, and she is currently working on her second book, a study of the public images of the four queens of Georgian Britain.
Pilar Villanueva Martinez
Pilar Villanueva-Martinez is a Ph.D. Candidate in Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. With over eight years of experience in education, Pilar has become a specialist in teaching courses on Latin American cultures, history, social movements, music, and literature. In addition, she has taught Spanish courses catering to beginners, intermediates, and advanced learners at esteemed institutions like Bucknell University and the University of Texas at Austin. Moreover, she has extended her expertise to various community-engaged organizations, including the Biblioteca del Bicentenario and Casa Cultural el Chontaduro in Colombia. She is also the founder and editor of the Latin American magazine Zánganos, dedicated to disseminating arts, cultures, and activism from the region. You can learn more about and enrol in Pilar’s courses here:
- Get ready for the revolution! Key Latin American political thinkers
- Protesting to the Beat: music and revolution in Latin America
Dr Reshmi Banerjee
Dr Reshmi Banerjee is a political scientist with specialization in food security, agricultural policies and cross-border studies on North East India/Myanmar. She was previously a visiting research fellow in the King’s India Institute (KII), King’s College, London, an academic visitor in the Asian Studies Centre (Programme on Modern Burmese Studies) in St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, a research associate in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, a post-doctoral fellow in the department of international relations, University of Indonesia (UI) and a researcher in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta. Reshmi has been a Visiting Professor in Jamia Millia Islamia, a fellow in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) and a visiting research fellow in the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. She has taught in Delhi University and in the University of Indonesia (UI). She has a Masters, M.Phil and Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and a Masters in Museum Cultures from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author/editor of several books and journal articles. Her research focus areas are: conflict, identity politics and institutional interventions. You can learn more about and enrol in Reshmi’s courses here:
Dr Stephen Goss
Dr Stephen Goss is a former lecturer in history at Queen’s University Belfast. A published academic, his area of focus is 19th and 20th Century British, Irish and European history, specialising in the Cold War. Previously a Life-long Learning Lecturer at Stranmillis University College, he is now an Expert Tour Guide at the Imperial War Museum and Churchill War Rooms, and has been a popular speaker in museums, historical societies, u3a, Probus, and the Women's Institute for over fifteen years. Stephen has also conducted policy and research for Campaign for Better Transport and writes regularly for a leading independent news and analysis site on Northern Irish current affairs.
Study at City Lit
We hope you will join us in welcoming our new tutors. Watch this space for our next introduction of new tutors who will new courses in heritage studies, nature, philosophy, religious studies, London walks and the history of science.
![New tutors, new courses: Humanities [Part 2]](https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/amasty/blog/cache/c/i/1280/720/city-lit-london-75.jpg)
