A Conversation with Martin Jorgensen: Why the Humanities Matter at City Lit

Dr Martin Jorgensen is Head of Programme for History, Politics, Philosophy and Science at City Lit, as well as Head of Access to HE and Coordinator for Politics, Economics, Current Affairs, Anthropology, and Histories, Memories and Heritage. His journey into the humanities is deeply personal shaped by family histories across Europe, military service in the former Yugoslavia, and a lifelong commitment to understanding how identity, memory, and power shape our world. In this Q&A, Martin reflects on his path, his teaching, and why the humanities matter more than ever. 

I was keen from a young age, with parents from both sides of the Iron Curtain and family histories intertwined with the imperial histories of Austro-Hungary, Germany and Denmark. What cemented my interest was deploying to former Yugoslavia as a soldier after my military service in Denmark. In addition to hunting smugglers and war criminals, I was tasked with patrolling mountain villages across what had become an ethnic divide. Many villages consisted of mostly grandmothers and their granddaughters (less than 100km from my grandmother’s home in Hungary). So, what stuck with me was both the immediate and the intergenerational impacts of the weaponisation of identity, culture and politics and the destruction of neighborship, empathy and kindness for subsequent violence. Seeking to understand this helped me into the Humanities, appreciate the societal role of grandmothers infinitely more and appreciate that we can never stop caring about one another. We are nothing without caring and kindness.  

I did a history undergraduate degree but then found I needed a study break. My experiences meant that I needed to see humanity in everything I did and some subjects and how they were taught made that a struggle. After a few years of cleaning dishes, toilets and cement factories, I found my way back onto my master’s degree. My interests then turned into a working life. My teaching focused on both imperial and international history and how we as individuals, communities and societies can use history and memory not for violence and destruction but understanding, empathy and resilience. Similarly, my research came to focus on the connections between imperial security operations and international peacekeeping. From this, I learnt to do what we think matters and that it is never too late to learn. Life is fragile, we need to make the most of it. 

This is such an important question! Aside the subject related knowledge, I think diving into subjects across the Humanities (and the social sciences and the sciences) will enable a wider range of take aways, at least this is what we try to enable here at City Lit. Critical thinking skills could be one. New horizons beyond each course another. Empathy also. We can also add personal development and enjoyment. Community too; many friendships have emerged across courses, subject areas and terms. So, the formal learning outcomes are just the starting points, really.  

Oh, what don’t we offer! As keen observers of our section of the college website have noted, it seems we keep adding new subjects and topics. And they are right; we are expanding while also maintaining our existing offer. We are adding new tutors and courses across all of our subjects, from history, London walks and heritage over philosophy, politics and economics to nature and science. The new subjects and courses will be timely and meaningful, aimed to speak to and reflect London, the UK and the world we live in, warts and all. I should add that we also run the Access to HE for Humanities and social sciences, with the next course starting in September (if this is of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch to beat the August rush). I am almost certain; no matter your interest, we have a course for you! 

Every student across our programme is different, bringing their own backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives. This not only makes for richer experiences! It also ties in with how, as bell hooks, one of our foremost thinkers on learning, has argued: “Engaged pedagogy assumes that every student has a valuable contribution to make to the learning process.” (hooks, 2010, p. 21). Very much in line with hook’s point, we see curiosity and commitment in our classrooms across all our formats and subjects, from archaeology and astronomy to physics and sociology, is. Often people dip their toes but then stay for longer, jumping from subject to subject. Some people have been doing courses with us longer than most of our tutors have been with us! 

With more than 550 courses and 2,500 students, we have one of the largest adult education programmes across the humanities, social sciences and sciences in the UK. However, it is neither about scale nor breadth and depth. We want each of our learning opportunities across formats, subjects, topics to offer everyone a chance to explore the subject of interest to them in ways that are meaningful to them. In short, we want to make it possible to better understand the world we life in, past and present.   

Aside subject related knowledge? We of course also hope people take away new horizons, wider critical thinking skills, empathy and community. There is another element, for me personally. This may sound like a cliché. However, having relatives with lived experience in the Gulag and authoritarian Communist Hungary to now see the erosion of post-Communist democracy and the legacies of war former Yugoslavia up close I have no illusion about the fragility of democracy and peace. Looking at across the Atlantic, to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea only reinforces this. As Timothy Snyder puts it, “The mistake is to assume that rulers who came to power through institutions cannot change or destroy these very institutions (…).” (Snyder, 2017, p. 224). Turning again to bell hooks, who makes this point even more poignantly, by quoting John Dewey: “(…) democracy has to be born anew in each generation, and education is its midwife” (hooks, p. 14). So, I also hope people take from our courses, in their own ways, an enhanced awareness and urgency that we are all connected across borders, that we cannot not take rights for granted and that we do better when we all work together. We need to find support where we can and support where we can.  

Study Humanities at City Lit

Explore our extraordinary range of History, Culture and Writing courses and lectures. We offer both introductory and specialist in-depth courses to suit all levels of interest and experience.