Courses in London & Online

Learn the basic principles of musical language and notation: rhythmic values, time signatures, pitch on treble and bass clefs, simple major scales, intervals and key signatures, and the most common musical terms and signs. break week: 29 May 2025.

Relatively new to writing poetry? This inspiring course offers an opportunity to experiment with language and a variety of poetic devices alongside fellow emerging poets. Discover the key elements of a poem in a friendly and interactive class.

In his literary essay On Fairy Stories, J.R.R. Tolkien famously wrote that “in human art, fantasy is a thing best left to words”. Despite this claim, The Lord of the Rings is arguably one of the most profitable media franchises of the 21st century. It has inspired academy-award winning films and record-breaking TV series, and continues to generate material that resonates with new generations of fans to explore. This course will explore the history of adapting Tolkien to the cinema, considering not only what was altered or left behind in attempts to turn Tolkien’s vast mythology into the stuff of popular cinema, but what might also have been enhanced as a result.

Come and discover Swedish on this lively online taster.

Learn the common reasons for abstraction in art, across time and culture. From the Byzantine icon to the Igbo figurine, from Young Sook Park to Mark Rothko, we’ll think about how abstraction is more common in the history of art than is typically thought. Explore ways into thinking about and experiencing abstract art.

This course will provide an overview of the politics of ‘Left populism’ in their historical perspective and contemporary manifestations as well as in their relation to socialist politics.

This class is suitable for if you have completed module 1 or an introduction to lipreading class at City Lit. You will develop your lipreading and fingerspelling skills and build your confidence.







This course will be taught in spoken English and not in sign language.







This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.







This is a live online course. You will need:



- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.



- A computer with microphone and camera. (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook). The classes work best using a desktop device. Please avoid accessing the class using a tablet or phone as the screen size will limit your ability to lipread or join in with the class.



We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.

From the late-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, the German Lied developed and blossomed as a musical genre for amateurs, professionals, homes and concert halls. We trace its history through some of its most important composers.

This course has a scheduled break week on 29 Oct 2025.

Defining itself around themes such as realism, class and national identity, and differentiating itself from Hollywood and other national cinemas, British cinema has found critical and popular acclaim both domestically and internationally. This course explores key themes and developments in British cinema, past and present, through a range of films, filmmakers and critical concepts and responses.