Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses

Explore diverse economic theories beyond capitalism in economic paradigms with regards to the alternatives of capitalism and broaden your understanding of global economic systems.

The oldest profession as practised among the Romans - not for the squeamish.

This course will introduce and discuss two novels by eminent author, Muriel Spark- Memento Mori (1959) and The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960). Her writing wilfully upends notions of conformity and acts as a disrupter to accepted conventions. Instead, ‘Spark beckons us to encounter the stranger’ (Marilyn Reizbaum). Playfully disrupting passive readers and stretching comfort zones, Spark’s work provides a space to access unaccustomed outlooks that make us rethink our relationship with ourselves, others, and the world. Instead of unconsciously going with the flow, she awakens us to life’s stranger things.

Explore the astonishing range of poetic responses to a hundred years of warfare, acts of witnessing, endurance, defiance and condemnation by writers across the globe: Sassoon and Wilfred Owen in Britain, Brecht, Milosz, Celan, Akhmatova and Stepanova in Europe and Russia, Darwish and Zhadan in the Middle East and Ukraine, and many others. How do they describe the indescribable? High art or doggerel, what does it matter once the bombs start to fall?

Explore the story of how Indian painted and printed cottons became an important trade commodity for the Western domestic market, and the far-reaching impact of their design and manufacture.

Mahama Gandhi’s messages are profound and based both on his lived experience and intellectual power. His views on truth seeking and non-violent action have inspired many, particularly in the civil rights movements. Join this one-day course to find out more about his philosophy and consider its continued relevance in the 21st century.

During the 1960s British cinema re-established itself as a leading producer of films, including realist dramas such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), and action and adventure fantasies with the highly popular James Bond films. This course explores these developments through a range of critical approaches and considers the way in which they contributed to a revitalised British cinema.

Explore the portrayal of Captain James Cook from c. 1770 to the present day. Understand images of Cook provide us with a fascinating platform to think about the complicated relationships that have emerged out of British Empire and what used to be thought of as its imperial possessions.