Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses
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, from ‘How to read a film’ and World literature, to Creative non-fiction writing courses and American history and Politics courses.
Our tutors are experts in their fields and experienced educators; many have published, teach in universities or share their expertise in the media. Tutors share their knowledge and passion through presentations, readings, interactive discussion and exercises, analysis, and other activities.
Many students return to take more courses, telling us they enjoy being part of our City Lit Learning community.
Our popular courses often sell out quickly, so we invite you to browse and book your place now.
- Friday lates: The body as image and material in 20th century artCourse start date: Fri 9 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore the representation of body and body-related practices by prominent modern and contemporary artists of the twentieth century.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Craft focus: character in fiction
Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghIn fiction, character and plot are inseparable elements of craft. Without characters there can be no action or plot. In this short course you will learn how to create characters that can drive a narrative forward and deepen its themes.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Modern art in America, 1900-1930: the Ashcan School to Precisionism Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersStudy American art, including paintings, illustrations and cartoons from late-nineteenth century Impressionism and Realism to Precisionism, analysing movements and styles, social and political context, materials, and art theory. - Craft focus: grammar, syntax and style for creative writers - getting started Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: William BradyGreat poetry and prose begin when the writer puts the right words in the right places. Learn how and why the rules and conventions of language matter in this new course, which combines creative writing with a review of essential points of grammar.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Dickens' London Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Molly Rumbelow'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' Enjoy this introduction to Dickens' work and the London of his time. Morning lecture at City Lit followed by a walk in the area of the city connected to his work.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Writing and rewriting fairytales Course start date: Sun 11 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: KR MoorheadOnce upon a time there was a City Lit workshop all about writing fairytales. The quest: to inspire writers to pen stories of love, fear, forests, revenge, dragons, witches, kings, queens, frogs and magic.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - In Conversation with Hallie Rubenhold Course start date: Wed 14 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Join us at City Lit for an event with Hallie Rubenhold to celebrate her new book, Story of a Murder: The Wives, The Mistress and Dr Crippen. Hosted by City Lit Principal Mark Malcomson CBE, the conversation will focus on Hallie's feminist retelling of the infamous true-crime story of Dr Crippen. The event includes an audience Q&A, followed by a drinks reception and book signing.
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - A taste of economics with Vince Cable: politicians who changed the narrative on economicsCourse start date: Wed 14 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Join Dr Vince Cable, former minister and party leader of the Liberal Democrats, for a session on a brief overview of politicians who changed the global narrative on economics.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lost Course start date: Fri 16 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierFrom pub crawls to punk rock, via comic books, action painting and Hegelian philosophy; hear the unlikely tale of the Situationists: international artist-revolutionaries who tried to change the world itself into a work of art.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Medicine in the Middle AgesCourse start date: Sat 17 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingTo treat an excess of phlegm make a steam inhaler from boiled ants. For burns and scalds apply snail slime. If you would like more useful medical and cosmetic tips with no guarantees of success, this course is for you.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £69.00 - Modern art in America, 1930s: the age of Hopper, Rivera and the New Deal Course start date: Sat 17 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersFrom Edward Hopper to Philip Evergood to Diego Rivera, study American art from the turbulent 1930s, analysing movements and styles, social and political context, materials, and art theory.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - The Miracle of Prose Poetry: Baudelaire and beyondCourse start date: Sat 17 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansWhat is prose poetry? What makes prose poetry different from line-broken poetry? Why might poets choose to write in this form? Come and explore the complexities and possibilities of this provocative form in a supportive group context.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Keats and eternityCourse start date: Sun 18 May 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Laurie SmithIn the house where many of them were written, we will explore why Keats’s poems are regarded as exceptionally beautiful. How did he achieve this? We will see that it wasn’t luck or simply inspiration, but the result of choices which reflect important aspects of Keats’ personality. Includes ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, Ode to a Grecian Urn’ and ‘To Autumn’.
This course will take place at Keats House, 10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR. - A day at the V&A: an introduction to the collections Course start date: Mon 19 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresSpend a fascinating day at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum exploring a range of galleries. We shall be looking at the decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and design from across the world and across the centuries in this remarkable museum.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Global Connections: Oral Histories of Ugandan Asians in Britain after 1972Course start date: Thu 22 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Syeda AliThis one day course brings together evidence from interviews with the ever decreasing number of original arrivals to the UK from Uganda, following Idi Amin’s expulsion in 1972.
Using oral history we ask questions of what we can learn from the personal testimony of individuals and what unique insights this gives us.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00
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