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.
- 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 - 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 - Ruling Russia: Tsars, Revolutions, Civil War , and the Triumph of Lenin (1860-1924)Course start date: Tue 13 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Zoe QuinnThis course explores the transformative period of Russian history from 1860 to 1924, encompassing the autocratic rule of the Tsars, the revolutionary upheavals of 1905 and 1917, the chaos of the civil war, and the consolidation of the Bolshevik regime. Students will examine key events, figures, and ideologies that shaped modern Russia, delving into the complexities of political, social, and economic changes during this era.
Please note: this course includes much of the material covered in previous Russian Revolution courses at the City Lit. Moreover this course is taught at an introductory level. Tutor: Zoe Quinn.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00 - The philosophy of raceCourse start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ovett NwosimiriThis course session touches upon the philosophical foundations of race, engaging with historical and contemporary debates on racial identity, racism, and justic
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayCurious about art history? Join us for this taster session where we explore different ways into visual art and its histories from the ancient to the contemporary.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - The Twelve Caesars, Emperors of RomeCourse start date: Wed 1 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michael DuiganDiscover the extraordinary lives of the first rulers of Imperial Rome. Ancient historians have given us vivid accounts of the sometimes amusing, often scandalous, but always fascinating events in their lives. Can we distinguish between 'fact’ and vicious propaganda? A visit to the British Museum is included.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - Medieval and Renaissance art at the V&ACourse start date: Wed 1 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Andreas PetzoldExplore the one of the finest and most diverse collections of medieval and Renaissance art and material culture in the world at the V&A Museum.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - The beginnings of Impressionism: Millet and the Barbizon SchoolCourse start date: Wed 1 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberWho said the Impressionists were the first to paint ‘en plein air’? Get lost in wood and green and light and shade in the large forest of Fontainebleau near Paris and learn about a group of 19th-century painters who influenced the Impressionists in the art of painting landscape outside.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Poetry Reading GroupCourse start date: Wed 1 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sophie OxenhamThis Poetry Reading Group explores a wide range of poetry across different themes and periods, in a supportive and friendly group. Each week we will read and discuss a selection of 2-4 poems, focusing on a different theme each session. The tutor will select poetry from different poets, forms and periods, introducing you to a broad range of poetic voices and perspectives. Poetry is for everyone - come and join us!
Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Colour in medieval artCourse start date: Thu 2 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andreas PetzoldColour is an all pervasive and fundamental aspect of medieval art, but one that is largely neglected in art historical studies.This course looks at some of the main themes relating to colour such as symbolism, materials, theory and key developments.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Shakespeare's Women: Hamlet, Macbeth and As You Like ItCourse start date: Thu 2 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sophie OxenhamThis Literature course will look at three of Shakespeare’s female characters: Rosalind (As You Like It), Ophelia (Hamlet) and Lady Macbeth (Macbeth). We will consider their wit, madness and ambition, exploring Shakespeare’s language, the historical context, and the plays in performance.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Masters of Cinema: Claire DenisCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This course will consider Claire Denis’ importance as a filmmaker by exploring in some detail a number of her key films from Chocolat (1988), I can’t sleep (1994), Beau Travail (1999), White material (2009), and High Life (2018). Claire Denis’ transnational postcolonial work, from Djibouti, South Africa to multi-ethnic France, deals with themes of migration, human desires and fears. Her films are renowned for being filmed mainly on location, for playing with many cinematic genres and languages and they are internationally acclaimed.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - The Hindu Temple: an introductionCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Arjmand AzizDiscover more about the development, history and sacred geometry of the Hindu temple in this weekend course which includes a guided visit to a local temple.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Study day: Millet, Manet & Courbet - revolutionaries of realismCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore Realism in the nineteenth century, focusing on Manet as its key example, considering such issues as social and political change, formal and subject developments, theoretic interests and artistic influences.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Hitchcock's Horror Thrillers 2: The Birds, scene by sceneCourse start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyHitchcock's The Birds (1963), sees the director exploring a familiar theme: the 'romantic couple' tested by suspenseful events. But unlike his glossy 1950s hits, Hitchcock opts for muted visuals and performances in an unflinching examination of femininity under threat and masculine cruelty, framed by a dystopian revenge of nature narrative. Explore the master's last great film, scene by scene.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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