Culture, history & humanities

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.

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

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  1. Economic paradigms: are there alternatives to capitalism?
    Course start date:  Tue 12 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

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



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
  2. The beginnings of Impressionism: the Barbizon School
    Course start date:  Tue 19 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Who 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.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  3. The beauty of the medieval manuscript
    Course start date:  Wed 20 Nov 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    It is generally accepted that medieval illuminated manuscripts are very beautiful things. Something to do with all that gold-leaf maybe. While we cannot hold them in class, close-up digital reproduction will allow us to see if they really are as beautiful as we are told. Indeed, are none of them ugly? Join this course to find out.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  4. The Amaravati stupa: an ancient, colonial and contemporary history
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 23 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Arjmand Aziz
    Examine the history, architecture, aesthetics and religious significance of the Amaravati stupa. Admire parts of it during the visit at the British Museum.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00
  5. British and French film noir
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 7 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jon Wisbey
    Film noir, a staple of classical Hollywood, is an established tradition in British and French cinema, drawing on elements within each of these production contexts to produce distinctive variants of an enduringly popular style. View and discuss films such as They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), Quai des orfèvres (1947) and many others, as we explore a redefined noir and its key films and filmmakers.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
  6. World cinema 2: Diaspora
    Course start date:  Thu 9 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Gillian McIver
    This online film course follows on from Introduction to World Cinema. Like the first course, it will introduce you to filmmaking nations that are often less visible than Hollywood and the larger European film industries. The course will introduce the idea of ‘Diaspora Cinema’ (also known as Diasporic Cinema), that is, films made by filmmakers that are part of a cultural diaspora.



    Diasporic cinema refers to the production of films by any community of exiles or immigrants who have left their native country and live and work in another. It encompasses a wide range of genres, sub-genres, and themes within film studies.



    A 'diasporic' film is not the property of a single culture, but mediates in at least two ways. It explains the interaction between different loci of knowledge, exposing cinema's synthesis of expression and creating new types of information.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
  7. Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00
    Rating:
    80% of 100
  8. Five revolutionary exhibitions in art history
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 14 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Henry Martin
    From the opening of the Louvre in 1793 to the present-day Venice Biennale, this course uses five exhibitions (in Anglo-European history) as a jumping off point to explore and examine art-historical and contemporary themes and talking-points, including nationalism, modernism, colonialism, identity politics and representation.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
  9. Medieval Britain & Europe: Makers of the Medieval North part 1
    Course start date:  Wed 15 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Michael Bloomfield
    Explore the lives and achievements of some of the most influential men and women of faith and action in northern Europe during the earlier medieval period.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
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