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.
- The history of Western art in 100 paintingsCourse start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julia MusgraveA chronological introduction to Western art from c.1250 to the present day, taught by looking at artworks in London’s galleries, and related materials.Full fee £679.00 Senior fee £543.00 Concession £441.00 - Wild Nights: poetry and desireCourse start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithSome friendships, including with people of the same sex, may become so intense as to be love, though not necessarily of a sexual kind. We will look at some great poets who have had this experience and expressed it brilliantly in their work: Shakespeare and Byron, Tennyson and Emily Dickinson, Arthur Rimbaud and Thomas Hardy, C P Cavafy and the great 20th century Russian poet Some Marina Tsvetaeva, and finally our recent Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Islamic art in the medieval worldCourse start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anita ChowdryA course examining the formation and development of Islamic Art and Design; looking at the role of ideology and patronage, and the key influences that went into its development and evolution.Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - 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 - The City of London: the Square MileCourse start date: Wed 8 Oct 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Hazel BakerExplore the City’s development from Roman and medieval times through to the Tudors and Stuarts. This course will consist of 8 guided walks starting with Roman London.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Exploring Kant: the theory of knowledgeCourse start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gabriel Olumide ApataWhat do we know? How do we know it? What are the limits of knowledge? Join this course to explore the area of Kant’s philosophy which focuses on his theory of knowledge.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Indigenous Australian art: an introduction
Course start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Arjmand AzizIndigenous Australian art has, in recent years, been increasingly exhibited and discussed in Britain. Yet little is known about the history and development of this art movement and the oeuvres of the artists responsible for its creation. This introductory course will provide a history of how Indigenous Australian artists have changed and challenged the course of national and international art fields in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinema Course start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the work of Chinese artists and filmmakers between the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st as they try to make sense of a world caught on the cusp between the old and the new. What place did art and cinema have in socio-political movements, and how did visual culture reflect the hopes and anxieties of the time?Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Introduction to the Wallace CollectionCourse start date: Wed 19 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowEach week, we'll explore a different aspect of the Wallace Collection looking at its fine and decorative art objects, including paintings, furniture, porcelain and even arms and armour.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Iconography and iconology: secrets of the old masters revealed Course start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Leslie PrimoEver wondered whether there’s a hidden meaning behind paintings? Discover why there are signs and symbols in paintings and how to find and interpret their meanings, in paintings from medieval to Baroque and beyond.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Stories of London Course start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Eleanor JacksonExplore London’s rich history in a series of guided walks. Each week we examine a different neighbourhood & era from the capital’s past. We look at its people, both rich and poor, & the events that shaped the city.
Initial lecture via Zoom followed by 6 guided walks. - Embodying Culture: An Introduction Course start date: Wed 30 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katie GossThis Culture course will give you an opportunity to explore the variety of ways that embodiment has been thought and theorised. Across six weeks we will cover a variety of influential approaches to embodied life in the twentieth and twenty-first century, including biopolitics, psychoanalysis, posthumanism, affect theory, science and technology studies, feminism and queer theory.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list