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

Join us in the heart of London for in-person classes. Our modern campus in Covent Garden is easy to reach and buzzing with creativity. With modern purpose-built facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, it’s the perfect space to support your learning journey. Explore our facilities >

Prefer learning online? Our live online courses bring expert teaching to you, wherever you are.

Whether you choose to study in-person or online, all our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. Wherever and however you want to learn, we’re here for you.

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.

 

We're delighted to share with you part of our upcoming Autumn term Culture and Humanities programme; please note that we expect the full Autumn Term programme to be on the website by the middle of May so check back soon!

 

Filters

Items 46-60 of 81

Page
per page
  1. The history of Western art in 100 paintings
    Course start date:  Wed 24 Sep 2025

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Julia Musgrave
    A 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
    Add to Compare
  2. Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £125.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
    Add to Compare
  3. Wild Nights: poetry and desire
    Course start date:  Wed 24 Sep 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Laurie Smith
    Some 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
    Add to Compare
  4. Cultureplex Ciné-Club: women directors and their wonderlands
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 24 Sep 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Katie Goss
    Come and join us at the Cultureplex Ciné-Club: Women directors and their Wonderlands, where you will have the opportunity to view and discuss the work of innovative female filmmakers whose work generates dazzling visions of alternative modes of living and spectatorship. A development from our existing Cultureplex Ciné-Club courses and taking its cue from the famous Parisian Ciné-club set up by the celebrated critic and writer, André Bazin, this incarnation of the film club will allow for the viewing of a different film each week, followed by detailed discussion and debate. The film will be introduced, and placed in both its cinematic, cultural and historic context. In sharing our viewing in City Lit’s premier screening room, the Cultureplex, we will approximate the experience of watching film in the cinema, one that is intense and fully focussed in a way that other modes of viewing often are not. After the screening we will devote the rest of the class to a collective exploration of the film, led by the tutor, but involving everyone in a participatory discussion that will allow all to express their responses, their views, their thoughts on the film screened.
    Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £155.00
    Add to Compare
  5. Islamic art in the medieval world
    Course start date:  Wed 24 Sep 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Anita Chowdry
    A 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
    Add to Compare
  6. Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £120.00
    Rating:
    90% of 100
    Add to Compare
  7. The Twelve Caesars, Emperors of Rome
    Course start date:  Wed 1 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Michael Duigan
    Discover 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
    Add to Compare
  8. Medieval and Renaissance art at the V&A
    Course start date:  Wed 1 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Andreas Petzold
    Explore 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
    Add to Compare
  9. The beginnings of Impressionism: Millet and the Barbizon School
    Course start date:  Wed 1 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    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.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00
    Add to Compare
  10. Poetry Reading Group
    Course start date:  Wed 1 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Sophie Oxenham

    This 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
    Add to Compare
  11. An introduction to art history
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Thomas Balfe
    Art history is much more than decoding secrets and symbols. It is about critical thinking and empathy, understanding how an artwork reflects an artist’s interpretation of their world, and what it says to you about our world now. This course is designed to build your confidence in understanding visual art of the Western tradition. It is designed for both the absolute beginner and those with some existing art historical knowledge.
    Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £168.00
    Add to Compare
  12. Angela Carter: ‘A Different Kind of Human Being’ -
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Fiona McCulloch
    This course will introduce and discuss the fiction of renowned author, Angela Carter, specifically focusing upon one novel and one short story. Carter wanted her writing to ‘demythologise the fictions that regulate our lives’, to explore how society narrates us into being and holds us there. In doing so, she offers us a chance to read and, ultimately, release ourselves through her work, as we come to understand the relationship between fiction and reality. For Carter, both of these – fiction and reality – are two sides of the same coin.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
    Add to Compare
  13. Female myths and divinities from Ancient Greece
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Maria Contos
    Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00
    Add to Compare
  14. The City of London: the Square Mile
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Oct 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Hazel Baker
    Explore 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
    Add to Compare
  15. Gothic language: an introduction
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Oct 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Stephen Pollington
    Discover the ancient language spoken by the Goths, an ancient Germanic population from Scandinavia who settled in North-Eastern and Eastern Europe.
    Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £49.00 Concession £32.00
    Add to Compare
Page
per page

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