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. Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
  2. Still life in the history of art: opulence and fragility
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Tue 5 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    Still-life paintings usually represent ordinary things, often small and arranged on an indoor surface, without human presence. Long regarded in western art as the lowliest subject or “genre”, one that only required technical skill rather than imagination, still lifes are now considered some of the most charming and best loved paintings and can contain intriguing meanings that repay close study.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
  3. How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinema
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 5 Nov 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Paul Sutton
    This course will develop your critical appreciation of the cinema by teaching you how to read and understand film texts. We will look at the elements that underpin film form – narrative, mise en scène, cinematography, editing and sound – alongside its historical development. We will consider film style by exploring classical, post-classical and art cinema and we will examine influential critical modes of analysis, such as genre, authorship and spectatorship.



    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
    Rating:
    87% of 100
  4. Colour in medieval art
    Course start date:  Wed 6 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Andreas Petzold
    Colour 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.



    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 £103.00 Concession £84.00
  5. US Election: The Result
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 7 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Mark Malcomson
    Two days after the election, we will explore what has happened and see where things stand. Analysing the results on a state by state basis will give us an idea of how the Democrats and Republicans have done both in terms of the Presidency and Congress.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
  6. Emily Dickinson & Sylvia Plath: bursting all the doors
    Course start date:  Thu 7 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Stephen Winfield
    Spend four weeks in the company of two of the greatest voices in American Poetry, up close and across the whole range of their outputs - poems, letters, fiction, children’s stories, envelopes, visual art, herbarium – paying attention to the personal and social circumstances that made their work possible and each woman’s bid for creative freedom so exemplary.



    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
  7. Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  8. Strikes in the 21st century: relevant or a thing of the past?
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 11 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Caglar Ezikoglu
    Explore the role and impact of strikes in contemporary society and analyse whether they remain relevant or have become obsolete in the 21st century.



    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 £119.00
  9. Lunchtime lecture: Raphael – too perfect for words
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Tue 12 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Explore the work of Renaissance master Raphael through his highly polished artistic process. Get to know how the artist came to be known by his contemporaries as a person showered by the ‘infinite riches of heaven’.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00
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