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.
- Venetian art of the 15th-16th centuries: beauty, splendour and lightCourse start date: Tue 5 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberJoin us for a sumptuous celebration of sumptuous Venetian painting. Discover the painting of this elegant culture built on a fragile lagoon where sea and sky meet, and where light and mist collide.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Still life in the history of art: opulence and fragilityCourse start date: Tue 5 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresStill-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 - Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
- How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinemaCourse start date: Tue 5 Nov 2024 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Paul SuttonThis 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 - Colour in medieval artCourse start date: Wed 6 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
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.
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 - Art & memory: culture and politics in modern and contemporary artCourse start date: Wed 6 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Mark Stuart-SmithHow have artists since 1960 engaged with the recent history and memory of political conflict? What role have artists had in remembering a difficult or traumatic past? What are the connections between memory and national identity in their work?Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00 - The essentials of British politicsCourse start date: Wed 6 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ian McGarvieThis essentials course will give you the foundations of the political system in the United Kingdom, whilst also enabling you to use your newly acquired knowledge to discuss and debate current affairs matters in real time.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00
- Irish history & identity 2 : From the coming of the English invasion in 1169 to the Coronation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland in 1541.Course start date: Thu 7 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Colm HickeyAlthough inextricably linked to Britain, Ireland’s history, identity, and nationhood has equally been shaped by its relationship with Europe. This course traces Ireland’s development from the coming of the English invasion in 1169 to the Coronation of Henry V111 as King of Ireland in 1541.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - US Election: The ResultCourse start date: Thu 7 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Mark MalcomsonTwo 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 - The world in black and red: painting in ancient GreeceCourse start date: Thu 7 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simone ChisenaDelve deep in the world of Ancient Greek pottery and explore its vivid representations of gods, heroes and mythical past.
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 - Emily Dickinson & Sylvia Plath: bursting all the doorsCourse start date: Thu 7 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Stephen WinfieldSpend 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 - Friday lates: The East India Company and the passion for chintzCourse start date: Fri 8 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita ChowdryExplore the story of how Indian painted and printed cottons became an important trade commodity for the Western domestic market, and the far-reaching impact of their design and manufacture.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Strikes in the 21st century: relevant or a thing of the past?Course start date: Mon 11 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caglar EzikogluExplore 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 - Lunchtime lecture: Raphael – too perfect for wordsCourse start date: Tue 12 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore 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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