Culture, history & humanities - Keeley Street

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.

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  1. How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinema
    Last Few Places, Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 18 Feb 2025 (and 1 other date)

    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
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  2. Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00
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  3. Art of medieval empires
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 4 Mar 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Richard Plant
    This course will explore a range of arts, painting, metalwork sculpture and architecture of the lands ruled, sometimes rather tenuously by the German Kings and Emperors, from the time of Charlemagne to the 15th century. For much of the period this was the dominant political entity in Europe, and the geographical reach will be broad: though focussing on central and northern Europe, some works in Italy will also be considered.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
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  4. First Novels Revisited: Amis, McEwan, Barnes, Ishiguro
    Course start date:  Tue 29 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lewis Ward
    Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro are household names of contemporary British fiction. But how did their careers begin in the 1970s and 1980s? And how do their early efforts stand up today?
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
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  5. Imposters, Fakes and Hoaxes in Fiction
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 4 Feb 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Kate Wilkinson
    Why assume a false identity? What could be the risks and rewards of pretending to be someone else? And what can fictions about ‘faking it’ tell us about ourselves, what we believe, and why? This literature course takes a deep dive into remarkable stories of impersonation and identity: Patricia Highsmith’s classic thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley; psychiatric intrigue in Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Case Study; and a notorious Victorian trial in Zadie Smith’s The Fraud.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
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