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.
- Philosophy and memoryCourse start date: Mon 13 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita KasabovaWhat is memory? How does memory impact our sense of self and time? Why does memory often go wrong? If our memory is unreliable, can it provide knowledge of our personal past? How is memory registered in the body? What is collective memory? This course explores memory through philosophical and psychological lenses.
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 - Byzantine journey: medieval pilgrimage and artCourse start date: Mon 13 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Helen DejeanFor medieval pilgrims, visiting St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a powerful spiritual experience. Today, although an established tourist destination, the modern encounter with the sacred arts of the famous Monastery and ‘God-Trodden Mountain’ is often curtailed by time and limited access. This course aims to explain its many treasures and biblical loca sancta in relation to medieval and modern pilgrimage.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Craft focus: grammar, syntax, and style for creative writersCourse start date: Mon 20 Jan 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: William BradyGreat poetry and prose begin when the writer puts the right words in the right places. Learn how and why the rules and conventions of language matter in this new course, which combines creative writing with a review of essential points of grammar.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £100.00 - Art in Britain 1890-1918 – New English Art Club to WWICourse start date: Mon 20 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveExplore the works of British artists and their relationship to the legacy of academic painting and the art of continental Europe between 1880-1918. Who led developments and how does the art of the period reflect the times?
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 - Life Writing: chronicling the selfCourse start date: Mon 27 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Megan BeechWhat draws writers to write about themselves? How might memoirs, diaries, letters and other kinds of self-reflective writing enable us to explore issues beyond the individual lives that they chronicle?
We'll look at the interesting and innovative (and sometimes obsessive) ways in which writers have documented their experiences, identities and travels, exploring what it means to share the most intimate parts of our experience with others.
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 £169.00 Concession £110.00 - Chaucer's Love VisionsCourse start date: Mon 3 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Rachel BuglassMuch less famous than The Canterbury Tales, with its quotidian concerns, Chaucer’s Love Visions are the dreams of poets. We will read The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Birds, The Legend of Good Women and extracts fromThe Romaunt of the Rose. Through these allegorical tales, we will examine the conventions of medieval courtly love and life through the lens of Chaucer's humour, sharp observation and self-deprecation.
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 £169.00 Concession £110.00 - Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
- Art in Britain 1918-1945 – the Interwar years and WWIICourse start date: Mon 10 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveExplore the art of British modern artists and their relationship to the art of continental Europe 1918–1950. Who led developments and how does the art of the period reflect the times?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - National Portrait GalleryCourse start date: Mon 28 Oct 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Leslie PrimoDiscover portraiture and the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. Different periods and styles are discussed each week in front of the portraits. Includes visits to the current temporary exhibitions.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £103.00 - German Idealism from Kant to Hegel: the beginnings of continental philosophyCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerGerman philosophers created the most ambitious and imaginative systems of thought of modern times against the backdrop of revolution and war. This creative and speculative beginning to modern continental philosophy is an exciting intellectual adventure. - City Lit evening reading groupCourse start date: Mon 23 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Claire AllenShare thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session with suggestions (contemporary literary fiction in paperback) and having read The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Monthly meetings on 23 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov; 13 Jan, 17 Feb, 17 March, 12 May, 9 June, and 7 July.
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 £169.00 Concession £110.00 - Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
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