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

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. In conversation with Jonathan Freedland
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 27 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Join the Jewish Literary Foundation and City Lit for an intimate conversation with Orwell Prize winning writer and broadcaster Jonathan Freedland. A longtime Guardian columnist, he presents BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series The Long View and his books include the multi-award winning The Escape Artist and bestselling thrillers under the pseudonym Sam Bourne.







    He will join City Lit Principal Mark Malcomson about his career to date, just as his first book for children, King Winter’s Birthday is published by Pushkin Press. Beautifully illustrated by Emily Sutton, it inspired by the unpublished story König Winters Geburtstag: ein Märchen written by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, whose rediscovered novel The Passenger, written while Boschwitz was interned on the Isle of Man during WWII, became a Sunday Times bestseller when published by Pushkin in 2021.







    We welcome you to join Jonathan for a glass of wine and a book signing following the event.
    Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00
  2. Post-colonial cinemas 2
    Course start date:  Wed 8 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Jean-Baptiste de Vaulx
    This module will examine a crucially important but often neglected area of film history, namely the responses to and against colonialist legacy made by many different strands of filmmaking around the world. We will analyse and discuss examples of filmmaking through the lens of postcolonial theory, covering specific films from Africa, the Arab World, the Philippines, the Caribbean and South Asian diasporas in Britain, Argentina, and Hong Kong.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
  3. Introduction to art history
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Jan 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Are you interested in art and want to get more out of looking at art and exhibitions? Want to know what an art historian does? Develop your interpretative skills by exploring at how art is made and what social and cultural factors construct our understanding of it.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00
    Rating:
    99% of 100
  4. Full fee £289.00 Senior fee £289.00 Concession £188.00
  5. Art of 20th century Spain from Picasso to Almodóvar
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 15 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Mark Stuart-Smith
    The course provides a general introduction to Spanish art and culture of the period, and considers the distinctive contribution made by Spanish artists to 20th-century visual culture. Explore the development of Spanish art from Impressionist Joaquin Sorolla and Picasso’s 'Guernica' to the installations of Juan Muñoz in the 1980s and the cinema of Pedro Almodóvar.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £162.00
  6. Ways into poetry
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 16 Jan 2025 (and 4 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Claire Collison
    Relatively new to writing poetry? This inspiring course offers an opportunity to experiment with language and a variety of poetic devices alongside fellow emerging poets. Discover the key elements of a poem in a friendly and interactive class.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £120.00
    Rating:
    94% of 100
  7. Ways into Advanced Literature: 20th century readings
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 29 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Patricia Sweeney
    Explore the rewards of close reading analysis, focusing on the literary genres of fiction and drama. Read, analyse and debate seminal 20th century works, including Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
    Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00
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