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.
- An introduction to poetry: Robert Lowell and Stevie SmithCourse start date: Sat 18 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithCome and join an introduction and exploration of the poetry of Robert Lowell and Stevie Smith. We will read, discuss and enjoy a selection of their poetry and consider how the poets shape our responses.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - The European Revolutions of 1848
Course start date: Sat 1 Feb 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rudolf MuhsIn 1848 much of Europe, from Sicily to Denmark, from France to Poland, was convulsed by a wave of upheavals challenging the territorial, national, constitutional and social status quo in search of a new order.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - The Amazon Rubber Boom and Bust Course start date: Sat 22 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sandra CarvalhoJoin us on a Saturday of discovery about a transformative period in the history of the Brazilian Amazon.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Religions of the Silk Road: an introduction to ManichaeismCourse start date: Sat 22 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edgar Ter-DanielyanManichaeism was a syncretic dualistic religion founded by the prophet Mani in the 3rd century CE, combining elements of Zoroastrianism and Christianity, which emphasised the cosmic struggle between the forces of light and darkness. We will discuss the central doctrines of Manichaeism, its history and its interaction with Christian theology, with particular reference to its spread via the Silk Route.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - US controversies: McCarthyism and the Red Scare Course start date: Sat 1 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Brian KennedyThe years from 1950 to 1954 are often depicted as a time when there was witch hunt for secret communists in the United States. We will study the events of those years, while also placing them in broader context. - The Great Plague of London 1665 Course start date: Sat 1 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingThanks to Samuel Pepys and the survival of mortality bills we can chart the progress of plague across the city in 1665 and 1666.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Indian Women and the RajCourse start date: Sat 8 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: T HussainExplore the representations and reality of Indian women’s lives during the British colonial era. Why does gender history matter and what can it tell us about the history of British colonialism and India? - Kingship & Power Politics in Nigeria 1900-1960 Course start date: Sat 15 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sunday Abraham OgunodeKingship and power politics remain significant in Africa’s colonial development discourse. Debates on the role of this age-old political institution in modern governance however remain divided. Despite the many challenges that colonial rule brought on the kingship institution in Nigeria, this course reveals how the kings using power politics confronted these challenges and still stayed relevant in the scheme of things beyond 1960.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Literature taster Course start date: Sat 29 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Patricia SweeneyDo you want to explore how to go about understanding a poem? How to do a close reading of a work of fiction? Come and join this online taster session to find out what makes a literature class at City Lit so special.
The course also presents an overview of our literature offering for term three in fiction, poetry, drama and literary non-fiction (April-July 2025).
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Combing the Records: A Social History of Hair Course start date: Sat 29 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingEmbark on a journey from barbarian long-haired kings to hair-raising Georgian wigs and explore the politics of hair before 1800.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - A taste of philosophy Course start date: Sat 26 Apr 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Oliver JosiahHave you ever wondered what philosophy is? What do philosophers talk about? Can they tell you the meaning of life or is it just jargon and navel gazing? Come along and find out.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Bad Queens of England? Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of AngoulemeCourse start date: Sat 10 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingEleanor failed to produce a son for Louis VII and urged her sons by Henry II to rebellion. Isabella abandoned her children by King John to start anew in France with her daughter’s fiancé. We consider their roles as queens.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Archaeology of London gardens Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Jill HummerstoneIn this course we explore the archaeological evidence used to uncover some of the hidden secrets of significant designed gardens in London and its outskirts, which has led to the attractive restoration of some of the parks and gardens enjoyed today.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - From Goths to Mongols: A Horde-able HistoryCourse start date: Sat 24 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingDiscover who were the barbarians in the Ancient and Medieval World. How did the Chinese and the West interact with ‘the other’? Were the Vikings simply ‘long-haired tourists who occasionally roughed up the natives’ (Wallace-Hadrill 1975)?Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Fantastic Beasts in Medieval Heraldry Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingExplore the design of English royal badges of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; discover the attributes attributed to arrange of animals both real and mythical.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00
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