Explore History, Culture & Writing

Philosophical Logic is the study of the rules of correct reasoning. This course will introduce you to some widely accepted rules of correct reasoning and teach you how to describe these rules with mathematical precision.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

Explore the strange and beautiful world of Japanese literature from the 17th century to the present. Follow the footsteps of a medieval travelling poet, delve into the Tokyo pleasure district, view Hiroshima through the eyes of survivors after the atomic bombing, and interpret dreams to illuminate Japanese history and culture. Using art, photography, history and film, you will explore poems, journals, short stories and novels by ten of Japan’s most important writers.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

“I have a way of filming things and staging them and designing sets. There were times when I thought I should change my approach but in fact, this is what I like to do. It’s sort of like my handwriting as a movie director.” Explore the signature style and adventurous cinema of Wes Anderson from coming of age films through stop motion animation to comedy dramas.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

Explore the concept of vanitas in works of art from across time and place. Vanitas as a subject, an idea, helps us consider the temporary beauty of our world. Join us for a new perspective on an old subject.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

The beginnings of philosophy and science are found in the thinking of early Greek, ‘Presocratic’, philosophers. Who were they? Why is their thinking still relevant?



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

This is the decade when television really took off, when I Love Lucy premiered on a Monday night in October 1951, followed by Milton Berle as “Mr. Television” on Tuesdays. Everyone went out to buy a TV set. How could Hollywood compete with this free home entertainment? Biblical epics and Ben-Hur was one answer. On the Waterfront (1954) to Some Like It Hot (1959) was another. The fifties was the beginning of the end for the business model of the studio-era, a golden age in place since the 1920s. However,



Hollywood reacted by producing some of the finest and most enduring films in its history as it slowly began to find newer, younger audiences for James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Coming-of-age indeed! So was television, as it produced some of its finest programmes. It seemed like every week a new show or a new genre: Sgt. Bilco, Playhouse 90, Edward R. Murrow, Walt Disney Presents, Route 66—and all in prime time.



(Also see related courses on 50s Westerns, Musicals and Film Noir).



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

The Byzantines (circa 330-1453) have produced some of the finest works of art and erected the most remarkable buildings in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.