Explore History, Culture & Writing
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.
Courses available both in-person and online
We offer a range of courses allowing you to choose between online and in-person learning. All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, you’ll receive the same great City Lit experience. See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online 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.
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- Art history taster
Course start date: Fri 13 Jan 2023 (and 15 other dates)Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayCurious about art history? Join us for this taster session where we explore different ways into visual art and its histories, from the ancient to the contemporary.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Friday lates: the Venice BiennaleCourse start date: Fri 23 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronExplore the Venice Biennale, the oldest international contemporary art exhibition in the world. If you are curious to learn a brief history of the Biennale and discover highlights of this year’s event, join this Friday Late to find out more.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: the East India Company and the passion for chintzCourse start date: Fri 30 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita ChowdryExplore the story of how Indian painted and printed cottons became an important trade commodity for the Western domestic market, and the far-reaching impact of their design and manufacture.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: the Bauhaus in LondonCourse start date: Fri 7 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie BarlowThe Staatliches Bauhaus opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Fourteen years later it was shut down by the Nazis. Celebrate 100 years of Modernism in architecture and design and discover how Bauhaus style spread to London.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Friday lates: Carolee Schneeman, body and processCourse start date: Fri 14 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeDiscover the work of a pioneer of body and performance art and an experimental filmmaker Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019), exploring the topics of body, sexuality and gender.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lostCourse start date: Fri 21 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierFrom pub crawls to punk rock, via comic books, action painting and Hegelian philosophy; hear the unlikely tale of the Situationists: international artist-revolutionaries who tried to change the world itself into a work of art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Submitting your poetry to magazinesCourse start date: Fri 28 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katherine LocktonTaught by the editor of Southbank Poetry, this short course is designed to guide students on submitting their poetry to magazines, journals and websites for publications.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Friday lates: art and alchemy: from the ancient to todayCourse start date: Fri 11 Nov 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierDelve into a magical world of hidden secrets and bizarre symbolism as we distil the heady mix that is art and alchemy; from early manuscripts and renaissance paintings, to the surrealists and contemporary art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Micro-memoir: a tasterCourse start date: Fri 18 Nov 2022 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie GartonA life is measured in moments as well as momentous occasions. This fun day workshop coaches students in the art of micro-memoir. Can you write about an instant that changed you in 200 words or less?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Friday lates: magical modernism: modern art and the occultCourse start date: Fri 18 Nov 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierDiscover Modern Art’s secret history: a mysterious melting-pot of mystic auras, magical colour theories, trances, alchemy and the spirit-physics of the 4th-dimension, hiding beneath the familiar stories of science, reason and industry.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: Lynette Yiadom-Boayke, imagined portraitsCourse start date: Fri 18 Nov 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronOne of the most absorbing contemporary artists working in the UK today, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints startling ‘portraits’ of characters entirely derived from her imagination. Discover aspects of her artistic process and the ideas and themes behind her paintings on this Friday Lates evening course.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: land art, an introductionCourse start date: Fri 2 Dec 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Francesca CurtisLearn how and why early environmentalist artists sculpted with lightening, sun and earth. Join us for an introduction to land art.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - History taster: From one empire to another?Course start date: Fri 9 Dec 2022 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
Tutors: Martin JorgensenJoin us for an introduction on to how to make sense of the British and American ways of seeking global dominance and the ways in which people have resisted as we see the (re-)emergence of China, India and Russia in global politics and economics.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Friday lates: launching the YBAS - from warehouse to stardomCourse start date: Fri 13 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie BarlowDid the YBAs unleash new artistic creativity or were they simply ambitious, self-promoting young art students from Goldsmiths determined to shock? Explore their art and the exhibitions which launched them; Freeze (1988) and Sensation (1997).
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Friday lates: unlocking installation artCourse start date: Fri 20 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronWhat exactly is ‘Installation art’? What led artists to challenge the traditional media of painting, sculpture and drawing? Join this Friday Late to discover how Installation art is a discipline that both stokes debate and offers deep connections to everyday life and thought.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
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