History, culture & writing - Online

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.

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. An introduction to film
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 3 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jon Wisbey
    Develop your critical understanding of cinema through a range of concepts and critical approaches in film studies, including narrative, genre, spectatorship, authorship and directors, popular cinema, art cinema, national cinema and early film, along with technological developments including the transition to sound, while we view and discuss a range of key films from cinema's history as examples.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00
    Rating:
    90% of 100
  2. Friday lates: all about Eve - picturing the femme fatale in European art
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Fri 17 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Discover the types of women who don't conform to social rules, who wield a supernatural power that destablises the status quo. From the threatening type to the empowered woman, join us for an exploration of the femme fatale in early modern and modern European 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
  3. Writing poetry: getting started
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 23 May 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Suzannah V. Evans
    This short, fun workshop is the perfect starting point for students who are writing for the first time or new to the poetry path. Join us for thought-provoking writing exercises and poetry theory for beginners.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00
  4. Friday lates: Agnes Martin - pioneer, painter, icon
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 14 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Henry Martin
    This course examines the unconventional life and artworks of Agnes Martin (1912–2004), regarded as one of the great artists of the Twentieth Century. Topics covered include Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, LGBTQ artists, and the role of the biography in Art History.



    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
  5. Friday lates: Pacific portraits - British artists, Pacific sitters and their impact on 18th century portraiture
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 21 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    From Joshua Reynold's portrati of Omai to portraits made during the voyages of Captain James Cook, discover how encounters with Pacific Islanders changed the course of British eighteenth-century.



    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
  6. Friday lates: Surrealism and its international influence
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 27 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    For the 100th anniversary of the movement, explore the impact of surrealism on international artists, social movements and cultural revolutions. Come to understand the historical importance of this massively influential movement.



    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
  7. Friday lates: the Bauhaus in London
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 18 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julie Barlow
    The 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 £12.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  8. Friday lates: magical modernism: modern art and the occult
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 25 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Christopher Collier
    Discover 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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  9. Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  10. Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lost
    Course start date:  Fri 22 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Christopher Collier
    From 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
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