Explore History, Culture & Writing

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.

What is drawing and what is its unique place in the history of art? Come to understand this special medium through an exploration of some of the greatest draughtspeople in Western European art.



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

Roman love poets are proponents of peace as the condition where love can flourish. However, war permeates their poetry and is even turned into one of its characteristic motifs, the "campaign of love". This lecture will offer an overview of the themes of war and peace, with specific reference to the poems of Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid.



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

Get to know the art of Yoko Ono from performance art to installation. We explore how the artist works in collaboration with the participant to create communal art for all.



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

All of the canonical Gospels frequently mention the Roman military; it is key to the story. Yet, in Mark’s Gospel, specific references to the Roman legion come to the fore, and perhaps to one legion in particular: Legio X Fretensis. Its symbols are coded into the story of the demon ‘Legion,’ which is placed immediately before the feeding of a ‘legion’ of 5000 men. Legionaries are involved in the torture and crucifixion of Christ, and then a statement by the centurion at the foot of the cross is at the very apex of the narrative, fulfilling the purpose set out at the start: declaring Jesus to be the son of a god – like Caesar himself. Questions over the potentially threatening nature of Jesus’ messiahship are also pervasive throughout, tying his relationship to the military to one of the core themes of the book. Probably written immediately following Vespasian’s war in Judea, which was led by none other than Legio X Fretensis, we must wonder: what is the function of the Roman legion in relation to the narrative and purpose of the Gospel of St. Mark?



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

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.

Discover the subversive and wildly successful art of illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. Explore his illustrations and how his depictions of gender challenged the status quo of late Victorian Britain.



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

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.

Discover the ways in which homoeroticism found its way onto Ancient Greek vases and how its depiction flourished in the ancient world.



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

Since the seventeenth century, coffee has had a mixed reputation. Discover how coffee has transformed from being seen as subversive and emasculating to, allegedly, replacing tea as the nation’s most popular beverage.



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

Using oral history we ask what we can learn from the personal testimony of individuals who were expelled from Uganda in the 1970s and what unique insights this gives us.



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