Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses

Ever wondered what's going on in the mind of contemporary artists? This course explores the ideas and historical background behind some of today’s most intriguing works, from Conceptualism and Video to Body Art and Installation.



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

Curious 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.

Are you interested in art and want to get more out of looking at art and exhibitions? Want to know what an art historian does? Develop your interpretative skills by exploring at how art is made and what social and cultural factors construct our understanding of it.

This course will develop your critical appreciation of the cinema by teaching you how to read and understand film texts. We will look at the elements that underpin film form – narrative, mise en scène, cinematography, editing and sound – alongside its historical development. We will consider film style by exploring classical, post-classical and art cinema and we will examine influential critical modes of analysis, such as genre, authorship and spectatorship.



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

Learn how to evaluate and discuss films while enjoying a working example of a City Lit Film Studies class. In this class we will view and explore clips from a number of films, including popular remakes, enabling us to consider and compare themes and techniques from differing filmmaking countries. There will be a chance to review – in brief – film courses at City Lit (January - March 2025).

Great poetry and prose begin when the writer puts the right words in the right places. Learn how and why the rules and conventions of language matter in this new course, which combines creative writing with a review of essential points of grammar.



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

Explore the works of British artists and their relationship to the legacy of academic painting and the art of continental Europe between 1880-1918. Who led developments and how does the art of the period reflect the times?



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

They were called ‘foreign films’ in the fifties, the first films to emerge from Europe and further to a wider British and American audience: Bicycle Thieves (1948 Vittorio De Sica) Rashomon (1950 Akira Kurosawa), Pather Panchali (1955 Satyajit Ray), Seven Samurai (1954 Akira Kurosawa), The Seventh Seal (1957 Ingmar Bergman), Plein Soleil. They played at The Academy Oxford Street or The Everyman Hampstead. Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you discover a whole world of amazing films. Too many filmgoers are scared off by the notion of international cinema. In cultural shorthand, ‘foreign film’ was a euphemism for snootiness, a stereotype that kept audiences from experiencing some of the greatest movies ever made. Once you open yourself up to them you’ll find there’s nothing to be intimidated by.



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

This inspiring workshop encourages students to explore a range of techniques and prompts in order to create vivid and engaging life writing.



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

Explore the art of British modern artists and their relationship to the art of continental Europe 1918–1950. Who led developments and how does the art of the period reflect the times?



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

Share thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session with suggestions (contemporary literary fiction in paperback) and having read The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Monthly meetings on 23 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov; 13 Jan, 17 Feb, 17 March, 12 May, 9 June, and 7 July.



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