Culture, history & humanities

Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses

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. Philosophy and memory
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Anita Kasabova
    What is memory? How does memory impact our sense of self and time? Why does memory often go wrong? If our memory is unreliable, can it provide knowledge of our personal past? How is memory registered in the body? What is collective memory? This course explores memory through philosophical and psychological lenses.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
  2. Byzantine journey: medieval pilgrimage and art
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Helen Dejean
    For medieval pilgrims, visiting St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a powerful spiritual experience. Today, although an established tourist destination, the modern encounter with the sacred arts of the famous Monastery and ‘God-Trodden Mountain’ is often curtailed by time and limited access. This course aims to explain its many treasures and biblical loca sancta in relation to medieval and modern pilgrimage.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
  3. Introduction to art history
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Jan 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    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 be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00
    Rating:
    99% of 100
  4. Writing Modern America
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Julian Birkett
    American novelists have never shied away from exploring the urgent issues of their time in prose that is urgent, exhilarating, often hilarious, always compelling. The current generation of American writers is no exception. Race, sex, the changing demographics of the US,and the hopes and failures of the American dream figure prominently in current American writing. We’ll be reading some of the best novels that depict the conflicts and concerns of America today.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00
  5. Neurodivergence as a fact of society: a brief introduction
    Course start date:  Mon 20 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Vina Theodorakopoulou
    British society is diverse, and not only in terms of faiths, ethnic backgrounds and other mostly visible differences. Neurodiversity is also a central aspect. Join us on this non-accredited course for a brief introduction to neurodiversity in society and discover how to engage with and support neurodivergent strengths.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00
  6. Classic Drama: Agamemnon, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Way of the World
    Course start date:  Mon 20 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Jenny Stevens
    We will read and discuss three classic plays: Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, John Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore and William Congreve’s The Way of the World. Focusing closely on structure, language and tone, we will analyse how dramatists across time have explored themes such as sexual politics, family relationships and revenge through their plays. In addition, we will consider the social, cultural and historical contexts in which the plays were produced.
    Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00
  7. Art in Britain 1890-1918 – New English Art Club to WWI
    Course start date:  Mon 20 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julia Musgrave
    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.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
  8. Life Writing: chronicling the self
    Course start date:  Mon 27 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Megan Beech
    What draws writers to write about themselves? How might memoirs, diaries, letters and other kinds of self-reflective writing enable us to explore issues beyond the individual lives that they chronicle?







    We'll look at the interesting and innovative (and sometimes obsessive) ways in which writers have documented their experiences, identities and travels, exploring what it means to share the most intimate parts of our experience with others.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
  9. Chaucer's Love Visions
    Course start date:  Mon 3 Feb 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Rachel Buglass
    Much less famous than The Canterbury Tales, with its quotidian concerns, Chaucer’s Love Visions are the dreams of poets. We will read The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Birds, The Legend of Good Women and extracts fromThe Romaunt of the Rose. Through these allegorical tales, we will examine the conventions of medieval courtly love and life through the lens of Chaucer's humour, sharp observation and self-deprecation.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
  10. Foreign films: European cinema from the fifties
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 13 Feb 2025 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  John Wischmeyer
    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.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
  11. How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinema
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 5 Nov 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Paul Sutton
    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.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
    Rating:
    87% of 100
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