Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses

Discover some key literary movements and novels that influenced the Italian cultural scene in the 19th century, through the study of three writers: Alessandro Manzoni, Giovanni Verga and Tarchetti.

In 1947 British India was partitioned. This resulted in an estimated one million deaths, the largest migration of people in modern history and the formation of India and Pakistan. What were the forces which led to Partition? When did the political and cultural factors that precipitated Partition emerge and accordingly, when did partition begin?

This course is an interactive introduction to philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) focusing on ontological (‘what is AI?’) and epistemic (‘how do we know?’) aspects of recent revolutionary advances in AI from both philosophical and computer science perspectives. We will not focus on ethical aspects of AI in this course which are covered in a separate course.

Are you curious about reading literature from across the world? Would you like to encounter some of the world’s finest literary works, reading across cultures and national borders, and in translation? This in-college session will give you a flavour of what it’s like to study and explore what global literature is, reading excerpts from major works.

Covering the early 19th century to the early 20th century, we will examine the East End and analyse how it was portrayed in works of fiction, thinking about how imaginative fiction and historical fact intertwine to create local legend.

This course will consider Claire Denis’ importance as a filmmaker by exploring in some detail a number of her key films from Chocolat (1988), I can’t sleep (1994), Beau Travail (1999), White material (2009), and High Life (2018). Claire Denis’ transnational postcolonial work, from Djibouti, South Africa to multi-ethnic France, deals with themes of migration, human desires and fears. Her films are renowned for being filmed mainly on location, for playing with many cinematic genres and languages and they are internationally acclaimed.

Explore Realism in the nineteenth century, focusing on Manet as its key example, considering such issues as social and political change, formal and subject developments, theoretic interests and artistic influences.

What is a short story? Come and discuss its characteristics, its length, design, mood and style. What distinguishes it from other kinds of short narrative? We’ll compare short stories to other forms, such as myths, legends, anecdotes, fabliaux, parables, fables, and ‘tales’. We’ll look at some of the greatest practitioners including Edgar Allan Poe, Katherine Mansfield, and O’ Henry.

The early 2000s saw the emergence of a number of Swedish and Norwegian crime series onto UK TV screens, including Wallander (dir. various, 2005-10), Forbrydelsen/The Killing (dir. Various, 2007), Borgen (dir. various 2010) and The Bridge (dir. various 2011), all broadcast on BBC4. The popularity of these dramas led to one critic to refer to them as ‘Nordic noir, the gift that keeps on giving’. Similarly successful were the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s hugely popular Millenium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 and 2011), The Girl who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2009). This one-day course will explore the history, context, development and reception of these TV dramas and films while also considering the various processes of adaptation and remaking involved in their production.

This course is an introduction to theology – reasoned discourse on the Christian understanding of God, his nature, and his relationship with human beings and the created order.

It's rare for a film studio to inspire affection. The giants of Hollywood (Warner Bros, Fox or Paramount) or Britain (Rank/Pinewood, Elstree) might be admired, but not loved. Ealing Studios was loved, and still is, well over half a century since its heyday. Pinewood—now known as the James Bond studio (see HF233 British Bond: James Bond in Cinema, 21st February 2026)—was built by J. Arthur Rank in 1936 and merged with Shepperton Studios in 2001 to become one of the technically advanced studios in the British film industry. Join us as we explore the history of these key British studios from their inception to the present day.

In large parts of the Global South, corruption is rampant but that was not always the case. By upending local values and customs and forcibly replacing indigenous institutions with Westerns structures, colonialism introduced systemic corruption on a grand scale that continues to this day.

This study day will examine the question of the association of women with magic and witchcraft.