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.
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- Film studies taster
Course start date: Sat 4 Jan 2025 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyExplore some of the themes you can expect to encounter on City Lit film classes. This taster of forthcoming classes offers you the chance to decide which course to take while discussing the value and impact of film study.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Tue 10 Dec 2024 (and 8 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayCurious 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.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Friday lates: Art and alchemy – from the ancient to today Course start date: Fri 24 Jan 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierDelve into a magical world of hidden secrets and bizarre symbolism as we distil the heady mix that is art and alchemy; from early manuscripts and renaissance paintings, to the surrealists and contemporary 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 - Friday lates: Archaeological artefacts from dig to display Course start date: Fri 7 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Simone ChisenaDiscover what turns an object into a museum-worthy showpiece as we follow the fascinating path from the shadows of the trenches to the lights of the gallery.
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 - Friday lates: Contemporary art in China – over the Great Firewall Course start date: Fri 14 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuLearn about the art of contemporary China from the end of the Cultural Revolution to today. This introductory session explores the social, political and cultural conditions of Chinese society through the lens of art and visual culture.
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 - Friday lates: Pacific portraits - British artists, Pacific sitters and their impact on 18th century portraitureCourse start date: Fri 21 Feb 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ben PollittFrom Joshua Reynold's portrait 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 - Friday lates: Homer in art Course start date: Fri 7 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveWhen Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ were rediscovered in the renaissance they went on to inspire artists from the mid-fifteenth century to the present day. We explore how artists through the centuries have used the stories as a literary source and consider how their approach to them has changed over time.
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 - Friday lates: Women of Surrealism, convulsive beauties Course start date: Fri 14 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayLearn how and why the surrealists re-defined beauty. Understand how the historical context of war and psychoanalysis inspired them to challenge conceptions of 'normalcy' and how it planted seeds for feminist artists to visualise bodies in untraditional ways.
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 - Friday lates: Art and maps Course start date: Fri 21 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierMaps have a long and fascinating history, yet it was really the 20th Century that saw them come alive as an artistic medium, as artists turned to them to explore their place in a disoriented world. Discover the many ways artists have worked with maps, from Surrealism through to Digital Media.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Friday lates: Agnes Martin – pioneer, painter, iconCourse start date: Fri 28 Mar 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Henry MartinThis 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 - Friday lates: Poster art – print, pop and propaganda Course start date: Fri 4 Apr 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierGet a snapshot of the eye-catching and colourful world of poster art, from Belle Époque decadence to Avant-Garde dynamism; from Art Nouveau to Atelier Populaire, and the everyday glamour of Pop.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Friday lates: The body as image and material in 20th century artCourse start date: Fri 9 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore the representation of body and body-related practices by prominent modern and contemporary artists of the twentieth 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 - Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lost Course start date: Fri 16 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierFrom 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 - 'The future is now', an introduction to video art Course start date: Thu 5 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore the early history of video art, its rise as a medium and its significance as a contemporary art practice. We focus on the influential video works from the 1960s-1980s.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £49.00 Concession £32.00 - Friday lates: Fluxus - a revolutionary tide in art Course start date: Fri 6 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeDiscover international, interdisciplinary ‘anti-art’ movement Fluxus and explore the use of ‘shock’ tactic in their revolutionary video art and performances.
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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