Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses

This course introduces major forms of African art in their regional and global contexts. It studies classical traditions of carving, metal casting, architecture and textile arts as well as twentieth-century and contemporary developments, including the work of photographers and conceptual artists.

Researching history or thinking about it? Wanting to study at university? This course provides you with practical skills that enable you to explore and interpret a range of historical resources both online and in a research library.



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

In this course we shall explore the Ancient and Medieval history of the Sahara and the Sahel, its cultural synergies, and the interactions of its kingdoms with the Mediterranean world, from the first millennium BC. to the 14th century CE.



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

Are you brand new to writing poetry? Do you want to build your confidence in a supportive environment alongside other beginners in the craft? This gentle short-course guides students taking their first steps on the path to becoming a poet.



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

Once upon a time there was a City Lit workshop all about writing fairytales. The quest: to inspire writers to pen stories of love, fear, forests, revenge, dragons, witches, kings, queens, frogs and magic.



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

This is about a German 17th-century painter who deserves to be better known. In fact, we might see him as the equivalent to Caravaggio for Germany. We shall also study him in relation to his contemporaries such as Rubens, Lorrain and Poussin. A consideration of new scientific endeavours, such as how light works will feature to try and explain the way in which he painted.



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

We chart the fortunes of the first four crusades and the rise and fall of the kingdom of Jerusalem using Christian and Muslim sources. Why did these events occur and what were the consequences?



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

Although born in Ireland, Bram Stoker came to London to work with the great Actor Manager Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre and spent the rest of his life here. While working at the Lyceum he published his most famous and enduring novel “Dracula” in 1897. This virtual tour takes us to the London locations of that novel so we cover a wide range of ground from Hendon to Hampstead and Piccadilly to Pimlico tracing the footsteps of the fictional vampire and his creator. Learn about the places Stoker visited, the people he knew, the library where he researched and the history of the book on stage and screen.



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

Are you brand new to creative writing? Do you want to build your confidence in a supportive environment alongside other beginners? This gentle short-course guides students taking their first steps on the path to becoming a creative writer.

Not sure whether creative writing is for you? Give it a try on one of these fun and supportive short courses covering the basics of fiction and poetry. Increase your confidence and produce work through guided exercises and discussion.

At its height the Mongol empire stretched from the Sea of Japan to eastern Europe. We explore how the Mongols interacted with the nations they conquered.



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

Discover some of London’s fascinating smaller art collections and hidden art treasures on this gallery-based art history course.

Look in depth at four artists a week across a series of themes from alienation to post-conceptualism. What links can be made between artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and where is art heading?



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