Explore History, Culture & Writing
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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- Introduction to the philosophy of religionCourse start date: Wed 14 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Kate BanksThis course will provide an introduction to philosophical methods, definitions of terminology, and a broad overview of the history of philosophy of religion.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £58.00 - Ways of reading: aspects of narrative theoryCourse start date: Wed 19 Jun 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jenny StevensWhat do we mean by ‘literary fiction’? What expectations do we bring to the novels we read? Do we really ‘escape’ when we enter fictional worlds? These are just some of the questions addressed in a course which focuses on the analysis of prose fiction. Reading texts as short as one-sentence ‘flash fiction’ to complete short stories, it engages with writing from a wide range of periods and authors, paying close attention to narrative techniques and their effects.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Exploring horror cinemaCourse start date: Wed 28 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyExplore the horror film through a range of key films, concepts and critical accounts of the genre. In doing so, we will consider its history and development and the ways in which different production contexts, for example, American, European and East Asian horror cinemas, have given rise to significant variations within the genre, with each having distinctive styles, themes and film 'cycles'.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Astronomy in ancient societiesCourse start date: Wed 28 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Stonehenge, Gobekli Tepe, Chicaniza and Chaco Canyon and we are just getting warmed up. Come discover the exciting multidisciplinary study Archaeoastronomy. See how our ancient ancestors built great monuments and observatories to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Discover the AssyriansCourse start date: Wed 28 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michael BloomfieldThe Neo-Assyrian Empire was one of the most powerful and influential empires of the ancient world. Join us to learn more aboutits history from the early 10th to the close of the 7th century BCE.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Animals in art - from medieval art to today
Course start date: Wed 6 Mar 2024Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeThis course focuses on historical shifts in the depiction of animals from the late medieval period to the present, and on the contemporary representations of human-animal relations.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Cyborg cultures: hybrid beings and monstrous identitiesCourse start date: Wed 24 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katie GossIn this course students will be introduced to theories of posthumanism that suggest ways we can embrace ‘monstruous’ identities and ‘mutant’ forms of knowing. Through popular science fiction films and literary texts, we will contemplate the complex coming together and apart of bodies-minds-worlds in contemporary culture and explore experiences of hybridity and metamorphosis.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Global history for beginnersCourse start date: Wed 24 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Martin JorgensenWhat is global history? How is it different from other ways of understanding history? This introductory course will give you a sense of what it means to study global history.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £58.00 - Ways into advanced literature: disruptors, transgressors and storytellersCourse start date: Wed 22 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Patricia SweeneyExplore the rewards of close reading analysis, focusing on fiction, drama and the literary essay. Read, analyse and debate works from the mid-twentieth century that challenged the status quo and entered into the debates of the time. Includes 'A Single Man' by Christopher Isherwood, 'A Delicate Balance' by Edward Albee and 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' by Joan Didion.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Starting out on social media for writersCourse start date: Wed 22 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lisa GollLearn to wield a powerful tool in the contemporary writer’s arsenal: social media.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Movements in art: Impressionism Course start date: Wed 5 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresStudy the work of a controversial group of painters working in and around Paris from the late 1860s and 1870s and explore how these artists re-thought their creative practice in response to modern life.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Movements in art: Post-ImpressionismCourse start date: Wed 19 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresCézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Seurat are all called Post-Impressionists, yet each had different styles and preoccupations. Explore their work and lives and learn why they left such a valuable legacy.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Art and critical theory: rethinking 'nature'Course start date: Wed 26 Jun 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore the role of critical theory within the field of art history, and learn new ways of thinking about art by focusing on how recent authors have been rethinking our understanding of nature.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00 - Dickens' London
Course start date: Wed 10 Jul 2024Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Molly Rumbelow
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