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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- How to read a film: a beginners' guide to cinema
Course start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul SuttonThis 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.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Renaissance art at the National GalleryCourse start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberThis course explores the Making, the Locating and the Viewing of Renaissance paintings in the collection of the National Gallery. This course takes place at the National Gallery.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Autobiography into fiction: getting started Course start date: Sat 29 Nov 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nick BarlayLearn how to turn real-life experiences into gripping fiction in this fun short course for fiction writing beginners and experienced writers. Develop your writing skills and explore techniques for transforming personal stories into strong narratives.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Creative writing: getting started Course start date: Sat 8 Nov 2025 (and 8 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Deborah MartinGive creative writing a try on this fun and supportive short course. Ideal if you want to express yourself but need help in getting started. Guided exercises will encourage you to experiment and unlock your imagination.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Create your first poetry collection Course start date: Sat 7 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
You've written and workshopped your poetry, and now you're ready to create your first collection. But where do you begin with that process? This workshop offers instruction and advice on putting together your first poetry collection.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Introduction to criminology: thinking about crime and justiceCourse start date: Fri 7 Nov 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Join our journey, examining sociological and criminological theories of crime, deviance and the criminal justice system. Examine how these how these perspectives have premeditated everyday views of crime and criminality.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Film studies taster Course start date: Sat 15 Nov 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul SuttonLearn how to evaluate and discuss films while enjoying a working example of a City Lit Film Studies class. In this class we will view and explore clips from a number of films, including popular remakes, enabling us to consider and compare themes and techniques from differing filmmaking countries. There will be a chance to review – in brief – film courses at City Lit (January - March 2026).Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Constructing the witch: how women became maleficentCourse start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ann JeffersThis study day will examine the question of the association of women with magic and witchcraft.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Remaking the Screen Vampire: from Nosferatu (1922) to Nosferatu (2024)Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul SuttonF. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is acknowledged as one of the all-time greats of cinema, expressing as one critic describes it, the ‘poetry of fear’ and as one of the first feature length vampire films it’s influence, and legacy has been widely felt. Robert Eggers’ recent remake Nosferatu (2024), comes just over one hundred years after Murnau's film and marks one of the most recent instalments in a genre that continues to renew itself for each generation of film viewers. Exploring a range of key vampire films from across this century of cinema, this course will explore why the vampire film remains such a popular sub-genre of the horror film and it will consider why it continues to exercise such power over its spectators.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Historical memory in UkraineCourse start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Olivia DurandExplore how Ukraine’s past is remembered and contested. This study day examines key historical events and symbols—including the Cossacks, the Holodomor Famine, and Chernobyl—and how memory shapes Ukrainian identity, politics, and global narratives in the 21st century.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Bodysnatching & Anatomy in London, c.1780-c.1845Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah WiseJoin Sarah Wise to explore the clandestine world of 'resurrection men,' the bodysnatchers who supplied human bodies to anatomy schools and the impact of the 1832 Anatomy Act on the trade.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Londinium (Roman London 47-457 CE) Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Jill HummerstoneA look through archaeology at the spectacular rise and fall of Londinium from c. AD 47 to its abandonment in c. AD 457. Includes an introductory lecture, and a guided city walk.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Japonisme: Japanese influence on European art in the 19th century Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore how 19th century European artists from the Impressionists to Art Nouveau transformed their artistic language with the study of Japanese prints. - Art and Refugees in HampsteadCourse start date: Sun 2 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneCome on a walking tour of Hampstead discovering where refugee artists from the Second World War lived and the people and institutions which made great efforts to save and support them.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Cradles of Civilisation: The Babylonians (with British Museum Visit)Course start date: Mon 3 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Hugo CookJoin us to to explore the history of the Babylonians, one of the most famous and influential civilisations of all time.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00
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