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.
- Writing science fiction
Course start date: Tue 17 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: KR MoorheadLearn how to build futuristic worlds and set them to explore thought-provoking concepts in this course on writing science fiction.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00 - Queer UK: Broadcasting historyCourse start date: Tue 17 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Siobhan McGuirkAttitudes towards gender and sexuality have transformed over the past 50 years. Television has documented it all – and sometimes surprisingly driven – radical change. Join us to explore the key moments that shaped Queer UK.
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Understanding the dynamics of the Middle East: Türkiye, Iran and Saudi ArabiaCourse start date: Tue 17 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caglar EzikogluJoin Dr. Çaglar Ezikoglu to examine the political, social, and economic dynamics of Türkiye, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, exploring their roles in shaping the modern Middle East.lity.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00 - Refugee Week at City Lit: Climate change, food insecurity and refugeesCourse start date: Tue 17 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Olivia DurandExplore how colonialism, industrial agriculture, and capitalist extraction have shaped global food systems—driving hunger, displacement, and refugee movements. Through case studies, we will examine resistance efforts reclaiming food sovereignty and sustainable alternatives.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00 - The Battle of Lepanto 1571Course start date: Tue 24 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingThe Battle of Lepanto, possibly the largest naval battle in 2000 years, has been described as the last European crusade that led to the decline of the Ottoman empire. But has its significance been exaggerated?Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - Arts of Imperial ChinaCourse start date: Tue 24 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the arts of imperial China spanning across 13 dynasties and 2000 years. Study how painting, sculpture, and architecture were deeply shaped by its richly diverse culture, philosophy, and religion. - Queer UK: rebels and revolutionariesCourse start date: Tue 24 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Siobhan McGuirkUnder-sung heroes, heroines and trancestors have long battled to make life bearable, better and even brilliant for LGBTIQ+ people in the UK. Join us to celebrate key figures in local history – and groups still battling for change
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Tuesday talks: Emily Kam KngwarrayCourse start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Arjmand AzizIn July 2025 a major solo exhibition of Emily Kam Kngwarray, considered to be one of Australia’s greatest artists, will be held at Tate Modern. This course aims to introduce British audiences to the oeuvre of this remarkable artist.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Art history taster Course start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025 (and 7 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.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Exploring histories, memories and heritage: Making connections (1)Course start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Monica ClarkeNew to the UK and London? Just finished your ESOL course and looking for your next course? Join us to explore heritage and to find out how it helps us to examine how history connects us to our past, and evaluate how societies have evolved, whilst exploring their significance today.
Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Greek myths: ancient truths, modern mysteryCourse start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Maria ContosMyth permeated all aspects of ancient society and much the same can be said today. Investigate the relevance and perseverance of the Greek myth and why these tales continue to fascinate. - Streets of Horror, Streets of Hope: The East End, 1888Course start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Sarah WiseBecause of the ‘Jack the Ripper’ killings, the late-Victorian East End can be read as a cityscape of poverty and fear. But there is another Whitechapel – a magnet for a variety of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who sought to grapple with the problems of the modern city and to create a better life.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Gender, Desire and the Body in PoetryCourse start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Ranging from sixteenth century love sonnets via bawdy Restoration verse to a Victorian eroticised poetic narrative, this course examines how the language of love and desire, and the poetic representations of gendered bodies, provide an idiom that can be used to express both conservative and more subversive cultural ideas.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - From the Habsburgs to the EU: The History of Italy’s North-EastCourse start date: Tue 15 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Francesco BucciolThe cities of Trieste and Gorizia, on today's Italian North-Eastern border, had a very complicated history in the 19th and 20th century. In this session you will discover the key historical events that marked these lands. From the divisions caused by the two world wars to the choice of Gorizia/Nova Gorica as EU's Capital of Culture 2025.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Late Victorian Soho: From Sex and Shopping to Police & Radical PoliticsCourse start date: Tue 15 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Sarah WiseThe West End was a heady mix of glamorous shopping emporia, political refugees from Europe, street-based and brothel-based prostitution, and the general public just enjoying a day or evening ‘Up West’. Join Dr. Sarah Wise to learn more on this 2 hour guided walk of Soho.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00
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