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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- London at war - guided walksCourse start date: Tue 12 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Eleanor Jackson
London has been shaped by war, conflict and unrest. It's buildings, monuments and even street names reflect our embattled past. These walks examine London's wartime legacy from mediaeval fortifications to the War on Terror.
London guide: Eleanor Jackson
First lecture will be delivered via zoom followed by 8 guided walks.
This course will be delivered online and in person. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - The men who built LondonCourse start date: Thu 14 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Eleanor JacksonLondon was shaped by its architects, engineers, bricklayers, navies etc. Our lecture and walks examine London’s buildings and the men (and women) who worked throughout history to create this eclectic and wonderful city.
London guide: Eleanor Jackson
First lecture will be delivered via zoom followed by 8 guided walks.
This course will be delivered online and in person. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - City of words: London's literary landscapeCourse start date: Thu 14 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Eleanor JacksonLondon has been muse, magnet and mecca to writers for 400 years, home to Shakespeare's successes, Dickens' dramas and Wilde's witticisms. After an introductory lecture (via zoom) we walk a different London neighbourhood each week exploring its literary connections. Initial lecture is on zoom . This is followed by 7 guided walks.
This course will be delivered online and in person. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Rethinking world cinema through women filmmakersCourse start date: Wed 20 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Stacey AbbottThe history of World Cinema has traditionally been explored through the work of iconic male auteurs. This six-week course will challenge that history and rethink our conception of World cinema by considering the contribution of women filmmakers to the global film industry. Each week we will look at key women filmmakers and an illustrative film title from around the world, including from Asia, Africa, and South America, asking how these women are reshaping our understanding of cinema.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £129.00 - Masters of cinema: love, marriage and betrayalCourse start date: Thu 21 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Mick McAloonMarriage has always been fertile ground for filmmakers, and some directors – Rossellini, Bergman, Godard – have gone deeper than most. This course looks at the ways cinema’s greatest filmmakers have approached the subject. It explores original works by artists who have “mined” their own lives for material, while showing how adaptations of literary works can, in the hands of great film-makers, become a kind of veiled autobiography.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - City Lit reading group 2
Course start date: Fri 30 Sep 2022 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Patricia SweeneyShare thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session with suggestions (contemporary fiction in paperback) and having read 'The Harlem Shuffle' by Colson Whitehead. Monthly meetings take place on 30 Sept, 4 Nov, 09 Dec; 27 Jan, 3 March, 31 March, 5 May, 2 June and 7 July.Full fee £189.00 - Fin de siecle writers: Oscar Wilde to Olive SchreinerCourse start date: Mon 25 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Megan BeechThis online course will look at the unique style of writers who emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. We’ll explore fin de siècle writers who were grappling with new questions of modernity. Using the exciting backdrop of the 1890s, this course explores the cultural innovations of the period alongside the works of Oscar Wilde and other writers of this period.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Exploring literature: an introduction to prose and poetry Course start date: Thu 28 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate WilkinsonThis course introduces you to a variety of prose texts and poems from the nineteenth century to the present. Explore how poems work both ‘on the page’ and as spoken words. Reading novels and short stories, we’ll think about writers’ narrative techniques, characterisation and social context. Come and discover what’s distinctive about these different forms of literature.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Textiles: an international history Course start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresAs well as expressing power, prestige and fulfilling symbolic functions, textiles have been intimately linked to the everyday lives of members all societies for millennia. On this course you will study the development of woven, printed and embroidered textiles of many kinds from around the globe and explore the significant roles they have played in the world’s material culture.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Modern French literatureCourse start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandExplore modern French literature, discussing literary style, themes, and contexts as a way of sharing and developing responses to celebrated French writers. From Cendrars and Céline to Modiano and Ernaux, come discover poetry, prose, fiction, and autobiography by essential French authors of the past one hundred years.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Art and identity: from the High Renaissance to the Reformation Course start date: Wed 4 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberExplore the legendary art and artists of the High Renaissance in Italy and the Netherlands from c. 1490-1540. Consider the role that ‘self-fashioning’ plays in their fame and notoriety through close reading engagement of a combination of images and texts. Please note that the first session of this course will be held online due to rail strikes on 5 October. All subsequent sessions will be held in-person.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Reading fairytales: happy every after?Course start date: Wed 11 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Fiona McCullochReading a selection of classic fairy tales, we will explore how fairy tales evolve by reading different versions, including ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, and ‘Bluebeard’, investigating how fairy tales evolve by reading different versions,.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Avant-garde women: art innovations of the 20th & 21st centuries Course start date: Thu 12 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeDiscover the work of prominent modern and contemporary women artists from the early twentieth century to the present, looking at the political and social transformations reflected in the artworks.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Great essayists: humourists, firebrands and provocateursCourse start date: Mon 23 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandFrom Henry David Thoreau and George Orwell to James Baldwin and Rebecca Solnit, the essay exists as a literary vehicle for urgent ideas in a range of skillfully controlled literary voices. This class examines the work of classic essayists, delving into the work of both impassioned and reflective non-fiction writers.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - The City of London: the Square Mile
Course start date: Wed 25 Oct 2023 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Paul SinclairExplore the City’s development from Roman and medieval times through to the Tudors and Stuarts.
This course will comprise of 8 walks starting with Roman London. First meeting place at Monument station on the Monument side.Full fee £179.00
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