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.
Courses available both in-person and online
We offer a range of courses allowing you to choose between online and in-person learning. All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, you’ll receive the same great City Lit experience. See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online 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.
- Art history taster
Course start date: Mon 9 Jan 2023 (and 15 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
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 - Lunchtime lecture: Peggy Guggenheim's VeniceCourse start date: Wed 14 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayJoin us for an introduction to one of the 20th century’s most important art collectors and why she chose Venice as the permanent home for her art collection. This is the inaugural course of City Lit Art History's 'Venice Season'.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Film Studies TasterCourse start date: Thu 15 Sep 2022 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
Tutors: John WischmeyerLearn how to evaluate and discuss films while enjoying a working example of a City Lit film studies class.
We will view clips from a wide variety of films, exploring themes and technique in British cinema and modern American cinema. There will be a chance to review term one film courses at City Lit (September - December 2022).Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £10.00 - Friday lates: the Venice BiennaleCourse start date: Fri 23 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronExplore the Venice Biennale, the oldest international contemporary art exhibition in the world. If you are curious to learn a brief history of the Biennale and discover highlights of this year’s event, join this Friday Late to find out more.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Secret Histories, Intrigues and Time Travel: curious letters in contemporary fictionCourse start date: Sun 25 Sep 2022
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate WilkinsonDo you still write letters? Novelists do! This one-day course opens up the dynamic and curious life of letters in twenty-first century fiction. Reading extracts from four novels, we’ll unfold stories of past wrongs, present dilemmas and interstellar futures, to investigate how and why writers today continue to work with letters.
Includes extracts from An American Marriage (2018) by Tayari Jones, Double Negative (2010) by Ivan Vladislavic, Where'd you go, Bernadette? (2012) by Maria Semple and the Book of Strange New Things (2014) by Michel Faber.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Friday lates: the Bauhaus in LondonCourse start date: Fri 7 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie BarlowThe Staatliches Bauhaus opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Fourteen years later it was shut down by the Nazis. Celebrate 100 years of Modernism in architecture and design and discover how Bauhaus style spread to London.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - The Bible and the big questionsCourse start date: Sat 8 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew GreyExplore key biblical passages which inform some of the big moral and theological questions and learn principles in biblical interpretation for addressing these questions.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Travel writing: a tasterCourse start date: Sat 8 Oct 2022 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Susan GrossmanYou love travelling and taking photos but how do you decide what to write about and which pictures will sell? This course will give you the skills you need to approach editors with confidence.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Craft focus: character in fictionCourse start date: Sat 8 Oct 2022 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghIn fiction, character and plot are inseparable elements of craft. Without characters there can be no action or plot. In this short course you will learn how to create characters that can drive a narrative forward and deepen its themes.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Kierkegaard and the possibility of GodCourse start date: Sat 8 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffGod forms an almost absent background to Kierkegaard’s philosophy. Does he – or any of us – need God in order to have faith?Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £36.00 - Writing photo-fiction: telling stories with words and imagesCourse start date: Sun 9 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew WealePhotographs are often used as inspiration for writing, but what if you want to include them in your stories? This course will focus on how to blend the visual element of photography with the textual element of writing to create compelling 'photo-fiction.'.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Lunchtime lecture: the lure of Venice, art on the Grand TourCourse start date: Wed 12 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayWhat’s so inspiring about Venice? See the city through the art of Grand Tourists. Look at the atmosphere, light and myth of Venice through the art of Turner and his contemporaries.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Friday lates: Carolee Schneeman, body and processCourse start date: Fri 14 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeDiscover the work of a pioneer of body and performance art and an experimental filmmaker Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019), exploring the topics of body, sexuality and gender.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Social media for writersCourse start date: Sat 15 Oct 2022 (and 1 other date)
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 - The story of Christianity: history, beliefs, practicesCourse start date: Sat 15 Oct 2022
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Beatrice KeyteExplore the origins and development of Christianity and its defining beliefs. We will look at the person of Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Church and key ideas such as the Trinity.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
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