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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- Exploring literature: Irish Poetry in the 20th CenturyCourse start date: Tue 31 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Niall CulliganIn this introductory course, we will read and discuss Irish poetry from across the twentieth century, examining how poets responded to cultural and political issues, such as Irish Independence, religion, and the Troubles. Poets will include: W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Louis MacNeice, Patrick Kavanagh, Derek Mahon, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and many others.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinema
Course start date: Wed 1 Feb 2023Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the art of Chinese artists and filmmakers from the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st, as they try to make sense of a world on the cusp between the old and the new, marked by encounters with imperialism and iconoclasm. Learn what place art had in socio-political movements, and how it reflected the hopes and anxieties of its time.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £71.00 - Memories of authoritarian regimes in 20th Century Latin AmericaCourse start date: Thu 2 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anna GrimaldiThis course explores the aftermath of authoritarian and military regimes in Latin America, focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £55.00 - New Nature Writing in fiction and poetryCourse start date: Fri 3 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: David BarnesIn the last 15 years, a new type of nature writing emerged in the UK. It was personal, engaging, and examined the natural world and the environment in fresh and interesting ways. It promised to reconnect a younger generation with the world outside, and to raise awareness of ecological issues in an emotionally resonant way. Includes novels, poetry and memoir by Seamus Heaney, W.G. Sebald, Alice Oswald, Helen Macdonald. Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, Kathleen Jamie.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - America in the 30s: culture and societyCourse start date: Tue 7 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Mark Malcomson, Mick McAloon, Dale Mineshima-Lowe, Trish Shaw, Patricia Sweeney, Ian TucknottFrom the Great Depression to the New Deal, from Swing and big band music to gangster films and screwball comedies, this online intertextual course explores the political, social and cultural context of 1930s America through a study of literature, history, music, film and art of the period. With different tutors for each specialism, the course provides a 'taster' in each subject as a gateway to further study in understanding this fascinating period in American culture and society.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £71.00 - Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: continuation course at the British MuseumCourse start date: Fri 10 Feb 2023
Location on this date: The British Museum
Tutors: Hugo CookFollow-on course from the Introduction. Presented in partnership between the British Museum and City Lit, this four-week course uses British Museum objects related to ancient Egypt to broaden and deepen students' knowledge of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The class will be held at the British Museum.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - What's the Big Idea?: classic and contemporary short storiesCourse start date: Mon 13 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandRead and discuss celebrated short stories over six weeks – discuss and explore what we understand might be the
writers’ intentions, and what it means for us as readers – which can be quite different. Join us in sharing feelings
about, and reactions to, a selection of classic and contemporary short stories and how they withstand the shifting context of readers, and time.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Writing horrorCourse start date: Tue 14 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jonathan BarnesWrite to unsettle, in this six-week trip through the techniques of horror fiction, learning from classic horror authors and contemporary masters of the genre.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £65.00 - Creative non-fiction: an introductionCourse start date: Wed 15 Feb 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Lucy PopescuThis short introductory course explores the core elements of creative non-fiction across genres such as travel writing, the personal essay and life writing.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £65.00 - Introduction to journalismCourse start date: Wed 15 Feb 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Susan GrossmanOn this course students will explore the basic skills a freelance journalist needs to write and sell news and features to newspapers and magazines. From developing ideas and identifying outlets to interview skills and approaching editors.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £65.00 - Art in medieval EnglandCourse start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard PlantThis course will explore the painting, sculpture and especially architecture of Medieval England Focussing mainly on the period following the Norman Conquest, we will discuss the developments in architecture in England and works of sculpture and painting.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00 - Women in art 1800-1900Course start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresDuring the 19th century female painters and sculptors gained greater prominence, although a career in art was still challenging for women artists. In this course we examine their work and how such progress was achieved.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Philosophy and the soulCourse start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita KasabovaWhy talk about the soul and the psyche? Mainstream philosophy discarded these terms and yet they permeate through philosophical and psychological questions. How is the psyche lodged in the body? What is the relation between psyche, soul, and self? We explore these questions while re-integrating the notions of soul and psyche into the philosophical discussion.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £70.00 - Autobiographical writing: an introductionCourse start date: Tue 21 Feb 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
Tutors: Julie GartonThis short course explores the basic elements of writing autobiography drawing on memories, diaries, photos, dreams and fantasies with a focus on the forms of autobiography, memoir and the personal essay.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £65.00 - How to Read a Film: A Beginners' Guide to CinemaCourse start date: Mon 15 May 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street (other locations are available)
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 £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £71.00
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