History, culture & writing

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.

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

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  1. Friday lates: the body as image and material in 20th century art
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 3 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Irina Chkhaidze
    Explore the representation of body and body-related practices by prominent modern and contemporary artists of the twentieth century.



    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
  2. Lunchtime lecture: Reading Old Master Drawings - an art historical insight
    Course start date:  Wed 22 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    What is drawing and what is its unique place in the history of art? Come to understand this special medium through an exploration of some of the greatest draughtspeople in Western European art.



    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 £10.00 Concession £7.00
  3. Lunchtime lecture: Yoko Ono - viewer as participant
    Course start date:  Wed 12 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Get to know the art of Yoko Ono from performance art to installation. We explore how the artist works in collaboration with the participant to create communal art for all.



    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 £10.00 Concession £7.00
  4. 'The future is now': an introduction to video art
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 13 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Irina Chkhaidze
    Explore the early history of video art, its rise as a medium and its significance as a contemporary art practice. We focus on the influential video works from the 1960s-1980s.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £49.00 Concession £32.00
  5. Friday lates: Agnes Martin - pioneer, painter, icon
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 14 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Henry Martin
    This course examines the unconventional life and artworks of Agnes Martin (1912–2004), regarded as one of the great artists of the Twentieth Century. Topics covered include Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, LGBTQ artists, and the role of the biography in Art History.



    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
  6. Friday Lates: Pacific Portraits - British artists, Pacific sitters and their impact on 18th century portraiture
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 21 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    From Joshua Reynold's portrati of Omai to portraits made during the voyages of Captain James Cook, discover how encounters with Pacific Islanders changed the course of British eighteenth-century.



    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
  7. Lunchtime lecture: Van Gogh's Art History
    Course start date:  Mon 8 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    What influenced the art of Vincent van Gogh? From 17th century Dutch still lives to symbolist poetry, Japanese prints and French realist painting we explore how van Gogh’s study of art history shaped his art practice and subject matter.



    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 £10.00 Concession £10.00
  8. Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
    Course start date:  Mon 8 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Explore the work of Van Eyck in relation to Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelites more generally; consider how this 15th century painter influenced artists some 300 years later.



    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 £15.00 Concession £12.00
  9. Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico – the two monastic painters
    Course start date:  Tue 9 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Join us for a close reading of the works of Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico, two of 15th century Italy's most influential artists. We study their techniques, their subject matter and how they communicated narratives in painting. Explore all the wonderful tactile visual details they added to the works.



    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 £15.00 Concession £12.00
  10. Connecting through collaborative writing
    Course start date:  Wed 9 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Brian Mullin
    Two (or more!) heads are better than one! Collaborate with others to create short pieces of theatre, using everyone's skills and ideas to tell collective stories.
    Full fee £5.00 Senior fee £5.00 Concession £5.00
  11. Prostitution in Ancient Rome
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 5 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sean Gabb
    The oldest profession as practised among the Romans - not for the squeamish.



    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
  12. From mythical heroines to the emperor's subjects: epistolography in the Roman Empire
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 3 Dec 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Nikoletta Manioti
    Find out more about epistolography (letter writing) as a literary genre in the Roman world.



    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 £10.00 Concession £10.00
  13. Communication and trade routes between the Mediterranean and Asia
    Course start date:  Wed 4 Dec 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Roberta Marin
    This talk will explore the different commercial routes that crisscrossed the vast area between Central Asia, the Mediterranean basin and the Arabian Peninsula.
    Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00
  14. Interactions between the Mediterranean world and Anglo-Saxon England
    Course start date:  Fri 6 Dec 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Stephen Pollington
    This talk will explore some of the connections which maintained the Anglo-Saxons' feeling that Rome was part of their heritage.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00
  15. Friday lates: all about Eve - picturing the femme fatale in European art
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Fri 17 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Discover the types of women who don't conform to social rules, who wield a supernatural power that destablises the status quo. From the threatening type to the empowered woman, join us for an exploration of the femme fatale in early modern and modern European art.



    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
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