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 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, we've got the class for you. See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

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  1. Friday lates: the art of the frame
    Last Few Places, Evening, ONLINE
    Course start date:  Fri 31 Mar 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julia Musgrave
    Every picture tells a story, but what about the frame around it? Find out how picture frames can tell us more about the artworks they surround.



    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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  2. Craft focus: grammar, syntax, and style for creative writers
    ONLINE
    Course start date:  Mon 17 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  William Brady
    Great poetry and prose begin when the writer puts the right words in the right places. Learn how and why the rules and conventions of language matter in this new course, which combines creative writing with a review of essential points of grammar.



    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 £90.00
  3. Writing an academic essay
    Evening, ONLINE
    Course start date:  Mon 17 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    A crash course in essay writing – beginnings, middles and ends. Suitable for students on A level and access courses or undergraduates.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £50.00
  4. The 60 minute writer
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 10 Jan 2023 (and 7 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online (other locations are available)

    Tutors:  Tasha Kavanagh
    Fit creative writing into your busy day: a relaxed, informal rolling programme for writers of all levels of experience who enjoy being thrown new ideas and experimenting with poetry and prose.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £50.00
    Rating:
    96% of 100
  5. Art history taster
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 27 Mar 2023 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online (other locations are available)

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Curious 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.



    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
    Rating:
    98% of 100
  6. Writing fantasy stories
    ONLINE
    Course start date:  Wed 19 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Mary Victoria
    Build fantastical worlds, fill them with compelling characters and learn how to structure innovative plotlines in this perfect introduction for those with a passion for fantasy.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £209.00 Concession £105.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  7. Picture book writing
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 13 Feb 2023 (and 3 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online (other locations are available)

    Tutors:  Lou Kuenzler
    Would you like to write a picture book text for young children? This course is designed for children's writers and for illustrators wishing to write their own stories; a starter course to develop both your ideas and your technique.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £50.00
    Rating:
    98% of 100
  8. Medieval queenship in Europe and the Near East
    Evening, ONLINE
    Course start date:  Tue 25 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Vanessa King
    Travel over 1000 years across Europe and the Eurasian steppe to compare and contrast the role and status of Greek and German Empresses, Frankish queens, Seljuk and Mongolian khatuns.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £120.00
  9. Makers not muses: Claude Cahun, Eileen Agar and Isabel Rawsthorne
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 26 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Chantal Condron
    Explore the work of three radical artists whose work and practice defied convention in modern art from the 1920s to 1960s. Discover how each artist challenged and transcended society’s expectations of being a ‘muse’ by living freely and making art in a variety of media, from painting and sculpture to collage, photography and performance.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £45.00
    Rating:
    90% of 100
  10. Exploring European cinema
    Evening, ONLINE
    Course start date:  Wed 26 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jon Wisbey
    This class introduces you to a range of themes and issues in European cinema, including art cinema, national cinema, movements, 'moments' and new waves, authorship, popular cinema and genre, along with key developments in European film history from the silent era to the present day, key films, directors and the canon of European cinema, and a range of critical accounts of European cinema.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  11. Cultureplex Ciné-club
    Course start date:  Thu 12 Jan 2023 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Paul Sutton
    Come and join us at the Cultureplex Ciné-Club, where once a week, for 12 weeks (and throughout the rest of the academic year), we will watch and discuss film. Taking its cue from the famous Parisian ciné-club set up by the celebrated critic and writer, André Bazin, ‘the single thinker most responsible for bestowing on cinema the prestige both of an artform and of an object of knowledge’, and the man who foresaw the emergence of film studies as a legitimate discipline of academic study, our contemporary incarnation of the film club will offer a curated series of films for detailed study, discussion and debate. Each film will be introduced, placed in both its cinematic, cultural and historic context. In sharing our viewing in City Lit’s premier screening room, the Cultureplex, we will approximate the experience of watching film in the cinema, one that is intense and fully focussed in a way that other modes of viewing often are not. After the screening we will devote the rest of the class to a collective exploration of the film, led by the tutor, but involving everyone in a participatory discussion that will allow all to express their responses, their views, their thoughts on the film screened.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £129.00
  12. Life in Anglo-Saxon England
    ONLINE
    Course start date:  Thu 2 Feb 2023 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Stephen Pollington
    What was daily life like for people in England a thousand years ago? What clothes did they wear, what food did they eat, what were their houses like? What language did they speak and how was it written? What medical knowledge did they have, and who practised it? What were their religious beliefs, and what were their superstitions? The course will take a look at ordinary life in Anglo-Saxon England using evidence from archaeology, literature, iconography, place-names and other sources.



    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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  13. Friday lates: Lubaina Himid – longing and belonging
    ONLINE
    Course start date:  Fri 28 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Chantal Condron
    This Friday evening art history course spotlights the work of artist Lubaina Himid, one of Britain's most thought provoking artists.



    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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  14. Italian cinema: From Neorealism to the Genre Film
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 28 Apr 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Cristina Massaccesi
    This cinema course focuses on Italian cinema in the years between 1945 and 1980. It will provide you with an overview of the main historical, cultural and social aspects of Italian filmmaking in Italy by looking at the work of some of its most influential author/directors.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00
  15. Friday lates: the body as image and material in 20th century art
    Evening, ONLINE
    Course start date:  Fri 28 Apr 2023

    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

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