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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- The greatest films of all time: Sight & Sound 2022 pollCourse start date: Mon 25 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John WischmeyerWhat makes a great film? Who made it great? And who decides if it’s great? Every decade since 1952 Sight and Sound magazine has published a critics’ poll of the 100 greatest films ever made—cinema’s most influential works, as well as modern masterpieces which found immediate acclaim. This course analyses the poll and views the films and asks what makes a masterpiece? The course will also examine various means of critical analysis, including genre, authorship and spectatorship.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £175.00 - British literature of the 1930s: under the shadow of warCourse start date: Tue 26 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lewis WardIn these troubled times, we often hear that we are ‘going back to the 1930s’. But what was it like the first time round? Find out through essential writings by George Orwell, W.H. Auden, Virginia Woolf, Stevie Smith and more.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Nuns, tarts, trouble and strife: medieval women (1)Course start date: Tue 26 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Vanessa KingWe will look beyond the myth of the meek fair maiden and see what life was really like for women in the middle ages. From the cradle to the grave, rich and poor.
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 £64.00 - Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion
Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sophie OxenhamThis online Literature course explores three novels by Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. We will develop an appreciation of Austen’s narrative style and social critique through close analysis of her language, informing our reading by engaging with the literary, historical and critical contexts of these novels.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Vincent van Gogh - London, Paris, and JapanCourse start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveFollow Vincent van Gogh from London to Paris in the late 19th century and discover the artistic influences and friendships that informed his 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 - The 60 minute writer Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023 (and 10 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghFit 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.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £55.00 - Make it new: European and American modernismCourse start date: Thu 28 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Woody RiverModernism was a period defined by radical thinking boldly proclaimed in manifestos and expressed through a variety of different art forms. Within literature, pre-conceived notions of narrative and syntax were challenged, characters were developed using insights drawn from psychology, and poets explored the visual representation of their words on the page. As boundaries were extended, new ‘isms’ were born. Through following the development of Modernist literature in Europe and America, this course will compare the changes in the written word to the changes occurring within art, architecture, music and film.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £149.00 - What do mathematicians do? An introduction to the philosophy of mathsCourse start date: Thu 28 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Oliver JosiahThis course offers the opportunity to explore fascinating questions concerning the nature of mathematical knowledge by providing an introduction to four major 19th and 20th century philosophies of mathematics.
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 £64.00 - Romanesque art, culture and societyCourse start date: Thu 28 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andreas PetzoldThe Romanesque is the first international style since antiquity, and one of the most inventive and creative periods in the history of art. The course takes a thematic approach to this fascinating period and provides an introduction to the main themes and works of art and architecture from this period; it is based on the tutor's book 'Romanesque Art.'.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Modern French literature Course start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandExplore modern French literature in translation, 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 - Philosophy and literature: from romanticism to existentialismCourse start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Barrie SelwynFull fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Understanding contemporary art: ideas and origins
Course start date: Mon 2 Oct 2023Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierEver wondered what's going on in the mind of contemporary artists? This course explores the ideas and historical background behind some of today’s most intriguing works, from Conceptualism and Video to Body Art and Installation.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Nineteenth century French fictionCourse start date: Mon 2 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Megan BeechNineteenth-century France was full of intrigue and squalor. Even a century after the upheaval of the French revolution, the country continued to grapple with issues of hierarchy, capitalism, and inevitable family dramas. In this course we’ll explore these themes through three of the most successful writers of this period: Zola, Maupassant and Flaubert.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - The myth of the American West in 20th and 21st century literatureCourse start date: Tue 3 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caroline Millar‘The West is a country in the mind, and so eternal.’ Archibald McLeish
The idea of the American West has captured the imagination of writers for decades, perhaps even centuries. This course offers an opportunity to read, explore and discuss a selection of novelists, short story writers, poets and essayists as they depict and debate the American West through the written word.
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 - US history for beginnersCourse start date: Tue 3 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Dafydd TownleyThis online course offers a brief examination of, and introduction to, the political, economic, social and cultural aspects of the United States, 1608 - 2001.
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 £64.00
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