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- An introduction to the history of architectureCourse start date: Thu 2 May 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresArchitecture is the one art form that we cannot avoid even if we try. It shapes our environment and the way we live our lives, so understanding why buildings look the way they do is a vital part of understanding the world around us. This introductory course will enable you to do just that by examining the development of architectural styles from Ancient Greece to the present day.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Philosophy and the meaning of lifeCourse start date: Mon 13 May 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Karl WhiteThe search for a meaning to life has consumed human beings since time immemorial. What is the purpose of our being here? How are we supposed to live our lives? Is there a God or are we just products of nature, and depending on our answer, what does that tell us about the way we should conduct ourselves? What do we even mean by meaning?! If these questions intrigue or puzzle you, then look no further! While we cannot guarantee any answers, the quest for meaning and the exploration of the topic lead to some of philosophy’s greatest thinkers and their reflections on this most pressing of issues.
NB: No classes on 06/05/24 and 27/05/24.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information. - Classic drama: Antigone, Measure for Measure, The Country WifeCourse start date: Mon 13 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Jenny StevensWe will read and discuss three classic plays: Sophocles’ Antigone, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and William Wycherley’s The Country Wife. Focusing closely on structure, language and tone, we will consider how dramatists across time have explored themes such as sexual politics, family relationships and state power through their plays, as well as considering the social, cultural and historical contexts in which they were produced.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Buddhist philosophyCourse start date: Mon 16 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John Goff'Impermanence is the root of human suffering.' Over hundreds of years a highly developed philosophy grew from this simple idea. However, one does not need to adopt a religious outlook to benefit from Buddhist philosophy. - Contemporary British and international fictionCourse start date: Wed 18 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Aamer HusseinWe explore a brief and careful selection of recent novels in English, considering aspects of literature and the lives of writers, examining the contemporary perspective from which we reread and reinterpret classic texts to bridge the gap between past and present. Writers include Edward St Aubyn, Kathy O’Shaughnessy, Hari Kunzri, Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng, and British-Palestinian Isabella Hammad.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - City Lit reading group 2Course start date: Fri 22 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Patricia SweeneyShare thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session with suggestions (contemporary fiction in paperback) and having read 'Trust' by Hernan Diaz. Monthly meetings take place on 22 Sept, 27 Oct, 01 Dec; 19 Jan, 23 Feb, 22 March, 26 April, 24 May and 28 June.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - 50 films from the 50s: Hollywood's last standCourse start date: Mon 23 Sep 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John WischmeyerThe 1950s was the beginning of the end for the Hollywood studio era, a golden age in place since the 1920s. The fifties are more difficult to pin down than the 1930/40s due to explosive diversity in both subject matter and cinematic technology, the profound influence of WWII, the development of European neorealism and the first signs of the French New Wave. An emphasis on teen culture emerged, represented by the brief career of James Dean. Film stars became anti-heroes. The moguls who founded Hollywood began to disappear. The studio business model was doomed. Hollywood reacted both defensively and creatively, going for broke—and producing some of the finest and most enduring films in its history, films that transformed the culture, from Sunset Blvd. (1950) to Some Like It Hot (1959)—both by Billy Wilder. From The Asphalt Jungle (1950) to The Misfits (1961)— Marilyn Monroe’s first and final films, both directed by John Huston. From Here To Eternity (1953 Fred Zinnemann) to A Place in the Sun (1951 George Stevens, part of his American trilogy). Fifties’ films reflected a darkening America. (See related courses on Fifties Musicals, Melodrama and Film Noir).Full fee £289.00 Senior fee £231.00 Concession £188.00 - Great European Short StoriesCourse start date: Tue 24 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julian BirkettThe short story in Europe has characteristics all of its own. While British, Irish and American stories are rooted in psychological realism, many European writers have tended towards a more philosophical approach, reflecting the concerns of the modern age as experienced by the sensibilities of individual writers. Authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka and Albert Camus are masters of the kinds of tale which ask profound question about the nature of our existence. They are also supreme stylists capable of sustaining a gripping narrative. - Writing fantasy storiesCourse start date: Wed 17 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Victoria M. AdamsBuild 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 £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £110.00 - From Nonsense to the Surreal: Edward Lear to Angela CarterCourse start date: Wed 25 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithSurrealism is one of the great developments of 20th century literature. It’s different from the fantasies of previous centuries (fairy and folk tales, imaginative stories set in remote parts of the world, satires, science fiction) because it expresses complex bizarre experiences that many people recognise as possibly part of themselves. It may reflect desires which are difficult to admit but are sometimes expressed with wit and humour. We explore how surrealism developed from the apparent nonsense of three 19th century English writers.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - City Lit reading group 1Course start date: Fri 29 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate WilkinsonShare thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session on Friday 29 September with suggestions (English-language contemporary fiction in paperback) and having read 'Unsettled Ground', by Clare Fuller. Meetings take place on 29 September, 10 November, 2 February, 1 March, 10 May and 14 June.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Philosophy and literature: from existentialism to (post)modernismCourse start date: Fri 27 Sep 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Barrie SelwynLiterature provides a very effective springboard into the understanding of the developing notions of selfhood and human nature in the history of ideas and philosophy sharpens our understanding of literature within the broader context of this history.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Existentialism and the artsCourse start date: Mon 22 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffExistentialist themes of anxiety, anguish, dread, freedom, melancholy, loneliness, death and absurdity pervade the arts from the era of Romanticism onwards. What is the cultural significance and consequence of giving expression to such concerns?
NB: no classes on 6th and 27th May. - Philosophy and the selfCourse start date: Tue 23 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ariel KernbergWho am I? Is there such a thing as “my true self”? These and related questions will be looked at from various philosophical perspectives.
NB There will be no class on 28/05/24.
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 £155.00
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