Explore History, Culture & Writing

Come and join us for a taste of what happens at the Cultureplex Ciné-Club. For one day only, and during a compressed hour and a half, we will watch and discuss a short film replicating the structure of the upcoming Cine-Club course, where we watch and discuss full-length feature films. The Cultureplex Ciné-Club course takes its cue from the famous Parisian Ciné-club set up by the celebrated critic and writer, André Bazin, however, this incarnation of the film club will offer an opportunity not only to have a taste of what the full Cine-Club course (running throughout next year) has to offer, but it will also allow for the viewing of a short film, followed by detailed discussion and debate. The film will be introduced, placed in both its cinematic, cultural and historic context as well as being situated within the director’s body of work. 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.

Since cinema's earliest days, literature has provided movies with stories. But there is another way of looking at film: through its relationship with painting, the oldest of the art forms.



We’ll look at paintings by Friedrich, Titian, Hopper, Bacon, Delaroche and many more. We’ll view Red Desert, Pan’s Labyrinth, Easy Rider – looking at realism, surrealism and more.



As you can see, all of these are quite different! Let’s see how movies connect us to art history.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is a key text in philosophy. Exciting and influential, it is also a dense and challenging read. This reading reading group aims to help you grasp its arguments and ideas.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

Defining itself around themes such as realism, class and national identity, British cinema continues to find critical and popular acclaim, both domestically and internationally. This course explores British cinema, past and present, through a range of critical concepts and approaches, films - including both popular and art house - and filmmakers, and considers its function as a national cinema.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

An ‘offbeat, tongue-in-cheek, British, “pop spy” fantasy TV series’, The Avengers has variously been described as ‘one of British TV’s greatest successes’, the ‘highest pinnacle of spy/secret agent television’, ‘constantly kinky’, and ‘part of “swinging London”, along with the King’s Road, Carnaby Street, Twiggy, George Best, Mary Quant and other such icons’. Join us for a course that celebrates this quirky, cult TV serial as we revisit iconic episodes and explore what made The Avengers such an enduring slice of British popular culture.

Curious about studying Literature and nineteenth century novels? Join us for this taster session where we explore aspects of two nineteenth century novels – Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

Hitchcock was first recognised as a gifted filmmaker in the 1920s but the films he made between 1934 and 1938, the six 'chase thrillers', established his reputation and associated him with a particular type of film, one marked by a varying mix of suspense, comedy and romance. This course explores the two most celebrated of these, looking at their production, structure and critical reception.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

Discover more about the development, history and sacred geometry of the Hindu temple in this weekend course which includes a guided visit to a local temple.

Are you curious about reading literature from across the world? Would you like to encounter some of the world’s finest literary works, reading across cultures and national borders, and in translation? This in-college session will give you a flavour of what it’s like to study and explore what global literature is, reading excerpts from major works.