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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- Developing your poetry
Course start date: Tue 10 Jan 2023 (and 3 other dates)Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Christina DunhillFor those familiar with the basics of poetic form, this intermediate course explores craft and content through reading exercises, writing exercises and constructive feedback. Ideal if you have already attended 'Ways into poetry'.
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 - Japanese imperialismCourse start date: Thu 26 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Dale Mineshima-LowePerhaps you are familiar with the history of the British empire. What about that of Japan? Join us to learn more.
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 £85.00 - German art 1910-1960: art, politics & culture in the wake of warCourse start date: Thu 26 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore 20th century German art and history, and the artistic responses to the impact of two world wars.
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 £142.00 - The State of the Union: Two years of the Biden administration….and the continuing saga of TrumpCourse start date: Thu 26 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Mark MalcomsonEvery year the President of the United States addresses a joint session of Congress and proposes a legislative agenda and national priorities - the State of the Union. In this one evening course, we review Joe Biden’s time in office – his achievements and failures. We will also discuss the ongoing presence of Donald Trump in America’s body politic and what the coming year have in store.
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 £10.00 - Friday lates: Fluxus: a revolutionary tide in artCourse start date: Fri 27 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeDiscover international, interdisciplinary ‘anti-art’ movement Fluxus and explore the use of ‘shock’ tactic in their revolutionary video art and performances.
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 - Central African politics for beginnersCourse start date: Tue 31 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Hilke GudelJoin us learn about the history, institutions and issues that are essential for understanding recent political developments in Central Africa.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £45.00 - Twentieth Century British FictionCourse start date: Tue 31 Jan 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lewis WardOn this course, we will trace the development of the British novel in the second half of the twentieth century through influential examples by Elizabeth Bowen, Iris Murdoch, J.G. Ballard and Julian Barnes. Our journey will include elements of spy fiction, existentialist thought, prophetic dystopia and an audacious attempt to write the history of the world in just ten and half chapters.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00 - Ways into advanced fiction, poetry and drama: the transition to modernityCourse start date: Wed 1 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Hugh Epstein, Patricia SweeneyExplore the rewards of close reading analysis, focusing on the three main literary genres of fiction, poetry and drama. Read, analyse and debate works from the early 20th century that represent a transition to modernity. Includes Quicksand (1928) by Nella Larsen, The Cherry Orchard (1903) by Anton Chekhov and poetry by T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, W.B. Yeats, Edward Thomas, Charlotte Mew and Edna St.Vincent Millay.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £71.00 - Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinemaCourse start date: Wed 1 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Meitao QuExplore the art of Chinese artists and filmmakers from the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st, as they try to make sense of a world on the cusp between the old and the new, marked by encounters with imperialism and iconoclasm. Learn what place art had in socio-political movements, and how it reflected the hopes and anxieties of its time.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £71.00 - Memories of authoritarian regimes in 20th Century Latin AmericaCourse start date: Thu 2 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anna GrimaldiThis course explores the aftermath of authoritarian and military regimes in Latin America, focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £55.00 - British Independent Film DirectorsCourse start date: Thu 2 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: John WischmeyerKen Loach came from television, Mike Leigh and Terence Davies from film school. Lindsay Anderson left the Royal Court Theatre to become a leading voice in the British New Wave with its gritty social commentary and heightened realism. Stephen Frears crewed on Anderson’s If… in 1968 and then started directing in the 1970s. A new wave of women directors emerged with Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank in 2010 and continued with Sarah Gavron winning a BIFA (British Independent Film Award) for Rocks in 2021 just after Rose Glass won best debut director. This course will explore a number of significant British independent film directors looking at where they came from and the contribution that they made, and continue to make, to British filmmaking culture.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00 - Friday lates: Jean-Michel Basquiat: painting historyCourse start date: Fri 3 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore how Jean-Michel Basquiat used art history, from Ancient Africa to Abstract Expressionism, to dialogue with contemporary culture and issues of racism, money and fame.
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 - A taste of poetryCourse start date: Fri 3 Feb 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online (other locations are available)
Tutors: Billie ManningThis short, fun taster course is the perfect starting point for students who are writing for the first time or new to the poetry path. Join us for thought-provoking writing exercises and poetry theory for beginners.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Heaven and hell in world religionsCourse start date: Fri 3 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Vanessa KingCompare and contrast the afterlife beliefs of the five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Explore how these ideas developed and influenced each other.
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 £85.00 - From markets to malls: the history of shopping in LondonCourse start date: Tue 7 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Diane BursteinFrom the City markets and shops of Cheapside (Medieval London’s Oxford Street) we move via the historic specialist shops of St James’s to the grand department stores and London markets. Discover how Londoners changed their shopping habits through the years and learn about the history of some of our most famous stores. A shop founded by a royal footman, a 17th century hatter, the department store owner who went to jail for expanding his business and the store which was the scene of its owner’s murder all feature.
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 £10.00
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