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 long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

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.

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  1. Women in ancient Rome
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  William Sterling
    Women's position in the Ancient Roman world was important as they played important roles in the home, in business, in religion and even in politics.
    Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  2. Private portraits: painted miniatures in early modern Europe
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Elizabeth Eyres
    Portrait miniatures are some of the most exquisite and beguiling likenesses ever produced. Their tiny scale and painstaking creation give them an intricacy, intimacy and sense of intrigue. These often reflect the circumstances in which they were gifted to their new owners by the person commissioning them, and both the images and their wider contexts repay our close study on this course.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00
  3. Visionary experiments: American art of the 1940s and 50s
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Explore American art during and just after World War II. From abstraction expressionism to social justice in photography and printmaking see how the US's unique context created the foundation for experimental and transgressive art.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  4. Friday lates: art and maps
    Last Few Places, Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Christopher Collier
    Maps have a long and fascinating history, yet it was really the 20th Century that saw them come alive as an artistic medium, as artists turned to them to explore their place in a disoriented world. Discover the many ways artists have worked with maps, from Surrealism through to Digital Media.



    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:
    80% of 100
  5. Anthropology of Art, Film and Photography
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 29 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Yasmin Hales
    This introductory course aims to critically explore the role and symbolic meaning of art from a cross-cultural perspective, ranging from the concept of beauty, the beliefs and rituals associated with material objects, to the human body as canvas and the role of museums.



    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 £183.00 Concession £149.00
  6. Discovering Late Imperial China: Ming to Qing, 1500-1800
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Qiuyang Chen
    Journey into the heart of China's transformative era, where dynastic intrigue met daily life's rich fabric. Grasp the complexities of power, ethnic interplay, and innovation in an age of change in Late Imperial China.
    Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00
  7. Ancient Greek drama: an introduction
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Maria Contos
    Have a taste of exploring the ancient Athenian stage, and how they still speak to us about the challenges we face today.
    Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £87.00 Concession £71.00
  8. The occult on screen
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Gillian McIver
    Surprisingly, not every film that features the occult is a horror film. Certainly, many of them are; we will consider classics such as Haxan from 1922, Rosemary’s Baby, The Craft, Angel Heart, The Witch and Hereditary. Other films, such as Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising and A Dark Song, attempt to treat the occult seriously as secret or hidden knowledge. We'll examine the cultural backdrop of occult films and questions of representation, gender relations, and spirituality.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00
  9. Homes, houses and art in Europe: 1900-1960
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Emma Rose Barber
    Knock on the door of artists’ houses and studios from 1900-1960 to experience exciting and visually dazzling spaces created over the course of their careers. At a time when artists were beginning to forge their own brave new visual worlds, this course considers what the homes might tell us about the artists and how they wanted their homes to be seen. This is the second part of a series on Homes and Houses; it can also be taken without having done the previous course.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  10. French and Russian literature
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Richard Niland
    Explore classic texts of 19th century French and Russian literature, discussing literary style, themes, and contexts as a way of developing and sharing responses to celebrated European writing. Among the French writers examined will be Stendhal, Baudelaire, Flaubert and Rimbaud, with our Russians including Pushkin, Lemontov, and Tolstoy.
    Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00
  11. British literature of the 1980s: the Granta generation
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Lewis Ward
    Who were considered the ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ in 1983, and what became of them? What do their styles and topics reveal about the decade, looking back from 40 years on? Read extracts by all twenty writers plus novels by Pat Barker, Graham Swift and Julian Barnes.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00
  12. Tutankhamun unveiled
    Course start date:  Tue 30 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Rosalind Janssen
    The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 caused a worldwide sensation, which led to a bout of ‘Tut-mania’. Much overlooked is the political setting: Egypt’s semi-independence from British rule that occurred in the same year. But who was Tutankhamun: how did he live and die? This course unveils the Pharaoh, his wardrobe, curse, blockbuster exhibitions, and enduring legacy.
    Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
  13. Ways into advanced art history: writing histories
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 1 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    Develop a greater understanding of art history and how to analyse the cultural meaning of an artwork by going in-depth with the ideas of prominent art historians. This course is meant to cultivate your personal practice of art history through small, guided research and writing projects.
    Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £64.00
  14. Post-war German history: 1961 to reunification and beyond
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 1 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Rudolf Muhs
    This course offers a broad survey of German history from the sealing of the country’s division by the Berlin Wall to its unforeseen reunification in 1989-90 and its aftermath.



    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 £116.00
  15. Stories of London
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Wed 1 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Blended (learn both online and in-person)

    Tutors:  Eleanor Jackson
    Explore London’s rich history in a series of guided walks. Each week we examine a different neighbourhood & era from the capital’s past. We look at its people, both rich and poor, & the events that shaped the city.



    Initial lecture via Zoom followed by 6 guided walks.



    This course will be delivered online and in person. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
    94% of 100
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