Beginners History, Culture & Humanities Courses

From medieval manuscripts to explosive print culture, this course uncovers censorship, book markets, pamphlets, and changing readerships between 600 and 1650-revealing how texts shaped belief, authority, and society.

How do the concepts of sex, gender, and power shape our everyday reality, and how have feminist movements evolved to challenge these structures? This 2-hour taster session introduces the core debates within gender studies, examining how historical struggles connect to contemporary digital resistance.

“Heaven and earth are produced from Nature. The myriad things are produced from Heaven and Earth. Nature has nothing outside it; thus it is the name of heaven and earth together.” (Ruan Ji)

Beneath the gentrification of North Kensington and the image portrayed in the films of Hugh Grant lies a much more interesting story; the areas vibrant past beats any kind of fiction. Join professional guide Aiden for this two-hour walk to learn more.

When you choose a film to watch you are choosing a genre (if not a star) for an idea of what to expect: Action (Die Hard, F1), Horror (Psycho, Bring Her Back), Sci-Fi (Star Wars, Avatar), Film Noir (Double Indemnity, Destroyer), Westerns (Stagecoach, Eddington), Musicals (Singin' in the Rain, Kneecap), or Fantasy (The Lord of the Rings, Begonia). Genre links storytelling to themes, to style-and to the audience. Genre is the invisible architecture of cinema, shaping audience expectations, guiding narrative choices, and influencing everything from set and costume design to music score. From Hitchcockian suspense to Anderson’s fantasy adventures: cinematic genres define the filmmaking landscape and influence the cultural zeitgeist because genres are never static, having evolved through the history of cinema by pushing boundaries and altering the way stories get told. Genre is used from first ‘pitch’ to final marketing and subsequent film reviews. Genre is the key that unlocks the studio system and fulfils audience desire. Which genres are most popular now? On this course each week we’ll view a different genre-and that’s entertainment!

This course covers the thematic concerns, dramatic styles and contextual influences of three plays from the 20th and 21st centuries: Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie (1944), David Hare’s The Judas Kiss (1998) and Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat (2015). Drawing on the plays’ production histories, it considers how dramatists and theatre practitioners have represented the social, cultural and political worlds of specific times and places.

Explore the archaeology and history of London through its cultural monuments, topography and material remains to  more fully appreciate the rich archaeological evidence of the capital.

Tutor: Jill Hummerstone