Beginners History, Culture & Humanities Courses
Start your journey into the world of history, culture and humanities with City Lit’s beginners courses. Our expert-led courses provide a friendly and accessible introduction to these fascinating subjects, perfect for those new to the topic or looking to return to learning.
Whether you’re interested in exploring history, cultural studies, literature or philosophy, our beginners courses offer a supportive environment for you to learn at your own pace. With live sessions, group discussions, and tutor guidance, you’ll be able to engage with thought-provoking content and develop your skills in a relaxed, interactive space.
Join us today and take your first step into the world of history, culture and humanities with City Lit.
773 courses available
- Empire, War, and People: Walks Through London’s Past
Explore London’s past on foot: from monarchy and empire to protest, migration, war, culture, and modern identity. Discover how the city’s streets reflect and have shaped Britain across two thousand years.
Off Site
Fri 25 Sep 2026Stephen GossFull fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 
Friday lates: Sex and the city, art in 1920s BerlinIn the wake of war, many people in Weimar Republic Berlin revelled in what Sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld called the 'varieties of love'. This course explores the art of the era: the modern beauties of 1920s Berlin and how they rebelled against the ugliness of oppression.
Online
Fri 25 Sep 2026Sarah JaffrayFull fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00- Women’s Studies: a brief introduction
This course focuses on contemporary current affairs and political issues, examining how they intersect with gender, women, and masculinity. It invites students to critically explore power, media, and global inequalities through a gendered lens.
Keeley Street
Fri 25 Sep 2026Michele ScottFull fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Film and Philosophy: Thinking through Cinema
Is The Matrix a science-fiction movie starring Keanu Reeves, or the most influential work of philosophy of the last fifty years? Whose more nihilistic, Humphrey Bogart or Frederic Nietszche? In this course, we will examine the relationship between film and philosophy, engaging with current debates in film theory and in wider society.
Keeley Street
Fri 25 Sep 2026Alex SergeantFull fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - The East End in Fact and FictionCovering the early 19th century to the early 20th century, we will examine the East End and analyse how it was portrayed in works of fiction, thinking about how imaginative fiction and historical fact intertwine to create local legend.
Keeley Street
Sat 26 Sep 2026Sarah WiseFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - The Humanities in Crisis? The State of the Humanities Today
The humanities - academic disciplines that study human society and culture, including literature, visual and performing arts, philosophy and history - are under threat of funding cuts across all sectors of education. Their “cultural capital” is waning alongside. The focus, instead, is on subjects that promise immediate gain in the form of guaranteed employment and economic growth for the investing state. But does such an approach pay off in the long run? As many theorists argue, the humanities teach vital skills of how to be a responsible citizen in a globalised world.
Keeley Street
Sat 26 Sep 2026Catherine BergerFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Gangland Soho
"Since the arrest of a "Lewd Woman" in Soho Fields for a "Breach of the peace" in 1641 Soho has been synonymous with vice and its constant companion crime. Join us to explore the history of gangland crime in Soho on this two-hour guided tour.
Off Site
Sat 26 Sep 2026Aidan McManusFull fee £39.00 Senior fee £31.00 Concession £25.00 - Homeric Reflections: Study Day on the Iliad
A one-day workshop about Homer's Iliad. It will consist of presentations by students and the tutor on the City Lit Homeric Greek courses, addressing topics of narrative voice, the depictions of motherhood, and the poetics and aesthetics of the epic. Each presentation will be followed by a discussion. Anyone interested in the topic is very welcome to attend.
Keeley Street
Sat 26 Sep 2026Vaughan PilikianFull fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Study day: The rise of Islam and the life of the Prophet in art
In this study day we will learn about the Prophet Muhammad, his life in 7th century Mecca and Medina, and the foundation of the formative constitution of Islam. The story of his life and revelations will be illustrated with artwork from iconic manuscripts made in the 14th - 16th centuries under Muslim rulers of the Ilkhanid, Timurid, Safavid and Ottoman Dynasties.
Keeley Street
Sun 27 Sep 2026Anita ChowdryFull fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00 - Walk and Talk: Around Chaucer's London
Join Vanessa King to explore Life in London in the Age of Chaucer (c.1343-1400) on this morning talk & afternoon walk.
Keeley Street
Sun 27 Sep 2026Vanessa KingFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £58.00 - 1939: In the Shadow of Crisis
The coming of the Second World War loomed large in the imagination of many writers in 1939. We explore how this crisis was represented in a selection of novels published that year by Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley and Jean Rhys. Each novel is set in a different part of the world - Berlin, California and Paris - and refracts the personal and political anxieties of the period.
Online
Mon 28 Sep 2026Jake PollerFull fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Our World(s): Memoirs by Women
Explore memoirs by women across cultures and generations. Reflect on identity, resistance, and storytelling while building your own voice through guided discussion and creative exercises.
Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - Nineteenth century French fiction: Victor Hugo, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Emile Zola
Justice, violence, morality, and sensation: these are the key issues at play in the three French novels we will discuss in this course. Focusing on The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo (1829), Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans (1884), and La Bête Humaine by Émile Zola (1890), we’ll focus on how these novels explore the inner life of their characters and the moral questions of this period.
We'll explore the evolution of French literary style and social mores over the course of the 19th Century, thinking about representations of crime, punishment, decadence and betrayal along the way.
Online
Mon 28 Sep 2026Megan BeechFull fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - Flags decoded: Europe
Discover the politics and history of Europe through its flags on this lively introductory lecture course.
Online
Mon 28 Sep 2026Sebastien ArdouinFull fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Ancient Greek dramaHave a taste of exploring the ancient Athenian stage, and how they still speak to us about the challenges we face today.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00
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