The History of Ideas
From the meaning of life to moral dilemmas: explore the questions philosophers and thinkers have pondered for centuries. Our daytime, evening and weekend courses cover a wide range of subjects. Join a class to encounter ethics and existentialism, memory and the mind, or discover the paradoxes and politics of the modern world. Classes take place in Covent Garden and online.
- History of ideas: thinking about conspiracy theories - a taster
Course start date: Tue 28 Jul 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John HolroydJoin this short introductory course to learn more about what conspiracy theories are, how to evaluate them, and the impact they have on our lives and society.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - History of ideas: Resist! - the politics and impolitics of resistance Course start date: Thu 24 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Denis BosseauVIVE LA RESISTANCE! But what is resistance and what does it mean to resist? Is it simply saying no, a reaction, the refusal to submit to the current state of things? Or is it the perennial defiance of oppression and injustice? Does every resistance imply counter-resistances? Better responding to our troubled times requires us to rethink what we mean by resistance.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - History of ideas: an introduction to ideology Course start date: Wed 7 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John HolroydThis course asks us to consider the following questions: What is ideology? What does it mean to be ideological? and Why is ideology important to understand?
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - History of Ideas: the language of politeness Course start date: Tue 27 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jack Pulman-SlaterThis short course introduces you to the fascinating world of politeness studies. You’ll explore how we manage politeness in everyday conversation and how different cultures express it linguistically. You’ll learn about research and theories on politeness from pragmatics and linguistics, considering how these have developed over time.
Using real-life examples and interactive activities, you’ll learn how politeness works -and why it matters.
Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £38.00 - History of ideas: liberalism and its criticsCourse start date: Thu 5 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Joseph StreeterLiberalism remains the dominant political form in Europe and North America, but it is increasingly under attack.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - History of ideas: the invention of Christmas Course start date: Sat 12 Dec 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Angela PlattBeginning around the middle of the 19th century, a ‘new Christmas’ came into the fore; a reinvented Christmas, if you will. Why did this Christmas shift as it did - to produce the modern celebration many people still enjoy today? In this course, the stories of those groups and individuals who impacted this ‘reinvention of Christmas’ will be shared.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £31.00 Concession £25.00 - History of ideas: is free will an illusion?Course start date: Thu 14 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Denis BosseauWhat does it mean to say one has free will, and does such a thing even exist? Are we talking about a secularised idea borrowed from Christian theology, a concept meant to justify the rational grounds for moral responsibility in everyday life, or are we dealing with a concept corresponding to something real and tangible, a cognitive capacity? And what would it mean to say free will is an illusion?
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - History of ideas: radical ideologiesCourse start date: Wed 20 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John HolroydThis course seeks to examine types of ideology that are radical in the sense that they seek to take apart and perhaps rebuild society along very different lines to those in operation at present.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - History of ideas: philosophy and the concept of globalisationCourse start date: Thu 21 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jessica FeelyThis course examines the philosophical history of the concept of the global and globalisation and the ways thinkers have attempted to conceptualise the world as an interconnected social, political, economic, and historical totality.
Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £123.00 - History of Ideas in Maths and Engineering Course start date: Tue 2 Feb 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ketan VariaJoin this course to explore the intertwined evolution of mathematics and engineering, from the invention of the wheel to the foundational mathematical theories developed up to the 20th century.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - History of ideas: what is love?Course start date: Sun 7 Feb 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Angela PlattWhat is love in the modern world? Join this course to explore the notion of love in popular culture and media from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £31.00 Concession £25.00 - History of ideas: the genealogy of moralityCourse start date: Thu 25 Feb 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Joseph StreeterMoral beliefs and practices have varied radically over time. What implications does this have for our own moral commitments? Could the history of morality undermine or even support the authority of morality?
Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £103.00 - History of ideas: shame and its sistersCourse start date: Mon 8 Mar 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita KasabovaWhat is shame and how is it seen in different historical and cultural contexts? This course by Anita Kasabova explores various aspects of shame and its family of feelings across different cultures and languages
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - History of ideas: Descent and renewal in mythology and psychologyCourse start date: Mon 22 Mar 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita KasabovaDescent and renewal are recurrent themes in mythology and usually involve a journey into the underworld to bring about profound changes. We look into the myth of Demeter and Persephone, mystic rituals of transformation and Jungian interpretations of feminine archetypes
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - History of ideas: to be or not to be ideologicalCourse start date: Wed 21 Apr 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John HolroydThis course is designed to get us to think about what it means to be ideological, how far this is a desirable goal or something best avoided.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00
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