International Women's Day at City Lit
City Lit has a long history of supporting women’s learning in London. Thousands have benefitted from our flexible courses, building new skills and confidence while studying around busy lives.
All year round, we offer classes that highlight and celebrate women’s achievements in culture, society, and everyday life. These courses shine a light on inspiring stories, ideas, and voices that continue to shape our world.
Read more about International Women's Day at City Lit.
- A women’s history of modern China
Course start date: Sat 23 May 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Qiuyang ChenDiscover the untold stories and hidden legacies of women in modern China in this illuminating one-day course. Traverse time, from the late Qing Dynasty to the present, to examine how women have shaped and been shaped by social, political, and cultural currents.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Art and critical theory: feminism and post-colonialism Course start date: Thu 4 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Irina ChkhaidzeExplore the role of critical theory within the field of art history, and learn new ways of thinking about art by focusing on feminism, post-colonial theory and the notion of the death of the author.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Writing Motherhood Course start date: Tue 9 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Rebecca JonesThis in-college literature course explores the extraordinarily diverse world of writing about motherhood. We’ll look at literary texts that have firmly rebuked any notions of motherhood as ‘merely’ domestic, and have instead made it the subject of serious literary writing, have explored major themes such as the body, trauma, gender, queerness, race and creativity, and have written diverse truths about the realities of motherhood. You’ll leave this course with an understanding of classic texts about motherhood by authors such as Adrienne Rich as well as more recent texts by authors such as Rachel Cusk, Maggie Nelson and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Teatime talks: Woman and Object -Inside the world of Marisol Course start date: Tue 9 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronStep into the world of Marisol Escobar (1930–2016), the Venezuelan American artist, whose bold, witty sculptures blended Pop Art, Pre-Columbian traditions, and social commentary. This online talk will introduce you to the work and background of this New York-based artist who challenged gender norms and captured American society from the 1960s in her uniquely quirky style.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Teatime talks: Woman and Object: inside the world of Nicola LCourse start date: Tue 23 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronDiscover the eclectic life and work of Nicola L., a pioneering French Moroccan artist who in recent years has gained wider international attention. Renowned for her radical sculptures and performances, Nicola L.’s practice explored connections between the representation of the female body and everyday objects. Witty, dynamic and inherently feminist, her iconic works including Red Coat and Woman Sofa, placed her as one of the most exciting female artists of the 1960s avant-garde and Pop Art movements.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Masters of style: reading and writing Virginia Woolf Course start date: Sat 27 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Thomas McMullan, Patricia SweeneyVirginia Woolf was one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. Her approaches to writing character interiority were at the forefront of modernist literary innovations. This day workshop explores the literary interpretations of several seminal texts and writing exercises that encourage you to experiment with Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Great works: Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth Course start date: Thu 23 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Trish ShawCome and discover the fascinating story within and around one of Shostakovich’s most famous works, Lady Macbeth. What made this opera so controversial for much of its history, and how do we appreciate and interpret it today?
Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Women in art: 1400-1800 Course start date: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresThere were a significant number of highly talented female artists active during the 15th to 18th centuries, so why is their work not more famous? This course investigates and redresses this gender inequality.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £123.00 - Women in the French Revolution Course start date: Wed 25 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Zoe QuinnThis one-session course explores the dramatic rise and fall of women's political participation during the French Revolution. From marches on Versailles to feminist manifestos and revolutionary clubs, women played vital-and controversial-roles in shaping events. We'll delve into individual stories of courage and tragedy, examine the gendered tensions of Enlightenment ideals, and assess whether the Revolution truly marked a turning point in the struggle for women’s rights.
Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Towards freedom: from Christina Rossetti to Jean 'Binta' BreezeCourse start date: Mon 11 May 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithThe course will look at how some women poets challenged the expectations of their families and the society in which they lived to create highly original poetry which changed people’s views of what poetry could achieve. They had to make their way in a male-dominated publishing world with a restricted view of the poetry suitable for women – we will explore how these poets expanded what women could publish in remarkable ways.
Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Women in Film: An IntroductionCourse start date: Tue 12 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Karine ChevalierThis course will discuss the development of women’s cinematic modes of representation and expression, and the place of women in the film industry within the current social, political and cultural climate. It will begin by considering the question of gender representation and will develop towards an examination of the contemporary notion of the ‘female gaze’. The course will refer to key pioneers as well as to contemporary female filmmakers while paying attention to cultural creative diversity.
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Study day: Berthe Morisot and the women of the Impressionist movement Course start date: Sun 7 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Caroline LevisseThis study day explores Berthe Morisot and the women of Impressionism, from Mary Cassatt to Anna Ancher, Harriet Backer, Elizabeth Forbes, Cecilia Beaux, and Jane Sutherland. We will examine their lives, styles, and successes, and ask why Impressionism offered women a space to thrive.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list