Courses in London & Online

This online course introduces a selection of fairy tales from the First Golden Age of Children’s Literature, occurring in the latter half of the 19th century until the early 20th century. We will focus upon L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (1911), George McDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin (1872), and Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby (1863).

This course introduces and critically examines the concept of a Black or African Latin America through the region’s history, philosophy, activism, politics, diaspora, memory and culture.

Portrait miniatures are some of the most exquisite likenesses ever produced, initially gaining favour in the court of Henry VIII as love tokens and tiny pieces of propaganda. This session in the V&A’s collection of portrait miniatures can be taken as a single stand-alone visit (no previous knowledge required, all welcome) or as a final lesson for the three-week online VB776 Private Portraits course.

Explore how historical, political, and economic factors have shaped Global South economies. Analyze trade, governance, urbanization, poverty, sustainability, and challenges, fostering a holistic understanding of their development within the global landscape.

This one day course brings together evidence from interviews with the ever decreasing number of original arrivals to the UK from Uganda, following Idi Amin’s expulsion in 1972.



Using oral history we ask questions of what we can learn from the personal testimony of individuals and what unique insights this gives us.

Revise, consolidate and improve your listening and speaking skills on this lively course, which will help you communicate more confidently in daily life situations. Ideal if you are doing 'Spanish 2 lower', 'Spanish 2 upper' or have an equivalent level (A2 level).



This course runs every other Thursday on the following dates: 8 May, 22 May, 5 June, 19 June, 3 July.

Venite a scoprire le origini e l'evoluzione dell'italiano che parliamo oggi. Insieme vedremo l'affermazione del volgare toscano come lingua nazionale e le influenze che l'italiano ha subito nel passare del tempo.

London is one of the world’s great cinematic cities. It is a city that has been captured on film since the advent of moving pictures. It is also a city whose own story has been profoundly shaped by film. This course will tell the history of London’s depiction onscreen, and how that depiction has impacted on the city itself over the course of twentieth and twenty-first centuries.







Dr Alexander Sergeant is an award-winning film historian and theorist. His varied research interests include the history of popular culture, particularly within the US, and the intersection between film and philosophy. He is the author of Encountering the Impossible: The Fantastic in Hollywood Fantasy Cinema (2021), and co-editor ofFantasy/Animation: Connections Between Media, Mediums & Genres (2018). He is the co-founder of the popular website Fantasy-Animation.org and co-host of the Fantasy/Animation podcast.

Compare and contrast the afterlife beliefs of the five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Explore how these ideas developed and influenced each other.

To understand China of our present means understanding China of the past. Explore the histories and legacies of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

We explore medieval attitudes towards the disease and the medical care available to sufferers. We also look at how the leper was depicted in art and literature before 1500 CE.