Courses in London & Online

The subject of motherhood is experiencing a surge of interest across a variety of platforms: in literature, art, theory as well as political discourse, a generation of women are voicing the discontents and joys that come with the experience of parenthood and the role that they as mothers occupy in society, willingly or not. This course explores the topic across a range of examples and perspectives from the present and the recent past.

Romantic anti-capitalism is a critique of the present where the negative effects of capitalism are felt across all areas of life. The discontent can be either reactionary or progressive and expresses itself at both ends of the political spectrum. This worldview is contradictory and ambiguous at its core, but in all its guises, the romantic critique is heavily charged with emotion. The sentiment has its origin in the epoch of Romanticism at the turn of the 19th century, but doesn’t it sound strangely familiar to us in 2025?

Journey through the history, literature, film, music and art of the 70s, an era of economic struggle and cultural change. While America continued to reflect aspects of 60s social upheaval, a more energised 'New Right' was emerging in defence of political conservatism and the traditional family, schisms that still exist today. We investigate the cross currents across the many facets of the 70s through a 'taster' of each subject area.

In this Ciné Club we will delve into the rich and captivating world of contemporary horror – with a specific focus on films in which women are more than mere victims but powerful agents of disruption who surface otherwise hidden cultural anxieties.

Through a selection of films that reflect the rich landscape of contemporary cinema, we will explore the evolution and surging popularity of horror in the twenty-first century, focusing on the ways in which filmmakers continue to redefine the genre or and re-invent common archetypes.

The course will examine how contemporary horror, particularly films made by women directors, engage with societal anxieties, psychological terror and supernatural elements.

• The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
• The Witch (Robert Eggers, 2015)
• Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2019)
• Titane (Julia Decourneau, 2021)
• The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024)

Perfect for cinephiles, horror fans, and anyone curious about the dark landscapes that contemporary horror invites us to explore or the way that gender, the body and identity intersects with broader cultural anxieties.

In this Cultural Studies course, we look at friendship and love between women and the path towards emancipation and social equality that female solidarity opens up. The patriarchy has cunning ways to appropriate women for its own purposes and continued dominance, by sowing discord, division and envy among groups that are not straight and male. But connection, community and care can be sites of the struggle to remake the world, as countless examples from past and present demonstrate.