Issues Facing Our World
In times of uncertainty, knowledge can help us understand what’s going on around us. City Lit’s range of History, Politics and Science courses explore a number of contemporary issues facing the world right now. A few of the questions we’re currently asking are:
- Can history help us navigate modern issues and crises?
- How can we safeguard democracies around the world including our own?
- Are there other ways of organising our economy?
- What is the impact of climate change on our lives?
Taught by experts in their field, our courses give you the opportunity to explore current affairs, historical issues, and global challenges. Join us as we discuss, debate, and dissect the answers.
- Neurodivergence as a fact of society: a brief introductionCourse start date: Sun 14 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouBritish society is diverse, and not only in terms of faiths, ethnic backgrounds and other mostly visible differences. Neurodiversity is also a central aspect. Join us on this non-accredited course for a brief introduction to neurodiversity in society and discover how to engage with and support neurodivergent strengths.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Climate justice: creating a more equal world
Course start date: Sat 10 Jan 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanThe unfettered exploitation of natural resources by the Global North has led to an environmental catastrophe faced most severely and immediately by the Global South. Climate justice aims to deal with the inherent unfairness in the approaches to mitigate climate change and to help Global South adapt to its impacts.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - AI, Power and Politics: Who Controls the Future?Course start date: Sun 31 May 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouWho controls the future of AI? Explore the politics, power and global inequalities behind artificial intelligence and debate what’s at stake for democracy, human rights and society in a rapidly changing world.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Gender in Context: Power, Culture & Daily ResistanceCourse start date: Thu 29 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michele ScottFrom glass ceilings to quiet revolutions—how far have we really come? Explore feminist thought through everyday life, resistance, and identity across work, family, media, and education.
Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00 - Can green economics deliver in time? A global perspective after COP30 Course start date: Sun 1 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouCan green economics deliver in time? Explore global approaches to sustainability through case studies from Uruguay, the EU, China and the US and debate what’s needed to meet climate goals before it’s too late.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Foreign aid: panacea or poison? Course start date: Sat 7 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanIf trillions in foreign aid had been the cure-all for the Global South, those countries would not be so impoverished today. This ‘anomaly’ requires that the issue of foreign aid be revisited.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - History of ideas: the concept of freedomCourse start date: Thu 26 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Denis BosseauEverybody is ‘for’ liberty and freedom, but what exactly does it involve? How might our understanding and appreciation of it changed over time? Is freedom something we ‘have’ or is it something that is contingently exercised? To what extent does the freedom of others affect my own? How might one conceive of a ‘free’ society? In this course, you will be introduced and invited to think critically about the idea of freedom and its conceptualisation in western thought, focusing particularly on the impact of liberalism and how it shaped our understanding of what it means to be free and live in a (un–) free society.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Britain’s traffic transition towards sustainability: the road to sustainable travel Course start date: Tue 14 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Stephen GossExplore Britain’s transition to sustainable transport and what more needs to be done to decarbonise how we travel. What can we learn from approaches taken across the EU and internationally?
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - More current affairs Course start date: Wed 7 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michael BloomfieldContinue your exploration of current affairs through lively, informed discussion. Run as a tutor-moderated discussion group of current news events. This course follows on from 'Current affairs' but new students are welcome.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Global South and its debt burden: modern-day enslavement? Course start date: Sat 9 May 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanAlthough debt crises are not new, the Global South is being crushed by a debt burden not seen before. It is forcing countries to choose between servicing debt and saving lives. An ambitious response is urgently needed.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - International Monetary Fund (IMF): friend or foe? Course start date: Sat 30 May 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanAfter more than 75 years since the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the world’s lender of last resort, made its first loan, the effects of its policies in general and lending practices in particular remain contested.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £45.00 - Modern France: from de Gaulle and the Resistance to Macron Course start date: Tue 2 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sebastien ArdouinRe)discover France's complex politics during the Fourth and Fifth Republics, and the social challenges and tensions the country faced both at times of growth and modernisation and of crisis and doubts.
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - History of ideas: abolition democracy - from the Black Panthers to Black Lives MatterCourse start date: Thu 4 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Denis BosseauParticularly since the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement and resonating calls to abolish the police, the prison industrial complex or even fossil fuels, we have seen an unprecedented increase in the language of abolition in public discourse in recent years. But what is it that abolitionists really want? How are we to understand abolitionism as a political project and an emancipatory practice?
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Creating a sustainable tomorrowCourse start date: Sun 14 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouAn exploration of ethical considerations intertwined with the journey towards a sustainable future. This course offers a dynamic and revealing learning experience, inviting participants to delve into a purposeful debate of ethics and sustainability in the modern world.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Green economists: ideas you need to know Course start date: Sun 28 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouExplore the ideas that challenge conventional economics. Discover how green economists rethink growth, value and wellbeing and why their insights matter for climate, policy and the future of our economy.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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