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.
- Two and a half years in: how is the government faring?Course start date: Thu 19 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ian McGarvieThe course will assess the performance of the Labour government in the eighteen months since its landslide victory in July 2024. This course will assess the government performance in key policy areas and will also assess potential developments in the future. It will also assess the government’s responses to developing issues.
Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Monopolies and Algorithms: Media Power in the Digital AgeCourse start date: Mon 23 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jean-Baptiste de VaulxThis course offers an insight to the modern global media landscape, using real-life contemporary examples to examine how digital platforms, corporate concentration, and weak regulation have transformed social and political life, and how media power today operates less through overt propaganda than through data extraction, algorithmic influence, monopolisation, and regulatory gaps.
Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00 - Russia and Ukraine: The memory politics of conflict
Course start date: Thu 26 Nov 2026Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Olivia DurandThe ongoing Russian occupation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian fight for its people, land and sovereignty is not only fought on the battlefield. A significant dimension revolves around how Ukraine as a multi-cultural nation and sovereign state challenges the dominant Russian political representation of the linkage between the history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and today's Russia. Join us to understand how both history and memory are an integral dimension of the war.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £19.00 - How America replaced Britain in the Middle East 1945-2003Course start date: Sat 28 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nomaan HanifThis course charts the post 1945 entrance of the United States into the Middle East and the power struggle which ensued with Britain as a consequence. The course pierces the official discourse on the transatlantic relationship and provides a different perspective on how to understand and explain the volatile politics of the region.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Earth's six major mass extinctions: an introduction Course start date: Sat 5 Dec 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gary RetallickAn introductory course on a long-term perspective of extinction events throughout earth’s history, reminding us of the fragility of the planet's ecosystems. Looking back over the last 450 million years of earth’s history we will go beyond the extinction of the dinosaurs to mass extinctions that were even more devastating.
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Payback time: historical injustices and reparationsCourse start date: Sat 5 Dec 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanWhat does a society owe to the descendants of people colonised, brutalised or otherwise exploited? The issue of financial compensation - reparations - to make amends for past horrors and their continuing harm remains complex and contentious.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Digital Archaeology: AI and the Preservation of the PastCourse start date: Sun 6 Dec 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouExplore how AI and digital tools are reshaping archaeology and heritage. Reflect on the ethics, power and promise of preserving the past in a data-driven world. Discuss why heritage still matters.
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Neurodivergence as a fact of society: a brief introductionCourse start date: Tue 8 Dec 2026
Location on this date: Online
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 £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Climate justice: creating a more equal world Course start date: Sat 9 Jan 2027
Location 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 £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Contemporary Middle-Eastern politicsCourse start date: Mon 11 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Nomaan HanifThe Middle East remains one of the world’s most volatile regions, where religion shapes society and politics. This course uses teaching and discussion to give historical context and deepen your understanding of current geopolitics and events.
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - AI, Power and Politics: Who Controls the Future?Course start date: Wed 27 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Online
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 £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £90.00 - Unfinished Stories: Memory and the Legacy of European Colonialism Course start date: Thu 28 Jan 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Olivia DurandThe legacies of European colonial empires continue to define global politics, economies, and identities. This course explores how former colonies and imperial powers remember, contest, and live with their shared imperial pasts.
Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - Foreign aid: panacea or poison? Course start date: Sat 6 Feb 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanDebating foreign aid: who gives it, why it’s given, and whether it helps or harms development-from the Global South to US-China rivalry
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Neurodiversity and the Future of Work: A Policy Perspective Course start date: Fri 12 Mar 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vina TheodorakopoulouExplore how inclusive policy and leadership can transform the future of work for neurodivergent individuals. Discover practical strategies and real-world case studies for building workplaces where cognitive diversity is valued and supported.
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00 - Global South and its debt burden: modern-day enslavement? Course start date: Sat 8 May 2027
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tariq HassanHow does national debt affect the Global South and the people who live there?
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00
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