Refugee Week
During Refugee Week, City Lit will host a series of short courses designed to bring people together through learning. Throughout the week, you’ll have the chance to explore ideas, histories and creative practices that highlight the strength and contributions of people seeking sanctuary. These courses offer space for connection, reflection and shared learning, while also shining a light on City Lit’s ongoing commitment to supporting refugees and asylum seekers year‑round.
- Refugee week at City Lit: rhetoric and refugees in politics, pop culture and the press
Course start date: Tue 16 Jun 2026Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Siobhan McGuirkCasting a critical eye over popular depictions of people on the move, this course explores how categories of difference, deservingness and otherness are constructed and circulated - before considering possible alternative narratives.
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Refugee week at City Lit: climate change, food insecurity and refugees Course start date: Tue 16 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Olivia DurandExplore how colonialism, industrial agriculture, and capitalist extraction have shaped global food systems-driving hunger, displacement, and refugee movements. Through case studies, we will examine resistance efforts reclaiming food sovereignty and sustainable alternatives.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £10.00 Concession £7.00 - Refugee week at City Lit: refugees, entrepreneurship and businessCourse start date: Wed 17 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ketan VariaJoin us to explores the impact of refugees on businesses in the UK, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities they bring to the economy as part of Refugee Week at City Lit.Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Sanctuary in the city – public art by refugees and immigrants in the city Course start date: Wed 17 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneCome on a virtual tour of public art through the City of London created by Refugees and Immigrants. We will explore artworks such as the 17th century carvings on the Monument and a Victorian plaques relocated on to the post Modern Number One Poultry by economic immigrants to the country as well as looking at mainly works by 20th century artists from refugee backgrounds who were either commissioned to make art works for site specific places or their works have been bought or moved to their locations.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Refugee week at City Lit: Capitalism and migrationCourse start date: Thu 18 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Siobhan McGuirkWith money-making activities growing around people on the move, we explore how capitalism shapes refugees’ lives and ask: who profits while others are deported and detained
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - Refugee week at City Lit: Roots of racism Course start date: Thu 18 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Siobhan McGuirkIdeas about racial groups anddifferencesbetween peoplesare built on myths, lies and pseudoscience- yet they continue to shapepolitics and society. Join us to learnhow to debunk harmful narratives.
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £8.00 Concession £7.00 - South Asia Post Independence: Rebuilding the RegionCourse start date: Tue 30 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Reshmi BanerjeeThe late 1940s witnessed the birth of several newly independent countries in South Asia against the backdrop of Partition, mass-scale migration and communal violence. The transition from a long-lasting colonial rule to freedom was not an easy one as it was fraught with multiple and complex challenges. History/Past continues to impact the present in this region. The aim is to not only reflect on the critical juncture of independence in South Asian history but also understand the region through the distinctive experiences of the countries concerned in the post-independence period.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Conflicts in South Asia: the histories, memories and legacies of the Bangladeshi war of IndependenceCourse start date: Wed 1 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Reshmi BanerjeeThe Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971 is a defining moment for both Bangladesh and South Asia. The course aims to examine the multiple causes and varied consequences of the liberation war along with its overall lasting impact on the region and its politics.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00
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