The Tragical History of Dr Faustus
The legend of Dr Faustus has inspired some of the greatest works of art ever since it first appeared in the 16th century Playwrights, poets, novelists, film directors and composers have all interpreted the story. We will consider its different … More details …
The Life and Work of Grayson Perry
An introductory look at the work of Grayson Perry. This study day will be an examination of the multi-disciplinary artist best known for his ceramics, tapestries and cross-dressing. Along with the Julie Cope tapestries, we shall discover his pottery and … More details …
The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett: a novel of provincial life.
We will discuss this novel of provincial life, and consider how it reflects its period and what it says to ours. We shall be looking for key themes and at the impact the novel had on other writers. This novel … More details …
The History and Natural History of British Gardens
The history and natural history of British gardens. An introduction to gardens of the British Isles, the gardeners their plants and colourful wildlife. Some of the best gardens in the world are to be found in the British Isles, this … More details …
What’s in a name? Your family through the ages.
What’s in a name? Your family through the ages The course is intended to be a relaxed and informal introduction to genealogy – with audience participation. It is aimed at complete beginners interested in understanding the richness and depth of the … More details …
Reading Paintings: Genre Pictures
From Jan Steen to Johannes Vermeer, some great artists painted genre scenes (pictures of everyday life). This course analyses some of the finest examples, including tavern scenes, brothel scenes, and servants at work. These paintings tell us an enormous amount … More details …
“The Rhyming Peasant” John Clare
John Clare, the ‘rhyming peasant’: poetry of dwelling and displacement in the late Romantic period. We shall explore Clare’s unique voice in English poetry through a reading of select poems about nature and his local environment in the first half … More details …
Bad Science and Bad Philosophy
Bad science and bad philosophy is a beginners friendly look at the world of bogus science and confused philosophical thinking. The course will look at some of the contemporary debates and controversies surrounding science and its popular understanding. With guided … More details …
The Novels of Virginia Woolf
This course is designed to study the writing of Virigina Woolf and will include some of her novels and essays. We will explore a range of writing by one of the most popular writers of the modernist period. Woolf produced … More details …
Reading Paintings: the Dutch Golden Age
The 1600s saw some remarkable developments in painting, with the rise of the portrait and the still life. This course traces the changing tastes of the day, with a special focus on the links between art and social history, including … More details …
Reading Cold Comfort Farm, a journey around the fads & fancies of 1932
Stella Gibbons attributed much of her novel’s success to ‘coming at exactly the right time.’ We’ll trace the history of ‘loam and lovechild’ novels as we read her parody.
More details ...Caravaggio and his legacy
One of the masters of the Baroque, Caravaggio redefined the visual image and changed painting forever. His legacy will be examined through the work of many different painters from the Baroque to the present day – the day’s key word … More details …
‘A Man who used to notice such things’: the poetry of Thomas Hardy
Concentrating on Claire Tomalin’s selection (Poems of Thomas Hardy) we shall consider the themes into which Hardy’s poems are grouped and discuss individual poems in more detail.
More details ...Period Instrument Performance (3)
Original instruments make their way into “modern” music. The influence of the past on the present is seen in Stravinsky, Schoenberg and composers such as Pärt and Tavener, leading to synthesis and the way forward in the 21st century.
More details ...The Brontës
This course will study a range of novels by the three Brontë sisters, who wrote some of the most popular novels to emerge in the 19th century and which have had an enduring appeal to the present day.
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