Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors 1485 -1603
In this course we will explore the dramatic clashes which peppered Tudor England, including dynastic challenges and violent social, economic and religious rebellions. We will investigate the evolving relationship between the monarchy, nobility, and people of England, and how disorder … More details …
Emile Galle and Louis Majorelle: Masters of French Art Nouveau
2026 marks the centenary of the death of the designer Louis Majorelle who collaborated with Emile Galle, famed for his glass, in launching L’Ecole de Nancy. Nancy, capital of Lorraine, was transformed into a Ville d’Art as houses, banks, shops and restaurants in … More details …
Early Dickens – Sketches by Boz
Sketches by Boz were the first published sketches by Charles Dickens. This course will look at a range of these sketches over three weeks and consider what themes are raised, discuss them in the wider context of the Dickens canon and … More details …
Origins of Us: Why we think how we do
Have you ever wondered why we think in the way we do? This course aims to trace the changes in ideas, culture and mental patterning that have marked our journey from the Stone Age to the Age of AI. We’ll … More details …
More Chekhov Short Stories
Chekhov wrote and sold short stories and vignettes of Russian life from 1880 to 1903, the year before his death from tuberculosis aged forty-four. During those twenty-three years, while he was also studying and practicing medicine, he produced at least … More details …
More Trolloping – Orley Farm
This stand-alone novel, Orley Farm, by prolific nineteenth-century novelist Anthony Trollope is a tale of family relationships, inheritance and suspected property fraud. It provides us with a window into Victorian society and the ideas that underpinned it.
More details ...Vikram Seth’s The Golden Gate
Vikram Seth is the global bestselling author of A Suitable Boy and An Equal Music. His first novel is an unrivalled triumph of both imagination and craft: an eloquent, thrilling soap opera set in 1980s San Francisco, featuring a politicised … More details …
Diego and Frida
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the iconic Mexican artists whose passionate, volatile yet enduring relationship created numerous great works of art. They shared a deep artistic and political bond which helped create some of the most iconic paintings of the … More details …
Neo-classicism: Art in the age of revolution & Napoleon
This short course uses paintings, prints and architecture to shed light on the exciting and colourful period around the time of the French revolution. At the time of the French revolution and Napoleon there was also a revolution in the … More details …
Making Paradise on the French Riviera
“The French Riviera is the playground of the rich, the famous, and those who appreciate the finer things in life.” Monet, Renoir, and Cézanne were attracted from the 1870s onwards by the scenery and the light of the French Riviera. … More details …
The Sound of Many Waters
The Sound of Many Waters explores how composers have been drawn to water in all its forms: crashing seas, flowing rivers, quiet lakes and moments of deep stillness. Drawing on great works of European and American classical music, the day … More details …
Why do we never have time?
We constantly save time but never have any. We’re the masters of our destiny yet strangely powerless. We live an era of connection, but we’re lonely. Why? A sociological deep-dive into the world’s biggest questions. This is going to be … More details …
Discussing four stories from The Penguin Book of the British Short Story, Volume 1
Many of the Nineteenth Century writers we now consider classic novelists were regularly producing short fiction. We’ll discuss how these suit reading tastes today, as well as considering a little of the recent history of short fiction. The earliest of … More details …
Still Rocking After All These Years: The Music That Shaped a Generation
Join acclaimed music leader Ben England BEM for a rich and engaging day exploring the rise of rock music and its extraordinary cultural impact. Still Rocking After All These Years: The Music That Shaped a Generation traces the journey from the … More details …
Shakespeare: Life and Works
Explore Shakespeare via his life, poems and plays. There will be a case study of Hamlet—see “To be or not to be” performed in a variety of films. We will also consider the impact of Hollywood’s biographical revisions in Tom … More details …