Ann Radcliffe to Jane Austen – Female Gothic and Literary Homage
This six week course will provide the opportunity of bringing together two novels that are connected in the minds of many readers. Jane Austen’s heroine, Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, is very fond of reading gothic novels and one novel … More details …
Tragedy and Triumph : The Story of Polar Exploration
Few stories in exploration are as fascinating as the early attempts to find a way through the North-West Passage and the expeditions to be first at the North and South Poles. In the most hostile environments on earth, men perished, … More details …
From Tsar to Soviets 1917-1922
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations. In this course we will explore the February revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government and Dual Power, … More details …
The Virgin and The Gypsy, Vile Bodies &, Mapp & Lucia – Portraits of the nineteen twenties?
Do these novels by DH Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and EF Benson seem an eclectic selection? They’re three titles you might have bought in the years 1930 and 1931. Are they still relevant today? What kind of reader would you be? … More details …
The Natural World: owls and birdsong
Part 1 Owls: Their natural history and conservation. This 3 week course looks at Owls with British focus, as we look at their evolution, special adaptations, habitats, and individual species breakdown. We will also look at conservation of Owls. After … More details …
Art and architecture along the Silk Road
This course will take us on a journey in the footsteps of the merchants who travelled the Silk Road, studying some of the sites they would have seen in the first millenium when mercantile activity was at its height. We … More details …
Did the Berlin Wall Ever Fall
A blow-by-blow account of the most radical, unexpected and peaceful example of regime change ever witnessed, through the lens of contemporary images, videos and texts. We will consider how brave people brought down an oppressive government that, even months before … More details …
Shadow Appliqué
Shadow Appliqué is a stylised appliqué technique and is also known as Shadow Quilting. The subject matter is usually flora and/or fauna based. The ‘shadow’ is created when the appliqué is covered with a layer of translucent fabric so that … More details …
Great Spanish Masters: El Greco, Velázquez, Goya
El Greco was born in Crete, but later painted in Italy and then Madrid and Toledo. His highly dramatic and expressionistic art was not appreciated in his own time, but much regarded in later centuries. His altarpieces and religious themes … More details …
Robert and Clara Schumann
It’s one of the greatest love stories in western classical music – Robert and Clara Schumann. But how did this archetypal romantic relationship contribute to the musical developments and intentions of the nineteenth century? During the day we’ll explore the … More details …
Modern Scottish Poetry
In this course we will explore the range of locations and contexts that have inspired the rich tradition of poetry in Scotland. From the islands of Orkney to urban Edinburgh and Glasgow, both male and female poets from very diverse … More details …
Paris 1925: The Birth of Art Deco and Modernism
A thoroughly French affair, the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale Des Arts Decoratifs et Industrials Moderne was dominated by the foremost designers Rene Lalique for glass, Edgar Brandt for metalwork, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann for furniture and Jean Dunand for lacquer work. With … More details …
Reading Paintings
Explore the links between art and literature, from the Mona Lisa to The Lady of Shalott. We will begin by reading a single painting in detail, William Holman Hunt’s The Awakening Conscience (1853). We then broaden our focus to other … More details …