Three Thomases: politics, faith and power in the Tudor court
This course will focus on the lives of three men with immense power in 16th century England which has been retained in their legacies and memories through the centuries. Thomas Wolsey, the Alter Rex; Thomas More, canonised by the Catholic Church … More details …
Doris Hatt and Evelyn Dunbar
Doris Hatt spent most of her life in Clevedon. A fine artist who kept apart from the establishment, she engaged with European Modernism and the use of strong colour. Her life story is equally fascinating including her politics, life partner … More details …
Religion and Ritual in Ancient Rome
We shall be looking at Roman state religion, including the Olympian gods “imported” from the Greeks and also the “home-grown” deities with the rituals and ceremonies enacted by the Romans to both honour and placate their gods. If time permits, … More details …
The Architecture of the Country House
No other country has such a variety of country houses, from the Tudor splendour of Montacute to the Baroque grandeur of Blenheim Palace. But their design can often be baffling. Why have such large houses so many interconnected rooms and … More details …
Fascist art and architecture in Europe: exponents and opponents
A study day that will weave together the story of Fascist art and architecture in Italy, Germany and Spain in the first half of the 20th century. We will examine examples of architecture, sculpture, poster art and paintings and will … 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 …
Elizabeth Gaskell
This course will study two novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell was a hugely successful and popular nineteenth-century novelist who used her fiction to explore issues surrounding industrialisation, Chartism, the condition of England, position of women, class barriers and prejudice and … More details …
Poetry Matters
In 2002 Neil Astley of Bloodaxe Books published Staying Alive, the first in a series of international poetry anthologies, giving it the subtitle ‘real poems for unreal times’. With 500 poems to choose from, this makes an excellent source for … More details …
Republicanism, Civil War and Francoism in Spain
This course will focus on Spain in the years 1930–45, a dramatic period for Spaniards which spanned years of democracy and dictatorship. We will cover the changing politics, culture and society of a nation that underwent the turbulence of the … More details …
Sylvia Townsend Warner: Writer, Feminist, Musicologist and Political Activist
This day course will look at Warner’s life, loves and affiliations. She was a writer of great imaginative scope and variety, encompassing fiction, poetry, journalism, biography and an excellent, still very readable, guidebook to Somerset (1946). We shall pay … More details …
Russia and its soviet borders
Russia has long been a mystery to outsiders. Straddling two continents with the longest land border of any country, Russia has by turn looked East, West and inwards. Raising more questions than answers. On this day course we will cover … More details …
Eric Ravilious: his art and life
The art of Eric Ravilious is increasingly popular. Subject of a new film “Drawn to War“, he produced beautiful and evocative landscapes of the England of the 1930s. His disappearance in 1942 adds to the legend. This is a repeat … More details …
Six Spanish Cities: their history, art & architecture
The six cities covered in this course are: Córdoba, Santiago de Compostela, Granada, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona. Using a variety of images, we will begin with a potted history of Spain. This will be followed by a survey of the … More details …
Naivety in the novel: discussing The Go-Between & Atonement
Starting with Hartley’s 1953 novel, then moving on to McEwan’s 2001 novel we’ll be thinking about the way society is presented and the way the story is told. In each session we will discuss our reactions to a section from … More details …
The Mature Larkin: The Whitsun Weddings (1964) and High Windows (1974)
This dayschool will focus on the two volumes that cemented Philip Larkin’s reputation as a poet whose work would continue to be read for years to come. Starting with the title poem from The Whitsun Weddings, we shall discuss how … More details …