From Power to Prodigy House: the country house in Tudor England
This study day will survey the development of the country house in Tudor England. We will begin with discussion of “power houses” including Sutton Place and Hampton Court, with consideration of their architectural features as well as their internal fixtures. … More details …
‘Life after Life’ by Kate Atkinson – the shaping of history in fictional worlds
This was Kate Atkinson’s ninth novel. A tricky narrative, playing games with story and reader. Is it a family saga? Is it a historical novel? A war novel? Do we need to categorise a work of fiction? As well as … More details …
Shakespeare and History: the real Wars of the Roses
Shakespeare’s earliest plays deal with the most turbulent period in English history, from the loss of France through to the Battle of Bosworth. Along the way he addresses the burning of Joan of Arc, the murder of a king, and … More details …
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Four
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list in case of any cancellations. Charles Rennie Mackintosh is now lauded as Scotland’s greatest modern architect but sadly his potential … More details …
The Romanov Tsars – Power and Conflict in Tsarist Russia
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you wish to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations. In this course we will be covering: The origins of Russia and the Romanov Dynasty and the reigns … More details …
It’s a sensation!
Sensation fiction was an instant commercial success and took the literary world by storm in the 1860s. With scandalous protagonists and thrilling plots, sensation fiction captured the imagination of readers and outraged many critics. We will consider Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s … More details …
Reading Dr Zhivago – seeing history through a fictional world?
We will be discussing the unabridged version of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. There are several translations. The three main ones are: Max Hayward and Manya Harari; Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, and the most recent, by Nicolas Pasternak Slater. … More details …
The English Country House, 1600 – 1918
This survey will adopt a chronological approach as we study the changing architectural design and role that the country house played in English culture. Our first session will feature Jacobean properties such as Chastleton House; our second session will examine … More details …
From Seed to Fork
This is a day school in two halves. In the morning we explore the extraordinary 450 million-year evolution of plants and the inventive ways they solved the many problems arising from the move on to dry land – gravity, nutrition, … More details …
Poems for Christmas
Poets have approached the theme of Christmas from so many different perspectives, reflecting a wide variety of beliefs. We will read poems about the Annunciation from the Middle Ages, and the birth of Christ, from poets as diverse as Thomas … 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 …
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 …
The Pre-Raphaelite Dream – Explore the Victorian avant garde.
Explore the Victorian avant garde. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in 1848, and we will focus on its core members: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt. These artists were notorious for their painting style and their … More details …
Everything stops for Tea! A Social History of Drinking Tea
It was during the 18th century that the rituals of tea drinking were established. William Hogarth’s famous conservation pieces, recording upper middle-class life, often focused on tea drinking. In the Victorian era it was J.J. Tissot who captured the nuances … More details …
Introduction to the Arts and Crafts Movement
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations. This course will look at the origins and philosophies of the Arts and Crafts Movement, examining its … More details …