Adult Courses

On this course, you will look beyond the superficial attractiveness of the enduring and ubiquitous Georgian architectural style. The significance of the Italian Renaissance and The Grand Tour will be assessed and you will explore the Italian origins of the Georgian style and its subsequent evolution. You will encounter the protagonists and discover many architectural triumphs and a few failures too. Most...

If you enjoy visiting churches and would like to know more about their architecture and art, then this is the course for you. During the week, you will explore the art and architecture that marks the divisions of time and space. You will cover the elaborate portals of the 12th century Renaissance, medieval ideas about Earth, the edge of space and the...

In 1989, Fukuyama's 'The End of History' claimed that Western liberal democracy had vanquished her fascist and communist rivals and was destined to conquer the rest of the world. Today, liberalism is being challenged worldwide, democracy is sliding into populism and divisive nationalism has returned. This course will examine the history and evolution of liberal democracy, discuss its strengths, weaknesses and contradictions and...

'Crusade' is one of the most loaded, used and misused historical terms. From the initial armed pilgrimage between 1095 and 1099 to the subsequently cancelled anti-litter crusade of Belfast in 2017, it has proved itself extraordinarily adaptable. In its sociopolitical sense, the term carries special relevance in our vexed world and it is frequently employed, and often anachronistically, to explain any...

This course explores aspects of Britain's domestic, political, social and cultural history during this conflict. Topics covered include attitudes towards and preparations for war from 1933 to 1939, life on the Home Front during the opening months and reactions to and consequences of air attack. Also considered are the reordering of the economy, the rapidly increasing workforce, especially in terms of women and...

This course will explore the many interlinked contexts that enabled the great flourishing of the visual arts to the north and south of the Alps and on the Iberian Peninsula. Stretching across almost six centuries, you will look at the various centresof patronage and production, the formation of facilitating institutions and the creation of a flourishing art market. The role of...

The life and writings of J.S. Mill (1806 to 1873) are full of interest in their own right and for the insight they give us into the world of the Victorians. One aim of this course will be to outline the key moments of his life and to provide a context for the development of his ideas, which ranged over politics, economics,...

Beginning with an overview of the American polity, this course examines a variety of controversial political, social and economic issues that have significant societal impacts in the age of the Donald J. Trump presidency. These range from domestic matters like the social issues forming part of the 'culture wars' between the liberal and conservative views of America, such as abortion, gay rights...

Have you ever wondered what philosophy is and how to do it? This course offers you the chance to explore five subjects from a philosophical angle and find out how to look at other subjects in the same way. The subjects will be art, religion, morality, history and identity. The tutor will ask you questions such as, what makes a work...

This popular course returns with fresh cases for your consideration. Each day, you will be looking at a real life murder or suspected murder which occurred in England between 1900 and 1975, and you the jury will consider the evidence, reach your own verdict, then decide whether or not justice was well served by the historical outcome. The cases have all...

This is the last in a series of courses, which began back in 2014 with a detailed study of the causes and first year of the Great War. In each subsequent year, the war has been studied in its centenary year and now things are brought to a close with an examination of the peacemaking process, assessing its problems, achievements and failures....

The period either side of 1800, so crucial in political and economic history, was also exceptionally important culturally. The Romantic Movementhas done an enormous amount to influence and shape all manner of behaviour from wars of national liberation to cottage holidays in the Lake District. This course seeks to explain the varied and radical priorities ofthe marvellous and often, more or less,...