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Our languages and culture courses span the length and breadth of England and Scotland, with the option to study online or in person at a time that suits you. Whether you’re looking to learn a new language and immerse yourself in another country, or you simply wish to indulge in your love and fascination of film, we have the course for you. 

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Our creative writing courses will nourish your inner writer, providing you with a platform to develop your love of poetry, non-fiction or script development. If literature courses are more your kind of thing, then you’re in luck too, as there are a wide range of topics to choose from.  

Literary greats and great periods in history

Our language courses offer you the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in a completely new culture, developing your skills so that you can speak confidently in countries right across the world. German, Italian and Greek are just a few examples of the language courses we have to offer, with many others taking place throughout the year.  

As you’d expect, literary greats such as Agatha Christie and Shakespeare feature regularly. There’s also the option to examine other time periods in English literature too, helping you develop your critical reading and analysis skills - perfect whether you’re a beginner or more experienced in the subject.  

If you prefer history then you’ve got a choice too, from courses on subjects you’d expect such as the first world war, or art history and studying the works of iconic painters such as Salvador Dali. 

Support and guidance

Whatever course you choose, you'll learn in a supportive environment where the class sizes are small, ensuring you get the attention you deserve, with an experienced and qualified tutor on-hand to guide you through your learning too.  

A lot of our cultural learning is delivered by our branch network: learn more here.

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Art Appreciation: The Destruction of Art by artists, institutions, and conflicts

This course explores the destruction of art which has been going on for centuries whether through natural disasters, censorship, political ideology, war, and conflicts. Artists have been destroying their work out of jealousy or frustration to save their reputations or their legacies for generations. Contemporary artists even destroy art as part of their artistic practices, installations, or performances. Whilst activists are prepared to vandalise artworks to get their voices heard on issues they are passionate about. And governments waging wars deliberate target artworks to destroy the enemy’s culture. Are artworks destined to be destroyed whether through practice, protest, or conflict?

Course Information

Dates:
Sun 08/12/2024 -
Sun 08/12/2024
Times:
10:00am - 1:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Jolanta Jagiello
Course code:
Q00017293
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
8 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £11.10

Art Appreciation: Caravaggio, the Caravaggisti, and Baroque Art

Caravaggio’s life was as intense and significant as it was short. By the time of his untimely death at 38 years old, in 1610, he had ushered in a new aesthetic in painting, and was quickly followed by many, all over Europe. In this session, you will learn about the life and art of Caravaggio. You will also learn about Baroque art and its main features. To do so, we will not only study the works painted by Caravaggio, we will also study his followers’ works. The Italians Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, the Naples-based Spaniard Ribera, the Flemish Rubens, the Dutch Rembrandt, and the French Georges de la Tour are some of the most famous painters influenced by Caravaggio.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 10/12/2024 -
Tue 10/12/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 5:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Caroline Levisse
Course code:
Q00019198
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
0 places remaining
Status:
Waiting list
Fee range
Free to £11.10

Art Appreciation: Art and Faith

Are you fascinated by art and how it developed, and would like to know more? Humans have always expressed their spirituality through art, from the earliest cave drawings to contemporary installations in cathedrals. This course concentrates on how European art has depicted the Christian faith, but also looks at the art of Islam and the Indian art of Buddhism and Hinduism. Beginning with cave art around the world, we look at some of the earliest artistic expressions of humanity’s search for the beyond. Buddhist and Hindu art from the centuries before Christ is discussed, as is art from the earliest roots of Islam from the seventh century onwards.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 06/01/2025 -
Mon 10/02/2025
Times:
11:00am - 12:30pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
David Brindley
Course code:
Q00009346
How you'll learn:
Online
Status:
Waiting list
Fee range
Free to £55.50

Beginners Spanish

Want to take on a new challenge and learn a new language? Like to holiday in Spain or Spanish speaking countries or just want a new hobby, then this is the course for you. This is the introductory course which will run for 6 weeks, if you would like to carry on with your classes then the full 12 week course will be following this one. The course will be run by a fully qualified tutor who has experience teaching Spanish online. The course will be 6 weeks long to give you enough time to enjoy your taster and get ready for the full course that follows. Start your journey to speaking Spanish today!

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 07/01/2025 -
Tue 11/02/2025
Times:
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Andrea Ostapski
Course code:
Q00019150
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £44.40

WEA Membership

For just £15 a year, you can:

  • Join our popular, award-winning weekly lecture series,
  • Access an archive of over 100 past lectures,
  • Get priority online and phone booking for autumn courses (England only),
  • Receive our Highway magazine and access back issues,
  • Attend our members’ annual conference.

Just add us to your basket to sign up today!

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

Creative Writing: Body and Earth

This friendly creative writing course will invite you to enter into relationship with your bodies and surroundings. The session will be held in a supportive way and will integrate some simple meditation (adaptable to all bodies), prompts for creative and reflective expression through writing, and even some environmental science! You will be guided to a holistic understanding of person and place. This course is ideal for people who like to write and to contemplate how to live more skilfully as individuals, as a community and in relationship with their surroundings. There will be time for sharing small parts of your writing towards the end of the workshop but no pressure, it’s about an unfolding individual/shared creative process and participants need to feel at ease to write freely.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 07/01/2025 -
Tue 18/03/2025
Times:
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Ione Harris
Course code:
Q00019161
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

Art Appreciation: Vincent van Gogh – A short career of enormous significance

In this course, we will focus on an extraordinary artist, well-loved from today’s public: Vincent van Gogh. You will learn about his Dutch origins, his interests and friendships while in Paris, the dreams he nurtured in Arles, and, his last months in Auvers-sur-Oise. As we study the main phases in his life, we will study key examples of his paintings and drawings to better understand his artistic identity. What was the purpose of painting for him? Why did he paint with bright colours and thick brushstrokes? We will seek to understand van Gogh’s art not simply in light of his own mindset, but also in light of the wider cultural context he was part of.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 07/01/2025 -
Tue 28/01/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Caroline Levisse
Course code:
Q00019205
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Creative Writing: Creative Writing Workshop – Fiction, Poetry and Memoirs

This course will cover all forms of writing – fiction, including novels, short stories and plays, also poetry and autobiography and memoirs. The aim is to help develop and channel your writing ability, whether as a hobby or for publication with discussion of many aspects of writing, projects and readings of your work in a constructive and friendly setting. The emphasis is on individual development. For improvers and beginners, who are welcome. All that is needed is an int.erest in developing and enjoying your writing skills

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 08/01/2025 -
Wed 12/03/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Stella Stocker
Course code:
Q00018502
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

Intermediate Spanish

Ready to take your Spanish language skills to the next level? If you have completed a previous beginners course then this is the next step in your journey to fluency. Like to holiday in Spain or Spanish speaking countries or just want a new hobby, then this is the course for you. This is the introductory course which will run for 6 weeks, if you would like to carry on with your classes then the full 12 week course will be following this one. This can be used as a continuing course after the prior beginners course or feel free to join at this stage.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 08/01/2025 -
Wed 12/02/2025
Times:
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Andrea Ostapski
Course code:
Q00019153
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £44.40

Literature: Gissing and Zola – further studies in 19th century naturalist fiction

This course will look at a range of novels by late 19th century naturalist writers George Gissing and Emile Zola. Zola is seen as the leading exponent of French naturalist fiction and Gissing is often classified as an English naturalist writer. Naturalism is a literary genre that considers human character as being determined by environment, social conditions and evolution. Naturalism is similar to realism in that both genres focus on social commentary, they reject romanticism, but naturalism emphasises scientific objectivism. The novels we will study are Zola’s: The Earth (1887); La Bête Humaine (1890); L’Assommoir (1877) and Gissing’s: The Odd Women (1893); The Nether World (1889); The Whirlpool (1897).

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 09/01/2025 -
Thu 03/04/2025
Times:
3:00pm - 5:00pm
Duration:
13 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Greta Depledge
Course code:
Q00017844
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £81.60

Art Appreciation: British Modern Art from the Newlyn School to the Festival of Britain

In this course, we will focus on a century of artistic creation in Britain. From the artists in Cornwall to the war artists during the Second World War, we will study a varied mix of artists and art movements. We will proceed chronologically, but will keep in mind several transversal themes, especially that of the dialogue with artistic centres abroad, such as Paris and New York. Doing so, we will wonder whether modern British art followed a similar path as elsewhere or if some singular traits can be identified.

Course Information

Dates:
Fri 10/01/2025 -
Fri 04/04/2025
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
12 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Caroline Levisse
Course code:
Q00017980
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £88.80