Delve into history

Explore the events of the past, and how they’ve shaped the world we live in today. Immerse yourself in different eras, marvel at historic achievements, and examine how different things could have been.  

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All of our courses are designed to help develop your skills in historical research and analysis, encouraging you to look beyond the surface of key historical moments. From the history of King Arthur to World War I and II, you’ll develop a better understanding of key historic customs, beliefs, and ways of life.   

Whether you consider yourself a history buff with decades of experience, or someone just starting out that wants to learn more, you can choose from a wide selection of topics.   

Attend a WEA history course near you  

A variety of our history courses are taught in-person or are delivered online - it all depends on what suits your needs best. From the comfort of your own home to a space in your local community. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be taught by a talented tutor who is vastly experienced.   

The support you’ll receive on our history courses  

They'll help you develop an understanding that goes beyond just what's on the surface, all within a friendly and encouraging environment that ensures you attend each session with the excitement to learn.   

It’s our learning experience that sets us apart too, with many of those attending our courses going on to achieve incredible things. You’ll learn at a pace that’s comfortable for you too, with a friendly supportive tutor on hand to answer any questions you might have. 

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History: The Art of Norway - The Emergence of The Modern

This course will be following on from last terms introduction to the origins of Norwegian art in the early 19th Century where the politics & topography were addressed & the early pioneer painters established a way of painting the daunting but magnificent landscapes. Johannes Flintoe ,J C Dahl & Thomas Fearnley established a way of painting Norway based on German idealism whilst experimenting with open air painting.This term we will engage with the huge shift in art in Scandinavia due to the influence of French outdoor painting. Adolf Tidemand trained in the German school of synthetic & idealistic composition ,was followed by the pattern- breaking Hans Gude responsible for encouraging his students to study nature & paint more realistically.His pupil Frits Thaulow became a indomitable painter of snow .By the 1880s French outdoor painting was being taken up by the artists colony at Fleskum ,Christian Skredsvigs property outside Oslo.The leap into the 20th century & the modern finds Nikolai Astrup & Harald Sohlberg painting locations dear to their hearts in very individualistic ways
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 08/01/2024 -
Mon 11/03/2024
Times:
11:45am - 1:45pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Tutor:
Tim Stimson
Course code:
Q00012803
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £72.00

History: The Ottoman Empire - Fall 1876-1922

The last 50 years of the Ottoman Empire continues to drive current politics in Europe and the Middle East. In this course we consider the events, characters and forces that lead to its breakup including the modernisation attempts of the ‘Young Turk’ movement, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, The Great War (including the Arab Revolt, the Armenian Genocide and the Turkish War of Independence. We finish by considering the rise of the new secular state of Turkey and the legacy of the Ottomans.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 08/01/2024 -
Mon 18/03/2024
Times:
10:15am - 12:15pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Petts Wood Memorial Hall (Petts Wood)
200 Petts Wood Road
Petts Wood
BR5 1LA
Tutor:
Laurie Johnston
Course code:
Q00012091
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
1 place remaining
Status:
Waiting list
Fee range
Free to £84.00

History: Boom and Bust - The USA 1929-1940

This course is an introduction to the extreme economic changes that took place in the United States of American the period 1929 - 1940. The American economic boom of the 1920s came crashing down in October 1929 with the Stock Market Crash and, within a short time, had precipitated a worldwide economic depression. These were the desperate years of poverty and unemployment. It was a period of economic hardship that culminated in political change and the introduction of a radical new approach, the New Deal. Under Franklin D Roosevelt. No previous knowledge or experience of American history is necessary. Everyone is welcome to join this fascinating course!
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 08/01/2024 -
Mon 12/02/2024
Times:
10:30am - 12:30pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Friends Meeting House (Berkhamsted)
289 High Street
Berkhamsted
HP4 1AJ
Tutor:
Michael Long
Course code:
Q00012277
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.40

Art Appreciation: Henry and Elizabeth - The Tudor Spin Machine

Spin is not the province of modern politicians and image makers. The Tudors, particularly Henry V111 and Elizabeth, were immensely conscious of their historical status. Henry because his father’s claim to the throne was rather rocky and Henry Tudor had to lift the crown from his predecessor’s dead head to put it on his own. Elizabeth because of her own history, inextricably tied to her own father’s marital adventures which had riven the country and caused a break from Rome which echoed through the next two reigns. And people called her mother “The Great Whore” still. So she had a great deal to prove, since the only regnant queens before her - her own sister Mary, who had caused a religious bloodbath and the only previous example, Matilda, had fought a bitter civil war to achieve only being able to be the Regent to her son.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 08/01/2024 -
Mon 05/02/2024
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Tutor:
Kate Phillips
Course code:
Q00010067
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
6 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

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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),
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Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
WEA Membership

History: 10 Foods Which Changed History

Find out on this course why our voracious appetite for foods such as spices, sugar and tea created a legacy that echoes to this day. Nowadays, we can all pop along to our local supermarket and find a whole wall of food and drink, And It’s hard to imagine that these foods helped build much of the machinery that runs the Western World. Before these foods were mass produced they were available just to the rich, and the rich wanted them. The appetite for Europeans to get access to these foods more easily and buy the foods at source acted as a spur to world exploration, colonialism and the world we know today.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 19/03/2024
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Tutor:
Kate Antoniou
Course code:
Q00012155
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

History: The Shape of Things to Come? British History from 1919-1939

Is the reputation of the interwar period as one of a grim period of mass unemployment and the ‘guilty men’ who failed to prepare adequately for the second world war deserved? This period sees Britain struggling to come to terms with the economic realities of the post war world. Domestically the Government faces the challenges posed by the General Strike, increased unemployment and the depression. Internationally the rise of extremist regimes causes problems for governments in Britain determined at all costs to avoid the carnage of a further war. How did people see things at the time, how much leeway did the government have in its decisions and is the common perception of the period as ‘grim’ accurate? Join the class to find out more.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 19/03/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Tutor:
Kate Antoniou
Course code:
Q00012156
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
1 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

History: Intermediate- The Viking Age

This course follows on from 'The British Dark Ages' of the autumn term but is also very much open to learners who have not completed the previous course. The Vikings were the terror of western Europe in the 9th Century and remain one of the most striking, fascinating and enduring topics in history. We will examine how Anglo-Saxon England almost collapsed under the weight of the Viking threat; making a detailed exploration of the life and times of Anglo-Saxon England and the other realms of the British Isles as the Mercian hegemony was lost and as they faced the merciless onslaught of the Vikings.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 26/03/2024
Times:
11:45am - 1:45pm
Duration:
11 sessions
Tutor:
Gary Slator
Course code:
Q00012847
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
1 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £81.40

History: Spain - Kingdom, Republic, Dictatorship and Back Again 1900-1982

This course traces the huge events of the 20th century in Spain including the impacts of two world wars and the return of Spain to centre stage in world history with the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. We also look at Spain’s experience of the Second World War and the rule of Franco stretching in to the 1970s. Finally we consider how Spain dealt with the transition to democracy up to 1982.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 19/03/2024
Times:
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Laurie Johnston
Course code:
Q00012165
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
8 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £66.60

Archaeology: The Later Medieval Archaeology of England & Wales

This course of ten sessions looking at the archaeology of England and Wales from the arrival of the Normans to the Reformation. The topics covered will include the Norman conquest and castles, manorial estates, town life and industry, church and monastery and the archaeology of trade and with such a large subject coverege, it is hoped the course will spark further learning outside the course in the learners' communities and perhaps to lead to better understanding of their communities and their place in it.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 19/03/2024
Times:
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Tutor:
Michael Nevell
Course code:
Q00010935
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

History: China, Korea and Japan from Ming to the Qing

In this course we will explore the cultural and political identities of China, Korea and Japan as well as their relationships with a specific emphasis on the way that ideas, practices and material culture – like tea drinking and porcelain – travelled across the region. We will gain a better understanding of the political and cultural relationship between China, Korea and Japan during a crucial period in their histories.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/01/2024 -
Tue 06/02/2024
Times:
10:45am - 12:45pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Tonbridge Methodist Church (Tonbridge)
Higham Lane
Tonbridge
TN10 4JG
Tutor:
Amy Miller
Course code:
Q00009758
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £42.00