Love to learn with the WEA

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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Literature: Reading and Enjoying Great Writers

Calling all readers who have always wanted to read classic literary fiction, but don’t have time. We will probe, praise, parody, and generally know a lot more about great books. The course will remove the fear factor for participants who may have been hesitant to attack thick volumes of great literature. The sessions will enable students to decide what they like, and what writers they are less in tune with. Sessions that will be fun, intriguing, and informative. We will explore fascinating questions, such as: • What is Realism? • What is Magical Realism? • Why did Mantel win two Booker prizes? This course welcomes all those who are curious and enjoy reading.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 08/05/2024 -
Wed 15/05/2024
Times:
9:30am - 11:30am
Duration:
2 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Vanwy Arif
Course code:
Q00014369
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
8 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £14.80

History: Spirit of the North – Nordic Romantic Art

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the Nordic art movement of National Romanticism. The course will give a contextual historical background to the art and look at the art and artists of 19th century Scandinavia. In Northern Europe landscape painting has a powerful hold on our visual culture and especially in Scandinavia, where far northerly folk have found a kinship with nature to be indispensable. Nordic art is a little known treasure trove of stunning images of the Northern landscape and the country people. We will look in particular depth at the artistic developments in Norway.

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 20/05/2024 -
Mon 22/07/2024
Times:
11:45am - 1:45pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Tim Stimson
Course code:
Q00014355
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
6 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

Literature: The Literature of the Harlem Renaissance - An Introduction

The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of Black American culture running from around the period 1919-1939 in Harlem and other Black communities. Its influence continues today and is global. Whilst all aspects of the arts and intellectual activity flourished during this period, we will focus on its literature and the debates that arose from it. How were Black people to portray themselves after centuries of misrepresentation? What purpose was literature to fulfil for Black communities? How much were the writings of the Harlem Renaissance to be evaluated as a separate movement? How much were they to be integrated with the literature of the dominant White culture? Together, we will be discussing these and other aspects of this fascinating and radical movement.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 22/05/2024 -
Wed 12/06/2024
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Clare Jackson
Course code:
Q00014844
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.60

Creative Writing: Explore Your Writing

This five week series of workshops will explore your creativity. We will concentrate on writing drawn from personal experience, writing poems and short stories. Each session will concentrate on one specific aspect of inspiration and technique, and at the conclusion of each session students will have created enough material to be in a position to write the first draft of a piece of prose or a poem. We will explore how to develop personal experience and transform it into writing. We will also explore narrative shapes of the short story: causative situations, rising action, climax and denouement versus alternative strategies, plot construction: how to build convincing narratives. We will discover characterisation, how to develop psychologies for your evolving characters and traditional and contemporary techniques for poems. Each workshop will be self-contained but taken together will establish the main elements of writing short stories.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 06/08/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
8 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Stephen Smith
Course code:
Q00014816
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00