History
NEW Women Geniuses in World History
Traditionally, the names associated with the word ‘genius’ belong to men. This class focuses on women in the arts and sciences whose legacies changed the world – such as the first recorded author Enheduanna (c. 2300 BCE) and the chemist Rosalind Franklin, who discovered the structure of DNA.
Tuesday 1pm to 3pm Philippa Winkler
10 sessions from 20 September £140/£84 HPW1 Stoke Lodge
NEW International Relations, Theory and Practice
Which theory/theories best explain the practice of US and UK foreign policy? This course evaluates international relations in the 21st century via the lenses of realism, liberalism, constructivism, Marxism (political economy) and feminism.
Tuesday 1pm to 3pm Philippa Winkler
10 sessions from 10 January £140/£84 HPW2 Stoke Lodge
NEW Middle East Politics
This course is an introduction to the politics of the Middle East. Topics include: how the ‘oil factor’ has led to both vast wealth and humanitarian disasters, how wars and shifting regional alliances impact the global balance of power.
Tuesday 1pm to 3pm Philippa Winkler
5 sessions from 18 April £70/£42 HPW3 Stoke Lodge
Black History Month Lecture
NEW The Slave-Ship Hannibal and all who Sailed on Her: From Brecon to Barbados and beyond.
This is the incredible story of a Welsh slave-ship captain, and his crew of 70, who sailed to West Africa in 1693. Their orders were to purchase, gold, ivory and 700 enslaved African people. Of the near 800 people who were forced to make the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados, only a few hundred survived. Rosemary Caldicott’s latest research, undertaken from newly discovered documents at the National Archives, reveals what happened to all who sailed on the Hannibal, along with the fate of the ship, later discovered in South America.
Thursday 2pm to 4pm Rosemary Caldicott
1 session on 13 October £16/£12 HRCA Stoke Lodge
American History
The Vanishing Frontier: America Heads West
An overview of American history from the spread west of the original eastern colonies, to the final settlement of the continental US. The course will include the interaction of the ‘new’ Americans with the Native Americans, the increase of settlement after the Civil War, and the implications of the end of the ‘frontier.’
Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm Russell Walker
10 sessions from 10 January £140 / £84 HAH2 Online
This course will be delivered online using ZOOM
The Turbulent 60s in America
An overview of this turbulent and dynamic decade, from an American perspective (but England will come into it a bit). Culture, war, politics and protest. From the wonders of space exploration to the event of Woodstock. Ten years in ten days.
Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm Russell Walker
10 sessions from 18 April £140 / £84 HAH3 Online
This course will be delivered online using ZOOM
NEW Oligarchy in the US
An overview of the efforts by the modern Republican Party and the extreme right to create a non-representative government in the United States and the historical lead up to this effort and the breakdown of bipartisan politics.
Saturday 10am to 4pm Russell Walker
1 session on 12 November £42/£26 HAH4 Stoke Lodge
Ancient Greek and Roman History
NEW Ancient Historians
An introduction to the ten key historians of the ancient world, from Herodotus to Tacitus.
Wednesday 10am to 12pm Richard Stride
10 sessions from 11 January £140/£84 HIR1 Stoke Lodge
NEW The Persian Wars
Ancient Greek history 490 BC to 479 BC. The battle of Marathon, the 300 Spartans, Xerxes, the destruction of Athens – it’s all here! This study of what is arguably the most important period in Western history is an extraordinary tale full of intrigue, bravery, and twists and turns.
Tuesday 1pm to 3pm Richard Stride
6 sessions from 24 January £84/£52 HIR2 Stoke Lodge
English History
NEW ‘The Cousins’ War’ – 15th century English History
The story of the colourful period known as the ‘Wars of the Roses’ and an introduction to some of the main characters involved.
Tuesday 10am to 12pm Richard Stride
10 sessions from 27 September £140/£84 HIR3 Stoke Lodge
NEW History of England 1603-1649 (the early Stuarts)
Step into the extraordinary world of the Stuarts! This course will look at the colourful life and times of James I to see if he really was the ‘wisest fool in Christendom’, and then move on to look at the reign of his son Charles as the nation slipped into civil unrest culminating in his execution. Plots, weddings, spies, more plots, exploration, fascinating characters and cunning intrigue … it’s all here.
Wednesday 10am to 12pm Richard Stride
10 sessions from 28 September £140/£84 HIR4 Stoke Lodge
NEW History of England 1649-1660
A study of the extraordinary period of the 1650’s when England experimented with a range of political systems whilst – accidentally – stepping onto the world stage by starting to create an empire. It will focus around a study of 17th century Puritans, and how they shaped our modern world. We will also follow the story of the young Charles II as he fled from England to live in exile.
Tuesday 10am to 12pm Richard Stride
10 sessions from 10 January £140/£84 HIR5 Stoke Lodge
Early Tudor England 1485-1547
The real story behind Wolf Hall, Henry VIII and his Six Wives, and much else, against a background of momentous change in both Church and State.A course about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and others.
Wednesdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
10 sessions from 28 September £140/ £84 HIJ1 Stoke Lodge
Later Tudor England 1547-1603
After Henry VIII’s death in 1547, the radical Protestantism under Edward VI was followed by Mary Tudor’s attempt to re-impose her Roman Catholic faith. Elizabeth’s accession in 1558 brought stability and ushered in a great age.
Wednesdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
10 sessions from 11 January £140/ £84 HIJ2 Stoke Lodge
British Political Mavericks, 1660-2018
From Lord Shaftesbury to Nye Bevan and Enoch Powell, we look at famous figures who have challenged the political establishment.
Thursdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
8 sessions from 20 April £112/ £68 HIJ3 Stoke Lodge
European History
Europe after Napoleon 1815-1870
This course looks at the post-1815 world, when Europe’s rulers and diplomats strove to damp down dynastic rivalries and revolutionary tendencies within states.
Thursdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
10 sessions from 29 September £140/£84 HIJ4 Stoke Lodge
The European Power Struggle 1870-1919
Continuing the story of Europe in the nineteenth century, we see how Bismarck in his later years sought to maintain a balance of power and how his successors, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, upset this through policies of naval and colonial expansion among other things. We also consider how France’s desire for “revenge” on Germany, Russian and Austrian uncertainties and the conflicting nationalisms of the Balkans contributed to bring about the cataclysm of 1914 -18.
Thursdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
10 sessions from 12 January £140/£84 HIJ5 Stoke Lodge
The European Reformation 1500-1650
A course about the reforming movements striving for supremacy with the Papacy and frequently with each other. The story of Luther, Calvin and others, of the Catholic Church’s attempts to reform itself from the inside and of the radical Protestant fringe.
Wednesdays 1pm to 3pm John Stevens
8 sessions from 19 April £112/£84 HIJ6 Stoke Lodge
The Spanish Civil War and its implications for Contemporary Spain
The course will examine the origins and consequences of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), for the understanding of contemporary Spain. Taking a historical approach, we will use films, documentaries, literature and history texts to illustrate the issues generated by the conflict, past and present.
Thursdays 12.45pm – 2.45pm Gorka Diaz
5 sessions from 12 January £70 / £42 LAS54 Stoke Lodge
Franco’s dictatorship and the transition to democracy
The course aims to explore and understand the nature of Franco’s dictatorship and how
the transition to democracy in Spain evolved.
Taking a historical approach, we will use films, documentaries, literature and history texts to illustrate the issues.
Thursdays 12.45pm – 2.45pm Gorka Diaz
5 sessions from 23 February £70 / £42 LAS55 Stoke Lodge
Russian History
NEW Russian History from the Rus to the Romanovs
This course will be a survey of Russian history from its beginnings in what was called the Kievan Rus, Novgorod in the north and the rise of Muscovy. It will conclude with the first World War and the Bolshevik Revolution.
Thursdays 7pm to 9pm Russell Walker
10 sessions from 22 September £140 / £84 HRH1 Online
This course will be delivered online using ZOOM
NEW Russian History from the rise of the Soviet Union to the Fall of the Wall
A survey of the rise of the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. It will focus on Lenin, Stalin and the Terror and the ‘Great Patriotic War,’ the post-war years of the Cold War and the eventual decline under Mikael Gorbachev.
Thursdays 7pm to 9pm Russell Walker
10 sessions from 12 January £140 / £84 HRH2 Online
This course will be delivered online using ZOOM
NEW Russian History from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present day
The final course covers the years since the Soviet Union fell, including the Yeltsin years of economic hardship, the rise of the Oligarchs and the emergence of Vladimir Putin
Thursdays 7pm to 9pm Russell Walker
10 sessions from 20 April £140 / £84 HRH3 Online
This course will be delivered online using ZOOM