Humanities
Co-ordinating Lecturer(s)
- Dr Nick Jones Tel/Ffôn: (029) 2087 6108 Email/Ebost: JonesN3@cardiff.ac.uk
We are very pleased to offer an exciting, vibrant and varied range of courses that are designed to suit all tastes. Discover the past, be inspired by Schubert, try your hand at creative writing or get enthused by philosophy. We are delighted to announce the return of English Literature courses to our programme this year, as well as an introductory course on modern journalism. All of our courses are taught by knowledgeable and expert tutors and take place in a friendly and supportive environment.
Humanities subjects are a vital part of our provision as they provide highly transferable employability skills and opportunities for academic progression. Some of our students take occasional classes as a leisure interest, but many progress to take graduate and postgraduate qualifications, to teach, or even to become professional writers or musicians! To help you to accumulate credit we offer the opportunity to gain a Foundation Certificate or Certificate in Higher Education. Please contact Dr Nick Jones (details above) to discuss your options. We always look forward to welcoming new students, so why not enrol on one or more of our courses right now?
Don’t forget our FREE course programme: Exploring the Past – free lectures.
How would you like to view our courses?
- View:
- ALL courses |
- UPCOMING courses only
Creative Writing and Media Courses
Creative writing
This course welcomes all who have an interest in the process of creative writing. The class comprises exercises, reading of texts, tutor-led discussion, and the sharing of student work. Genres covered include micro-fiction, the short story, the novel and poetry. Expect inspiration, an awareness of the craft, and enjoyment!!
Creative Writing at the Museum (I)
This course will enable you to go behind the scenes at the museum, exploring collections and exhibitions and to continue to improve your writing skills, producing dramatic monologues, poetry and prose pieces based on what you have seen. As well as reading and discussing the work of published writers, there will be workshop sessions where museum staff and curators talk about their work. This course is run in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, Cardiff.
Creative Writing at the Museum (II)
This course is designed around the galleries and exhibitions in the Museum. The course content is always new, so there is no requirement for you to have completed Creative Writing at the Museum I to enrol. Come along to improve your writing skills, produce dramatic monologues, poetry and prose pieces, and enjoy workshop sessions where museum staff and curators talk about their work. This course is run in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, Cardiff.
Creative Writing Workshop
This is a warm and lively class, suitable for both new and experienced writers. Emphasis is placed on exploration and experimentation, with the idea that each student learns about their own voice and exposes their own creative potential. Through sampling various written forms, from lists to letters, poetry to prose, fiction to memoir, students discover what feels natural and authentic, as well as extending what feels possible, to them as writers.
From Art and Images into Words
This course will use a range of fine art works from Chagall, Van Gogh to Salvador Dali to help inspire and stimulate your own creative writing. We will look at themes such as dreams, longing, conversations, family and journeys as a spur to writing and developing narrative stories, poems and memoir. There will be structured exercises and workshops and plenty of helpful and friendly encouragement and support.
Introduction to Modern Journalism
Designed for people who want to understand what they are being told by the media and why they are being told it, this course offers the opportunity to explore how news is chosen, shaped and presented. It also explores how elections and wars are reported, and considers social media and citizen journalism. Students will then be shown how to structure news and features, how to write them and finally how to establish a simple web platform to create their own blogs and newsletters.
Novel Writing Workshop
Guided by a professional author, this is a course for anyone who has a book currently in them that they’d prefer to see sitting in a bookshop. What are the components that make a novel unputdownable? How can you ensure that your readers are enthralled? Looking at all genres of contemporary full-length fiction, this course will take you right through the novel-writing process, as well as offering guidance in the all-important art of attracting an agent and/or publisher.
Reading and Writing Memoir and Autobiography
A course for anyone interested in how a person's writing of past experience can be as fascinating and compelling as the novel or short story. We will read extracts, discuss, share work, and do writing exercises aimed at generating an imaginative 'remembering' of the past. Skills and enjoyment!
Reading and Writing Poetry
This course adheres to the sound advice that if you want to write poetry you should read it. It is open to everyone who wants to have a close but open minded look at how poetry works and who would like to have a go at writing poems. Come and consider how and why words sing!
Scripting a Television Drama
In this course, an experienced scriptwriter for mainstream television will help you conceive, plan and script a television drama based on established techniques and professional criteria. Pre-enrolment is essential as places are limited.
Scriptwriting Workshop Online
This course offers personal, long distance tutorial support (via e-mail) to new and experienced writers who want to pursue a project of their own. The nature of the study will be tailored to the student's individual requirements. The course is primarily aimed at students writing for film and television who already have a script ready to work on. Enrolment in advance, accompanied by some brief autobiographical details and a short summary of your chosen project, is essential.
Telling Tales
Led by an experienced author, this is a course for anyone interested in developing and honing their fiction writing skills. Concentrating primarily, though not exclusively, on the short story form it is intended, through analysis, application and inspiration, to get you crafting truly compelling fiction. The course also includes advice on finding markets and getting published, and taking your passion for writing to the next level.
The Art and Ritual of Journal Writing
This course provides opportunity for students to explore the practice of journal writing as a means of recording and reflecting upon day-to-day experiences; creating a vivid and meaningful document for years to come; and developing creativity, insight and mindfulness. Students will be invited to experiment with a variety of journal-writing forms, using the material of their own lives, and will establish their own personalised and sustainable journal-writing practice.
Watching Reality – How Documentary Works
Documentary film has scandalised, informed and intrigued audiences for a hundred years. New forms such as faction, docu-soap and reality TV maintain its claim to show us the truth about life. From Current Affairs to Fly-on-the-wall, documentary claims to show us life as it really is but paradoxically it employs artifice and selection to shape the experience it purports to present.
Writing Cardiff
By researching local history archives, including newspapers, and studying the work of Cardiff writers, photographers and artists, this course will help you put together a collection of poems, short stories or dramatic monologues inspired by the city.
Writing from Experience I
Everyone has a story to tell and writing often comes from personal experience. Life encapsulates a rich source of memories and events. This course embraces themes such as childhood, family, work, dreams, journeys, love, tragedy, humour and obsession in its quest to develop aspects of creative non-fiction
Writing From Experience II
This course looks at themes that are relevant to our own personal experience, such as childhood, family, work, dreams, journeys, love, tragedy, humour and obsession. There will be plenty of helpful and friendly encouragement and support along the way. Although this course is chiefly designed as a follow on to Writing from Experience I, newcomers are always very welcome!
Writing the Body
Based in the anatomy department at Cardiff University School of Biosciences, this course will enable you to respond to medical images as well as the work of contemporary artists and writers with different approaches to representing the human body.
English Literature Courses
Introduction to the Victorian Novel
This course aims to introduce students to both the Victorian novel and its cultural, social, literary and historical contexts. The Victorian period was typified by great change (in many formats), and this course will map and examine these transformations in three novels. Special attention will be paid to genre and forms of production, identity, representation, race, gender, and social class. Students will engage in close reading and employ critical and theoretical approaches.
Twentieth-Century British and American Fiction
This course will examine a range of modernist literary texts from both Britain and America. We will consider modernism and its characteristics, trans-national and interdisciplinary modernist dialogue/s, and the social, political and theoretical contexts out of which the course texts - and literary modernism more generally - emerged. Students will read the set texts closely and engage with critical and contextual literature.
Historical Studies Courses
A History of Race and Genetics
This course, which chiefly approaches the topics of race and genetics from a historical perspective, also takes an interdisciplinary approach to include disciplines as diverse as philosophy, craniology and palaeoanthropology. Over the ten weeks the tutor will also discuss the topic of DNA and will explore the Out-Of-Africa theory in detail.
Al-Andalus: The Glory and Fall of Moorish Spain
Suitable for those with no previous knowledge of the subject, this course looks at the eight centuries of Moorish Spain. The three cultures - Christian, Islamic and Jewish - coexisted, fought and collaborated to spectacular effect, producing breath-taking advances in science, art and architecture, learning and the economy. This long-term example of constructive synergy is a model worthy of revisiting in our globalized, technological and increasingly secular world in which intolerance often rears its head.
An Introduction to Family and Community History
This course offers an introduction to the array of sources available to the aspiring family and community historian. It is aimed at those taking their first steps towards uncovering the history of their family or community, and will reveal how to employ a logical and structured approach to researching selected sources and presenting the results in a coherent and accessible form.
An Introduction to the History of South Wales, 1780-1945
The history of South Wales during this period is dominated by the issues of industrialisation and urbanisation, and politics and poverty. This course will explore these and other important topics, including migration, popular protest, religion, education, health, and expressions of culture and identity.
Art and Style in Garden Making
From Tudor times to the twentieth century great themes have dominated garden style: horticultural artifice in topiary and knots, intimacy and public display, private space and the park, entertainment and theatre, games, feasts and festivals. These recurrent elements will be studied across the centuries in their social context using the visual and written sources which record them.
At the Cutting Edge: Medieval Warfare and Weaponry
A series of lectures and interactive classes looking at the history of weapons and the art of death in the Middle Ages. The class will have an opportunity to try on armour and examine weaponry of the period, as well as investigating fashions, innovations and technological advances.
Dressing the Past: Costume and Status in the Medieval World
The Middle Ages in popular novels and films is a colourful place full of knights and ladies. This course will examine how the medieval world saw itself though illuminated manuscripts, art and literature. These sources will help us understand the importance of status as expressed through dress and many details of the physical and spiritual worlds as depicted in literature and art.
European Art of the 19th Century
This course offers an introduction to the major works of painting, graphic art and sculpture of the nineteenth century. Some of the topics and themes covered in the course include Romantic landscape painting, the pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the life and key works of artists such as J.M.W. Turner and Vincent Van Gogh.
French Impressionism: Art and Society
This course looks at the art of the French Impressionist painters, and how it documents patterns of urban change in the mid-nineteenth century. It will explore the changes occurring in Parisian life as represented in the work of painters such as Manet, Seurat, and Degas, and will seek to create a distinct and readable visual narrative that enhances our understanding of art and society in an age of modernity.
Further Steps in Family and Community History
This course is aimed at those who have already begun to research their family or community history, and wish to take their studies further. It will focus upon some of the more specialised sources that may be found in local archives, encouraging researchers to develop a logical and coherent approach to both gathering material and presenting the results of their research.
Living History!
This course looks at the interpretation of history through costumed re-enactment and archaeological experimentation. The classes will consist of lectures and class discussions examining the problems and benefits of discovering history through costume and experimentation. Classes will have the opportunity to handle and try on historical costume, weapons and armour.
Medieval Art and Architecture I
A course of lectures on medieval art and architecture as seen in parish churches and cathedrals. Discussion will focus on Durham, Ripon, Jarrow, Wells and Glastonbury. Further information can be found on our website.
Medieval Art and Architecture II
A course of lectures on medieval art and architecture as seen in parish churches and cathedrals. Discussion will focus on Escombe (Durham), Berkeley (Glos), Patrington (Yorks), Ludlow (Shrops) and Eardisley (Hereford).
Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales in Literature and Culture
The Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm are among the best known children’s stories. But they were not originally for children and the Brothers Grimm are only the best known of many collectors. This course looks at the history of the fairy tale and at the meanings of some of these fascinating stories and their role in modern culture.
The Archaeology of Jerusalem
An examination of the city of Jerusalem from its foundation up to the Byzantine period with particular emphasis on the biblical period, as revealed by archaeology. We will look at the city's location, at the city of David and Solomon, through to the time of Jesus, and beyond. The use of minutely detailed archaeological drawings will help us to walk the streets of the city in its different periods, and to participate in current debates.
The Art and Culture of Dubrovnik and the Venetian Cities of Dalmatia
This course will examine the rich legacy of Venetian art and culture across the Dalmatian coast in Croatia and Montenegro. This course will provide an introduction to this legacy by exploring the architecture, literature, sacred and secular art, and music in towns and cities such as Zadar, Split and Kotor, as well as those of the free Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik).
The Italians in Wales: from History to Cultural Memory
This course looks at the economic and social motives of Italian immigration to south Wales, and the resulting interaction between Welsh and Italians. It studies how Italians are represented in Anglo-Welsh literature, and at the significance of recent events and commemorations, as well as recent Welsh-Italian narratives to illustrate how Italian migration emerges from the realm of communicative memory into the realm of cultural memory.
The Kingdoms of Mother Africa
This course will introduce students to the ancient kingdoms of Africa - Egypt (KMT), Kush, Carthage, Mali, Songhay and Ghana - and consider how each of these kingdoms’ cultural, social and economic evolution and diffusion developed and shaped other societies both within and outside of Africa. The course will increase our understanding of Africa and Africans before the slave trade and the colonial era.
The Rise and Fall of the Moorish and Islamic Empire
This course explores the social, political and economic development of the Moors. It examines the origin and development of the word ‘Moor’, the African power structures before the rise of Islam in the 7th century, through to the decline of Moorish rule and the rise of the European nation states. The course will increase our knowledge about the civilisational expansion of the Moors and will help us to better understand how the growth in scientific inquiry gave birth to what we would now call the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.
The South Wales Miners 1947-95
This course charts the turbulent history of the south Wales miners in the later twentieth century, a period which saw the nationalisation of their industry in 1947, a sweeping closure programme in the 1960s, and major strikes in 1972, 1974 and 1984-5, after which their defeat heralded the effective demise of deep-mining in Wales.
The Spanish Civil War Online
Many mutually-antagonistic political currents erupted into the defining conflict of its era. A precursor to the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War sucked in individuals from across the world, including many from South Wales. It was to beggar and isolate Spain for a generation whilst emboldening Hitler and Mussolini. This on-line course tracks its causes, course and (continuing) consequences.
The Spanish Civil War: Causes, Course and Consequences
Many mutually-antagonistic political currents erupted into the defining conflict of its era. A precursor to the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War sucked in individuals from across the world, including many from South Wales. It was to beggar and isolate Spain for a generation whilst emboldening Hitler and Mussolini. This course tracks its causes, course and (continuing) consequences.
Music Courses
Arranging Music Workshop Online
This course offers personal, long distance tutorial support (usually via email) to new and more experienced arrangers of music who want to pursue a project of their own. The nature of the study will be tailored to the student's individual requirements. The course is primarily aimed at students who would like to arrange music from a range of genres for a combination of instruments and/or voices. Enrolment in advance, with a statement of your interests, is essential.
Chanting and Overtone Singing
Any tone that we make with our voice contains a series of hidden tones that we don't normally hear. Overtone chanting isolates these overtones to produce an often beautiful sound. This class explores many forms of chanting and teaches you the first stages of overtoning. No singing skills are required.
Composing Music Workshop Online
This course offers personal, long distance tutorial support (usually via email) to new and experienced composers who want to pursue a project of their own. The nature of the study will be tailored to the student's individual requirements. The course is primarily aimed at students writing in a contemporary Western art music classical style in an acoustic instrumental and/or vocal idiom. Enrolment in advance, accompanied by a statement of your interests, is essential.
Exploring 1960s Rock and Pop Music
The 1960s was a decade of profound social and cultural change, and rock and pop music played a significant role in shaping and defining this period. This course will chiefly consider the music of The Beatles but will also look at (among others) The Beach Boys, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. There will be detailed discussion of the music’s stylistic elements, including vocal style, form, melody and timbre.
Hitting the Right Notes! Sight-Reading for Singers
Having some ability to read notes on page is one thing, but ensuring that the right sounds come out of your mouth can be a problem for even the most experienced choral singers! In this course you will learn some of the useful tips and tricks that can make the difference between fishing around for the notes and hitting them first time. By the end of the course you should be able to spot important melodic shapes and intervals, giving you tools to help you tackle new pieces with confidence.
Jamming Styles 1 – The Blues
This course looks at a number of different approaches to playing the blues, as well as a number of variations on the blues, from the '3 chord trick' to more sophisticated structures. Emphasis will be on learning through performance in a supportive group environment. Whilst it would be advantageous to have attended last year’s Introduction to Playing Improvised Music I and II, this course would be suitable for a keen beginner.
Jamming Styles 2 – Modal Music
This course examines a number of classic modal tracks from jazz, folk and rock backgrounds and through performance, explores different options for arranging and improvising over modal material. Emphasis will be on learning through performance in a supportive group environment. Although designed as a follow on to Jamming Styles 1, this course would be suitable for any keen beginner.
Learning Music Theory (I): Grades 1-3
Would you like to improve your music reading skills? Do you play an instrument but need to improve your theory? Are you curious to know more about how music notation works? This course follows the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music theory syllabus closely, progressing gradually from Grades 1 to 3. Please see our website for information regarding course workbooks.
Learning Music Theory (II): Grades 4-5
This course is designed for students who have completed Learning Music Theory (I), or for those with some existing knowledge of music notation, who wish to progress to ABRSM Theory Grade 5. As with Part I, students who wish to do so can opt to enter themselves for an Associated Board theory grade exam in addition to the module credit they would receive for passing the course. Please see our website for information regarding course workbooks.
Practical Harmony Online
This course aims to give a practical understanding of harmony through online exercises and projects. The course links with the Learning Music Theory classes as well as the Composition and Arrangement online courses. Exercises and group discussions cover chord identification, key changes, part-writing and other ‘tricks of the trade’.
Romeo and Juliet: The Play, the Opera, the Musical and the Ballet
This course will examine ways in which Shakespeare’s seminal play has been adapted to different musical-theatrical genres, including Gounod’s 1867 opera Roméo et Juliette, Prokofiev’s eponymous ballet (1935) and Bernstein’s famous musical adaptation of the play in West Side Story (1957). These works will also provide an insight into the historical, ideological and aesthetic context of late-nineteenth century French opera, Russian ballet of the early twentieth century, and American musicals of the 1950s.
The Art and Culture of Dubrovnik and the Venetian Cities of Dalmatia
This course will examine the rich legacy of Venetian art and culture across the Dalmatian coast in Croatia and Montenegro. This course will provide an introduction to this legacy by exploring the architecture, literature, sacred and secular art, and music in towns and cities such as Zadar, Split and Kotor, as well as those of the free Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik).
The Life and Music of Franz Schubert
Schubert has always been regarded as one of the most important composers of the early Romantic period. This course provides an introduction to his life and music. Come along to hear and discuss some of the finest songs, piano works, chamber music and symphonies ever written!
Unknown Greats? The 'Division Two' of Music
A wide-ranging investigation of the lives and music of composers who (for whatever reason) seem never to have made it to the very top of the tree, but who nevertheless provide valuable insights into musical history as well as having written music of real quality. As one of them is reported to have said: "I might not be a first-rate composer, but I'm an exceedingly good second rater!"
World Music: an Introduction
This course will offer a survey of musical traditions from around the world, analysing the role of music in its social and cultural context. Drawing upon relevant analytical and theoretical approaches in ethnomusicology, students will be introduced to a wide range of musics exploring how they are conceptualised and performed. Students will also be introduced to the many ways in which music operates in its social/cultural contexts, examining issues such as identity, nationalism, religion, gender and class.
Philosophy Courses
Continuing Moral Philosophy
Can consequentialism survive its critics? Can Kantians successfully defend ethical rationalism? Or must morality be grounded in human sentiment? This course explores in greater depth themes introduced in Introducing Moral Philosophy, enabling students to consolidate, extend and deepen their understanding. The course focuses primarily on ethical theory in the western analytic tradition but may include complementary topics from moral psychology, metaethics and applied ethics. Students ideally should have taken Introducing Moral Philosophy or equivalent but no other knowledge of philosophy is assumed.
Exploring Existentialism
This course explores key existentialist concepts, such as freedom, responsibility, angst, marginalisation, the Absurd and the life of encounter. It will cover the philosophers Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir and Martin Buber. Come along and discuss what it is like to be human! No previous knowledge of philosophy will be assumed.
Introducing Moral Philosophy
What makes an action right? How should one live? What kind of person should one be? How are individual morality and social justice connected? This introductory course is for anyone who is intrigued by ethics and interested in moral issues. No prior knowledge of philosophy is required.
Philosophy - an introduction
Philosophy teaches us how to question the familiar, challenge the conventional, and better understand the world around us. Taking a historical approach, this course will introduce you to some of the main philosophers and schools of philosophy that have shaped Western thought. No previous knowledge of philosophy will be assumed.
