Europe is at a turning point in its history. Questions about its unity and diversity are more relevant today than ever. This series of talks will address the concept of Europe through a number of its most characteristic and idiosyncratic cities. It will discuss the evolution of their ground plans as well as the stories

The last 50 years have produced some of the most exciting and powerful music, painting and sculpture in history, but to many people it remains an undiscovered world. This course aims to introduce participants to some of this era’s major composers including Arvo Pärt, James MacMillan, Brett Dean, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jörg Widmann and John Adams,

Money may make the world go round, but it is also crucial to the development of the arts. The Renaissance across Europe was financed by Church, commerce and conquest, and fuelled not only by connoisseurship but by the need for calculated propaganda. This course examines the diversity of a formative age and asks how and

A look at some great strivers of the late 18th and l9th centuries and their relationship with fame. Mary Robinson enjoys it; Fanny Mendelssohn hankers after it; Benjamin Robert Haydon perishes for lack of it; Edwin Landseer basks in it and overdoes it; Florence Nightingale utterly rejects it.

Most of London’s housing stock now dates from no earlier than the beginning of the eighteenth century. The forms that its dwellings have taken since the time of the Great Fire of London have changed dramatically in response to changing needs, an expanding population, forces of development and legislation.

The concept of the solitary male genius has been a dominant theme of Western art histories. Wives, mistresses, partners and collaborators have often been chased into the shadows, even if they too were practicing artists in their own right.  We will explore the complexities of some of these notable artistic relationships, with an emphasis on

We will explore the fascinating and exacting world of C19th British horticulture and its development as a respectable, skilled Victorian trade which matured into a competitive gardening community with the high standards so typical of the glorious Victorian age.  We will learn of amateur and professional gardeners who rolled up their sleeves to progress gardening innovation