2 Audley Square
Mayfair, London W1K
UK
Established in 1994, The Course offers exciting lectures in art history, literature and music.
London has transformed almost unrecognisably since 1900. At the beginning of the period the capital of a truly global empire and its largest port. At the end, the centre of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan societies, a great financial centre and a cultural hub. This twenty part series of lectures and walks will trace the forces that transformed London, from Imperial pomp through wartime catastrophe, to the vibrant but nervous metropolis of the 21st century.
The New Historicisms
The last quarter of the 20th century was among the more paradoxical periods in the city’s history. Run by a left-wing council, many images of the city projected to the world were of highly traditional events: The Silver Jubilee, the Marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The transformations of the fabric of the city could be equally paradoxical: modernity in a (partly) traditional dress.