WEA Courses

The Architecture of the Great Cities of the United Kingdom 6 meetings on Mondays starting 28/09/2020. 2:00pm - 3:30pm Tutor: Keith Hasted

Join us to examine the architecture of the great provincial cities of the United Kingdom. From the confident creation of public buildings in the 18th and 19th centuries, through to the inventive modern architecture of more recent times, this course will show how the face of our nation has changed through the years. Included will be Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle. As we shall see, devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast have also contributed varied and distinctive building designs.

This course will be delivered online.

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Reading in WW1: How the Town Developed a Role. 6 meetings on Tuesdays starting 29/09/2020. 2:00pm - 3:30pm Tutor: Margaret Simons

What was it like to live in the town over the four years of conflict? What demands were put on all members of society as those at home became part of the war machine? Our study of the period will provide answers to these questions and discover how the town developed its role as a war hospital, a training area for the Royal Flying Corps, a home for refugees and as a producer of munitions.

This course will be delivered online.

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Artistic Patronage of the European Courts 6 meetings on Thursdays starting 01/10/2020. 10:00am - 11:30am Tutor: Dalila Castelijn

From the Renaissance onwards court art flourished in Europe to express the power, prestige, taste of the rulers and to help form their identity. The artistic patronage of the Valois of France and the Habsburgs of Austria will be considered in its cultural context. Selected painting and buildings, sculpture and manuscripts created for patrons such as Francois I in Paris and Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna will be studied in terms of content style and function.

This course will be delivered online.

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Pioneers of the Railway Revolution 1569-1860 10 meetings on Tuesdays starting 06/10/2020. 10:00am - 11:30am Tutor: Richard Marks

The railways in Britain have been an essential piece of our history, underpinning the industrial revolution and social mobility, for over 200 years. Discover how the early pioneers began the rail revolution. Learn how the railways impacted on daily life and social mobility up to the late 19th century. Appreciate how setbacks and disasters were overcome through the use of new inventions to lay the foundations of the safe and fast network we take for granted today. We will look at the work of the founding fathers of the railways, the engineers, the railway barons and the politicians.

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Who were the Levellers? 3 meetings on Thursdays starting 08/10/2020. 7:00pm - 8:30pm Tutor: Symon Hill

Three sessions exploring the radical groups that emerged in mid-seventeenth century England. The Levellers promoted revolutionary views that have since become widely accepted, such as universal voting and freedom of religion. But their impact is fiercely debated by historians, while the divisions among them are often overlooked. We will explore writings of both Levellers and their opponents and ask what relevance they have for us today. 

This course will be delivered online.

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Ancient Egypt : Amarna and the Boy King 6 meetings on Mondays starting 02/11/2020. 6:00pm - 8:00pm Tutor: John Billman

Ancient Egypt is known for cultural continuity and traditions that endured for three millennia.  One such tradition of a polytheistic approach to religion was challenged in the eighteenth dynasty of the New Kingdom.  The pharaoh Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten and established a new form of divine kingship based on the sun-disc the Aten to the exclusion of other gods.  This monotheistic revolution was accompanied by a radical change in the style and iconography of Egyptian art and the rapid construction of a new capital at el-Amarna.  This course explores the r

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Ancient Egypt : Hieroglyphs for False Beginners 6 meetings on Wednesdays starting 04/11/2020. 6:00pm - 8:00pm Tutor: John Billman

This is a hieroglyphs and Middle Egyptian course for those with basic-level prior knowledge whether recent or some time ago.  The course will consolidate and advance previous elementary study of the language with a combined focus on characters, grammar and short texts.  After a review of previous material studied we will read a selection of short extracts of funerary texts centered around the offering formula and additional tomb scenes, broadly covering the material in chapters 2-3 of Collier and Manley "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs".  This is designed as a direct follow-

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Octavia Hill and the Founding of the National Trust 3 meetings on Fridays starting 06/11/2020. 10:00am - 11:30am Tutor: Margaret Simons

2020 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the National trust and as such is an appropriate time to find out why such an institution was deemed necessary at the end of the 19th century. Of the three founders, Octavia Hill was the only female and already a social reformer of significance; using her as our focus, we will consider not only the origins and purpose of the trust in its early years, but her life and work. In addition, we will also discover the connection she had with Reading.

This course will be delivered online.

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