Learning about the world around us

Here at the WEA we offer a huge range of humanities and science courses, with something for everyone.  

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If you’re interested in the natural world, our geography and environment courses are the perfect choice. Our packed curriculum explores some of the biggest issues facing society, such as climate change and the fight against the destruction of some of Earth’s most precious resources. The option to learn in person or online means that our geography courses can whisk you away to a far-flung corner of the globe, all without you ever having to leave your own home. 

Studying a science

If you choose to take one of our psychology courses you’ll be immersed in the study of the human mind. With options to learn about memory and identity, you’ll get the chance to explore and debate some of the most famous psychological experiments.  

There’s also Sociology too, a subject that focuses on human behaviour, interaction, and relationships. If you’d like to explore some of the biggest questions in life, then our philosophy courses are for you. Small class sizes mean that you’ll get to discuss and debate in a supportive environment, all with an experienced tutor on hand.  

Attend a Humanities and Science course near you  

Whether you choose to learn from the comfort of your own home or opted for face-to-face learning at a local community venue, you’ll be taught by a talented tutor who is an expert in their subject. Our learning experience sets us apart from other providers, with learners regularly highlighting the difference that an encouraging environment makes. 

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History: Aspects of British History & European History 1924 -1933

This is a short series of four lectures on a key period of Modern British and European History. The course will consist of lectures supported by PowerPoint illustrations. The aim is to provide an introduction and overview to the issues being covered but no previous knowledge is expected.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 21/01/2025 -
Tue 11/02/2025
Times:
2:15pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Maldon Friends' Meeting House (Maldon)
Butt Lane
Maldon
CM9 5HD
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00021064
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £29.40

History: Reverend Duke and the Amesbury Oliver

 In the 1950s the author’s father, Norman Maggs, was investigating his family history in the files held at the old Public Record Office in Chancery Lane. By chance he came across evidence of a secret four-day enquiry that had taken place at the Amesbury Union Workhouse in 1844. The master had been accused of the manslaughter of one of the inmates, a crippled fifteen-year-old boy. The revelations were sensational and yet no word of the charges, the enquiry, or the outcome were ever publicised. After his father’s death, the author broadened the enquiries and wrote the book from which this talk is extracted.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 21/01/2025 -
Tue 21/01/2025
Times:
10:00am - 11:30am
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Christchurch United Reform Church (Chelm
164 New London Road
Chelmsford
CM2 0AW
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00021055
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £6.30

History: English canals - An advanced study

As built, canals linked towns and cities with the remote corners of the English countryside. Built largely to carry coal to fuel the Industrial Revelation, they are used today for pleasure purposes. Canals offer the opportunity to improve health and wellbeing, whether walking along the towpath or travelling along in a barge. Come and join this illustrated course where you will develop your historical / technical skills by finding and exploring a number of sources about the canals. Your tutor will guide you towards sources which provide information on the physical design of your local canal, the industry it was built to serve and the individuals who worked tirelessly to make a living. There will be a study of the Trent & Mersey, Peak Forest and Somersetshire Coal Canals, together with a review of the impact on the canals of the Napoleonic War. The course will look at some of the features of canals, such as Bridges, Tunnels, Aqueducts, Reservoirs, Gauging Docks, Weighing Machines, Gauging Stations and Winding Holes. This course is suitable for learners with a previous knowledge of the subject To note down key points, it is suggested that you bring a notebook.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 21/01/2025 -
Tue 25/02/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 3:30pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Michael Turner
Course code:
Q00016933
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
7 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.30

Philosophy : Realism – moral, scientific and metaphysical

It had become common in modern societies to assume that moral values and what counts as true vary between people and societies and that if someone else’s morality or truth conflicts with your own, you should be tolerant of it rather than insisting that the other person is wrong. However many people feel uneasy about this because they think truth is not a matter of opinion, that there are instead objective truths, and that certain moral values are binding on all and not negotiable. In Philosophy these arguments are called ‘realist’. We will explore some of them in this course.
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Course Information

Dates:
Wed 22/01/2025 -
Wed 26/03/2025
Times:
4:45pm - 6:45pm
Duration:
9 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Bettina Lange
Course code:
Q00020741
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee:
£66.60

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Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

Philosophy: The Big Questions

One of the most fascinating aspects of the history of ideas is learning how ideas have a life of their own, influencing society and culture through successive generations in different ways. In this 10-week course we’ll focus on an different important and influential question each week. We cover philosophy, literature, science and history. We’ll read and discuss selected extracts which will be circulated beforehand. The course covers a sweep of over 2000 years, from the ancient Greeks to modern times. This course is funded by Greater London Combined Authority.
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Course Information

Dates:
Thu 23/01/2025 -
Thu 03/04/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
The Drive Methodist Church (Redbridge)
Eastern Avenue
Redbridge
IG4 5AB
Tutor:
Brandon Robshaw
Course code:
Q00019811
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £100.00

History: Highlights Of British Archaeology: Viking (800 AD) To High Middle Ages

Recent fieldwork allows us to define three distinct phases of Anglo-Scandinavian occupation: raiding, conquest and settlement. Sites at Repton and Torksey provide evidence of Viking Age winter camps from the Conquest Period, whereas spatial analysis of both artefact scatters and place names vividly demonstrate the areas of Norse settlement. We shall be looking at major developments in shipping technology from the Saxon through to the High Middle Ages, without which none of these invasions, including 1066, would have been possible. As part of our Medieval studies we shall examine the eclectic Medieval “Voynich Manuscript”. Using the illustrations we shall try to make some sense of it.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 27/01/2025 -
Mon 31/03/2025
Times:
1:45pm - 3:45pm
Duration:
20 sessions
Location:
Grimsby Central Hall & Arts Community Ce
Duncombe Street
Grimsby
DN32 7EG
Tutor:
Anne Taylor-Rose
Course code:
Q00018374
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £84.00

Nature, Ecology & Permaculture: Does Nature Exist? Introduction to Ecocritical Philosophy and Theory

We will look at some thinkers who propose Nature as a concept should be abandoned.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 27/01/2025 -
Mon 10/02/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
3 sessions
Location:
Jubilee Hall Loddon (Loddon)
George Lane
Loddon
NR14 6NB
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00020844
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £25.20

Nature, Ecology & Permaculture: Does Nature Exist?: Introduction to Ecocritical  and Theory

This course looks at the climate crisis through the lens of philosophy and critical theory. Using thinkers such as Carolyn Merchant, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, Andres Malm, Jason Moore, Donna Haraway, Timothy Morton, and Michael Serres, we will critically assess the philosophical implications of present climate crisis. In specific we will look at two debates across the three session: the debates around the term ‘Anthropocene’ and the concept of nature. The course aims to introduce students to the provocative ways 20th and 21st century thinkers have thought about ecology, climate, and the present crisis, and to give them the tools to act on their own convictions from an informed perspective.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 27/01/2025 -
Mon 10/02/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
3 sessions
Location:
Jubilee Hall Loddon (Loddon)
George Lane
Loddon
NR14 6NB
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00021071
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £25.20

History: The Rise of the Greeks

How did ancient Greek culture emerge from the end of the Bronze Age? The course aims (over two terms) to give a detailed and wide-ranging account of ancient Greek society and civilisation is it emerged in the so-called "Archaic Period", and is primarily intended for those who would like to pursue an interest in the nature of ancient history. You will learn about the historical development of ancient Greece from the 8th century BC down until 7th century BC in all its various aspects, both cultural, artistic, social and military, focusing in particular on the evidence for the earliest city-states and reasons for their predominance.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 28/01/2025 -
Tue 29/04/2025
Times:
7:15pm - 9:15pm
Duration:
11 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Gary Slator
Course code:
Q00020757
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £81.40

Art Appreciation: The Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is indeed a jewel box of great painting. With works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and Michelangelo, some of the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance are to be found there. But this is more than just a collection of great works. It is also the pope’s private chapel and so these works were created not just for display but to relay a greater message to the world, But how many of the thousands of visitors really understand that message or what these works are about? In this study day we shall seek to decode the 'messages' contained in these great works and see what Sixtus IV and Julius II and their artists were really saying to us.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/02/2025 -
Tue 04/03/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
3 sessions
Location:
The Cornerstone (Wokingham)
Norreys Avenue
Wokingham
RG40 1UE
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00017593
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
0 places remaining
Status:
Waiting list
Fee:
£30.00