WEA courses

Would you like to further develop your ability to read and enjoy Latin literature? You will use the Latin you have already learnt to translate, discuss and analyse original Latin literature, both verse and prose. In this intermediate level group you will develop more independence in translation through a mixture of immersive learning through reading Latin and analytical work in consolidating and extending your understanding of the Latin language. Lively discussion and exercises as part of a supportive group in the online sessions will be backed up by plentiful opportunities to work independently between sessions with a range of quizzes and assignments.

Have you completed an introductory or a Level 1 helping in schools course? Then this introductory course is right for you. It will provide you with the necessary knowledge and study skills needed to prepare you for a Level 2 course. It will also provide you with the opportunity to practice using study skills such as quizzes, case studies and related texts. You will get the chance to discuss new topics with other learners and, ask and answer questions. You will also be given a brief outline of what you will learn on your course. Your tutor will give you constructive feedback to ensure you are ready for your next stage of learning.

Digital skills are increasingly in demand in modern society. Picking up essential digital skills can help you go about your everyday life, as well as open doors to employment opportunities. This course starts at the beginning and covers everything from using a digital device to getting started on social media and making videos. This Entry-level 3 digital skills course is aimed at complete beginners- so don’t worry if this is new to you. If you want to learn digital skills for everyday life or improve your job prospects, this course is ideal for you. It's also suitable for people reentering the workforce after a long break. This course is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

This beginners ESOL course will help you to develop basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in English. Develop your language skills to enable you to recognise simple words, prepare to write, ask everyday questions and answer them using correct grammatical structures.

A fun, friendly and structured approach to our develop fiction writing knowledge, skills and importantly aid you in finding inspiration, putting pen paper and getting writing. Whatever you might like to write or already enjoy writing, be it short stories, longer tales, mystery, crime, a touch of the gothic or whatever takes your interest - there will be a plot to suit your idea and/or help you find inspiration and take it further. Find inspiration as we consider the how a different plot may aid with a specific theme or topic, the development of characters and your choice of words and description. This course will make use of a mix of informal feedback, lecture using PowerPoint slides, some focused group discussion/creative tasks in smaller breakout groups and feedback. Session by session we examine a different ‘plot’ and apply some creative craft to it, might it yield the perfect motivation for a crime, is three a secret a character wishes to keep? What kind of story suits a particular plot – flash fiction, a cautionary tale or a longer and more complex tale? We examine the varied forms and approaches, how have others approached similar tales and what might work best for us now. Suitable for the curious beginner and/or the seasoned scribbler.

Regency society rakish, raffish but with a fondness for wonderful architecture, or was there more to it than that?

During Victorian times Nottingham was transformed from an elegant market town into a major industrial City. Industries like hosiery and Lace needed grand warehouses and offices, streets filled up the central parishes and countless houses soon spread beyond the traditional town boundary. This course will explore this evolution from town to City, discover why and how the urban landscape began to change, consider contrasting communities, including Narrow Marsh and the Park Estate and will pause to highlight characters like the ‘firebrand orator’ Feargus O’Connor who could be assured to rouse the crowds over justice and the right to vote.

In these lectures Stephen Wilkinson will introduce students to the history of the detective genre and discuss its relationship to the development of capitalism, urbanisation and consumerist commodity culture. Students will be encouraged to read detective fiction as a prism through which societies, their anxieties and underlying psycho-political natures can be understood. Using the examples from the UK, US and Cuba students will gain an insight into the ways in which popular literature gives shape and form to our lives.

It is sometimes said that Lenin drove the Russian revolution into a cul-de-sac and Stalin then accelerated into the wall at the far end. The course will examine the economic, political and social changes undertaken by Stalin and enforced by the Great Terror. We will then consider how far this modernisation of the economy enabled the USSR to withstand the Nazi onslaught from 1941 and why the Soviet Union seemed unreformable under Stalin’s successors. We will conclude by looking at Gorbachev’s almost total failure to achieve the objectives he identified and why, despite that, he was one of the most laudable leaders of a troubled century in European affairs

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.