Arts and humanities courses
Arts and humanities courses. We don’t just teach, we inspire.
Exploring the depths of culture, philosophy and history has never been so accessible. Learn from experts in the field and create an everlasting bond with some of the world’s most impactful reading material. Our comprehensive arts and humanities courses offered at the University of Sydney provide students with unending knowledge that touches our roots while building towards the future.
Don’t be intimidated by our knowledgeable faculty – they know their stuff but they also understand that everyone starts somewhere, which is why we welcome inquiring minds without prejudice. Step up to unleash your inner scholar and get energised by mind-stimulating discourse amongst like-minded peers. Meet friends, form opinions and come out of it with a cultural experience you won’t soon forget!
Sign up now for your very own inspiring experience. We offer groundbreaking opportunities to unlock your intellectual potential, turning everyday people into more thoughtful citizens able to appreciate their pasts and consider their futures more deeply. So say farewell to mundane education and open your world through art and humanities today! Learn arts and humanities in Sydney with arts and humanities courses from the University of Sydney – your premier provider of short courses in Sydney and online.
Featured courses
Meet your facilitators
Craig Barker
Dr Craig Barker is an archaeologist and the Head of Public Engagement and Education for the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. This includes the Nicholson Collection which houses...
Brian Brennan
Brian Brennan hold a Master’s degree with honours in Classical Studies and a Ph.D in Ancient History. He has specialised in the religious and cultural history of the Later Roman World,...
Antony Cirocco
Antony's film and television projects over the last 13 years have included producing and editing over 300 TVC’s. Every film or TV project he has worked on since 2005 has either been nominated for,...
Mark Tredinnick
Mark Tredinnick, winner of the Montreal Poetry Prize (2011) and the Cardiff Poetry Prize (2012), is the author of The Blue Plateau, Fire Diary, and nine other acclaimed works of poetry and prose....
Featured Articles
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Spinoza was one of the towering philosophers of the 17th century, described by Bertrand Russell as "the noblest and most lovable of all the great philosophers". His work investigates some of the deepest questions of philosophy. He made significant contributions to understanding the human mind, the emotions, moral philosophy and politics. In this introductory course, we will focus on Spinoza’s ideas and... View Philosophy Course: Spinoza.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. From its beginnings, Latin American philosophy exhibited a unique perspective on many important issues in politics, ethics, humanism, imagination and the human relationship to the natural world. During this course, we will trace its origins from the Pre-Columbian Indians and Post-Columbian Spanish occupation, through revolution and independence to the present. We will examine the works of key... View Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Latin America.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Since the publication of the 2010 new, unabridged English translation of The Second Sex, there has been a growing interest in the extent and complexity of de Beauvoir’s philosophical ideas. Some of these ideas are: The nature and limits of human freedom (She Came to Stay, Pyrrhus and Cineas); The role of imagination in the authentic construction of self (The Ethics of Ambiguity); The phenomenology of sex... View Philosophy Course: Simone de Beauvoir.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. The laws of a society embody both its highest ideals and its worst nightmares. This philosophy of law course examines the origins of law and why humans invent laws for themselves. Jurisprudence is the area of philosophy interested in the study of the fundamental concepts underpinning legal systems. We will compare different cultural and historical systems of law, engage in lively discussions on issues... View Philosophy of Law Course: Jurisprudence.
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History. See the future. It’s in the past. Join us for this history course as we explore the career of Sir Arthur Evans and his contributions to historical understandings of Crete in the Bronze Age. We will particularly investigate the perspectives of modern archaeologists and revisions of Evan’s legacy. British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans is widely credited with the discovery of the Minoans of Bronze Age Crete, but some scholars would argue that Evans did not ‘discover’ the... View History Course: Sir Arthur Evans and His Quest for The Minoans.
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History. See the future. It’s in the past. Join us for this history course and learn how armies, tomb robbers, terrorist organisations and some of the world’s most distinguished museums have all contributed to the illicit trade in antiquities. The problem is complex and the solution is not easy, but in recent years there have been some spectacular successes in the repatriation of cultural property. We begin by considering the notions of possession and ownership of antiquities and... View History Course: Looting, Theft and the Illicit Trade in Antiquities.
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History. See the future. It’s in the past. Join us as we explore the Augustan city of Rome and the buildings that have survived in the densely packed sprawl of modern Rome. We will discuss how these buildings were constructed and their functions in everyday life. Finally, we will decode the propagandistic meanings of the buildings’ statuary and decorations. Because Augustus built a house on the Palatine, that hill became the site of the imperial palace built by his successors.... View History Course: Augustus and the City of Rome.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Machiavelli’s influence on modern political theory cannot be overstated. The Prince, his most famous work, provides an interesting lens for examining modern politics and is perhaps more relevant than ever. The term ‘Machiavellian intelligence’ refers to the principles of his political philosophy and the idea that success in politics can be secured by manging behaviours and manipulating social groups. In... View Philosophy Course: Machiavelli and Political Philosophy.
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Music. Learn, enjoy, appreciate. This new course is dominated by the radical figure of Richard Wagner, who as Kapellmeister to the Saxon court composes Tannhäuser and Lohengrin before falling foul of the authorities with his involvement in the Dresden Revolt. In exile in Switzerland, Wagner embarks on his ambitious but impractical Ring of the Nibelung project, setting three massive texts to music before suddenly breaking off to compose the even more intense (but comparatively... View Music in the German Lands Course: 1843-1865.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. This Introduction to Ethics course considers questions which are of practical concern to all humans who want to live well with themselves and others. These questions include: What constitutes a good life? What responsibilities do I have to others in my own community and the global village? We will take both a practical and theoretic approach and discuss issues of both a personal and philosophical nature.... View Philosophy Course: Introduction to Ethics.