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...
Robert Gay
After gaining a BA, Dip. Ed. from the University of Sydney, Robert trained as a lyric baritone in London and Munich before turning to the field of music education. He has taught music history...
Kerry Sanders
Dr Kerry Sanders gained her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. She has taught topics including the philosophy of mind; ethics; critical thinking; political philosophy; contemporary...
Andrew Urban
Creator & interviewer, Front Up (SBS TV) Channel Host, World Movies Channel Presenter, Movies This Week, Ovation & World Movies Channels Founder and editor, urbancinefile.com.au A career...
Featured Articles
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History. See the future. It’s in the past. The class commencing November 20, 2023 is generously extended to the community by CCE as a complimentary offering. This archaeology course will explore the history of human activity on the island of Cyprus, from the Neolithic to the modern world. The Mediterranean island of Cyprus lies at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and is the third largest Mediterranean island. During the ten millennia of human occupation, it has developed a... View Archaeology Course: Ancient Cyprus.
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Music. Learn, enjoy, appreciate. In this continuation of an ongoing course on German Music in the nineteenth century, we arrive at the formation of the Second German Empire under Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm I. Remarkably, Richard Wagner appears to anticipate these historical events in the patriotic finale to his music drama The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, and Johannes Brahms confidently celebrates them with his choral Song of Triumph. Nevertheless, Brahms and Wagner continue to... View Music in the German Lands Course: 1866-1876.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. The enigmatic Ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, is considered to be the founder of Western philosophy. His ideas have had a profound influence on philosophical history, yet he left no written record of them. Throughout this course, we will review material from sources attempting to reconstruct Socrates. Our earliest extant source—and the only one who can claim to have known Socrates in his early... View Philosophy Course: Socrates and the Foundation of Western Philosophy.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. “Two things awe me most, the starry sky above and the moral law within.” – Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant is a towering figure in philosophical history, who has had a profound influence on developments in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political theory and aesthetics. Kant synthesised early modern rationalism and empiricism. During this ten-week course, we will review his three major works and explore... View Philosophy Course: Introduction to Kant.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Phenomenology has been, and still remains one of the most significant philosophical movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Phenomenology attempts to take the relationship between body and experience seriously, and find the complex inter-relation of body to mind, consciousness and language. Phenomenology is a vibrant part of contemporary philosophy and the theory has had many applications in fields such... View Philosophy Course: Introduction to Phenomenology.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Thomas Hobbes is regarded as one of a handful of genuinely great political philosophers – his masterwork Leviathan (1651) changed history. The idea of a ‘social contract’ as the basis of political power is his most powerful contribution, eventually becoming the theoretical foundation of most contemporary societies. Hobbes is however a controversial philosopher in many ways. His understanding of humans as... View Philosophy Course: Introduction to Hobbes.
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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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Music. Learn, enjoy, appreciate. In the first part of this new series on music in Europe in the late Nineteenth Century, we weave together the various nationalist strands of orchestral and operatic music composed in this period, which is referred to as the Fin de Siècle. We note how the rising young Czech composer Dvorak is influenced by the music of his German mentor Brahms, and how Tchaikovsky also chooses to embrace the familiar forms of contemporary European music. By... View Music of the Fin de Siècle Course: 1877-1883.
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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.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. This course examines the connection between money, debt and trust as the three foundations upon which human society is constructed. Join us as we explore the history of economic systems – as influenced by and also influencing – anthropology, human nature and religious social structures. For us to understand humanity, we must also understand how we secure and value things that we need and want. We will... View Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Money, Debt and Trust.