Humanities and culture courses
Humanities and culture 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 humanities and culture 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 humanities and culture today!
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...
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. Epicureanism (or Hedonism) and Stoicism are ‘philosophies of life’, meaning that they are not only academic but are to be lived as a way of life. In their own ways, both philosophies explore with the challenges of ordinary life: how to manage suffering; what to do with wealth or poverty; power and slavery. Both aim to provide a psychological fortress against bad times. The contemporary form of Hedonism is... View Philosophy Course: An Introduction to Epicurean and Stoic 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. 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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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. Join us for this ten-week philosophy of drama course, as we explore the role that dramatic theatre has played in human story. We will cover historical periods including: the Ancient Greek playwrights, particularly Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; the early to late 20th century, discussing Ibsen, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller; and Contemporary film with Terrence Malick as the focus... View Philosophy of Drama Course: Ancient Greek Tragedy to Modern Film.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Improve your understanding of the philosophy of time and learn to discuss key concepts relating to time with confidence. In this course we consider many approaches to understanding the issue of time and what it means for us in our everyday existence. We use philosophy, chronobiology, psychology, neurobiology and the arts in our investigations. During the course, we will discuss: objective and subjective... View Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Time.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. In this course we look at the life and philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), one of the most important philosophers of her time. She critiqued the ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity as being flawed in their proclaimed universality and highlighted the gaping inconsistencies in the liberal ideas of John Locke and others. In doing so, Wollstonecraft set the agenda for liberation movements to... View Philosophy Course: Mary Wollstonecraft.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. This course on the philosophy of religion examines religious experience while borrowing from different schools of thought, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, phenomenology and political theory. Religion is central to the personal lives of many people. It is integrated in the cultural heritage of every people, and understanding it is crucial to understanding the human condition. We will delve... View Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Religion.
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Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. Hegel is a towering figure in the history of philosophy. At the core of his social and political thought are the concepts of freedom, reason, and self-consciousness. In this course, we will look at how Hegel’s philosophy influenced areas of thought from Marx to Freud and even Frederic Nietzsche, right down to the identity politics of the present. We will discuss how Hegel took political theory in... View Philosophy Course: Hegel.
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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.