Weekly Evening Courses - Arts and Humanities

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. 

We would like to advise that you will need to have the appropriate technology and suitable internet connection in place, as we will be making use of online materials. At Southampton, we use a virtual learning environment (VLE) called Blackboard which is used to deliver learning materials and real-time online teaching for our students.

Ethics in the World - What’s the point in it all? Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on the meaning of life (Online)

What gives value to our lives? Should we be grateful for having been born or not? An exploration of questions of the meaning and value of life will focus on the issues, concerns and solutions of two prominent 19th century philosophers – Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. The course will introduce you to some of the key early existentialist questions which have contributed significantly to modern thought.

During the course we will consider questions such as – Is life worth the effort invested in it? Can art redeem life? Is God dead? Can a life of suffering be affirmed?

This 6-week course will take place online from 7pm to 9pm on Monday evenings starting on 13th October 2025 and finishing on 17th November 2025.

Please see our price list below:

• Standard price - £115.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £100.00

Please note: if you select the staff or student price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff or student ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

When booking a course please consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy.

(Image credit: Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash)

Payment using the Online Store can only be completed via Visa and Mastercard Credit/Debit Card or PayPal.  AMEX is not accepted.
If you have not previously created an account for the Online Store, you will need to create an account to make a booking.

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. 

We would like to advise that you will need to have the appropriate technology and suitable internet connection in place, as we will be making use of online materials. At Southampton, we use a virtual learning environment (VLE) called Blackboard which is used to deliver learning materials and real-time online teaching for our students.

Ethics in the World: Is the weight of being bearable? Existentialism through the lens of Heidegger, Sartre and Camus (Online)

Does existence precede essence? Is there such a thing as human nature? Are we condemned to freedom? This course offers an overview of three 20th century philosophers in the European existentialist tradition. We will begin by exploring the cultural background through philosophers and writers including Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Husserl. We will then explore the philosophy of Heidegger in his work ‘Being and Time’. Next we will explore Sartre’s existentialism including the ideas of ‘bad faith’, ‘anguish’ and ‘freedom'. Finally we will explore Albert Camus’ absurdism through the novella ‘The Stranger’ and the philosophical work ‘The myth of Sisyphus’.

This 6-week course will take place online on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm starting on 02 February and finishing on 09 March 2026.

Please see our price list below:

• Standard price - £115.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £100.00

Please note: if you select the staff or student price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff or student ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

When booking a course please consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy.

Payment using the Online Store can only be completed via Visa and Mastercard Credit/Debit Card or PayPal.  AMEX is not accepted.
If you have not previously created an account for the Online Store, you will need to create an account to make a booking.

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. 

Female Portrait Artists: 16th to 21st Century

This practical art course will help develop analytical and creative skills by reflecting on major art movements.

The Art world has seen a remarkable range of successful female visual artists over the centuries. Their journey, so often a poignant tale of struggle, is inspiring. This 8-week course will examine the achievement of women painters in a diverse range of styles, tracking the story of art from 16th to 21st Century. It will enable students to make practical experiments in a range of genres, including Portraiture, Still Life, Landscape and Abstraction with a series of practical exercises involving drawing materials, paint and collage, using own references.

Aims and learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Female Art as illustrated by various artists including Evelyn de Morgan and Bridget Riley and will gain mastery of drawing, painting and mixed media techniques in order to develop personal art projects in a range of genres, building on artists’ examples.

This 8-week course will take place on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm starting on 13th January 2026 and finishing on 3rd March 2026.

Please see our price list below:

• Standard price - £145.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £125.00

Please note: if you select the staff/student/alumni price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff, student or alumni ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

When booking a course please consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy.

Payment using the Online Store can only be completed via Visa and Mastercard Credit/Debit Card or PayPal.  AMEX is not accepted.
If you have not previously created an account for the Online Store, you will need to create an account to make a booking.

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. 

Unless otherwise stated, this Reflective Art in Practice course will be taught in person at our Highfield Campus, Building 34. Please click here to view a map of the Campus.

Please note: if you select the staff or student price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff or student ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

Unfortunately, you can only select the staff or student price option if you are a current or alumni student of the University or staff member.

Please see our price list below:

Reflective Art in Practice: Exploring the Still Life - 8 week course

• Standard price - £145.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £125.00

This 8-week course will take place on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm starting on 21st April 2026 and finishing on 9th June 2026.

When booking a course please consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy.

This course examines the theory and practice behind a range of art movements with an illustrated lecture looking at context and incorporating group discussion. This is followed by a practical session in which techniques and ideas are sampled.

Exploring the Still Life

This broad and highly personal genre was taken to new heights of experimentation by Picasso and Braque in the early 20^th Century. We will look at the way artists have responded to still life subjects with a series of practical exercises using drawing materials, paint and collage, using chosen objects. By the end of the Unit you will be able to make experimental and resolved still life art, and expand your knowledge of this genre.

Payment using the Online Store can only be completed via Visa and Mastercard Credit/Debit Card or PayPal.  AMEX is not accepted.
If you have not previously created an account for the Online Store, you will need to create an account to make a booking.

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. Unless otherwise stated, all courses will be taught in person at our Avenue Campus.

We would like to advise that you will need to have the appropriate technology and suitable internet connection in place, as we will be making use of online materials. At Southampton, we use a virtual learning environment (VLE) called Blackboard which is used to deliver learning materials and real-time online teaching for our students.

The Serious Pleasures of Literary Reading: Women's Writing Through Time

Time travel with us on a journey to discover how women’s writing has developed over the centuries. What were the social conditions in which women wrote? How did changes in laws and different movements lead to a rise in women’s writings?

Please note: if you select the staff or student price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff or student ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

This 6-week course will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm starting on
29th April 2026 and finishing on 3rd June 2026.

Please see our price list below:

• Standard price - £115.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £100.00

When booking a course please consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy.

(Image credit: wayhomestudio at Freepik.com)

The course will start by discussing the writings of Jane Austen and her continued influence today. It will then move on to the Victorian writers such as Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters. In later weeks we will engage with an overview of the three waves of feminism, exploring what each of these feminist waves entailed and the writing that emerged as a result. A slight detour takes us into the world of women writing crime fiction, with a focus on Agatha Christie, to consider women writing in an often male-dominated genre. Wide ranging and varied, this course will open up new perspectives on some of literature’s greatest female writers.

Payment using the Online Store can only be completed via Visa and Mastercard Credit/Debit Card or PayPal.  AMEX is not accepted.
If you have not previously created an account for the Online Store, you will need to create an account to make a booking.