By Terry Sweeney
18 months or so ago, I was having lunch with a mate of mine at The Quarter, in Falkner Street. He was telling me that he’d been at a Screenwriting Course at the University of Liverpool that morning, and how much he’d learnt and how much he was enjoying it. That afternoon I did a bit of research on what was available at the University and found the Continuing Education thread. What an absolute hidden gem it was.
For a modest cost you can find a course that interests you and get access to a variety of experts who are specialists in their fields.
University programmes are offered as a blended learning experience. There are a mix of courses; you can choose one that’s delivered in regular on-campus classes, or one that offers weekly online sessions. My courses have been either 6 or 10 weeks elapsed. There are also one day workshops that you can sign up to.
They are taught in a structured environment, and they span multiple disciplines.
There are classes running at Ness Gardens on the Wirral and others at partner locations such as Tate Liverpool.
As a student you can register for a university computing account and have access to a University of Liverpool student email account, a student ID card, the University of Liverpool library, study skills support and access to software packages such as CANVAS, Zoom and Microsoft Office.
My first course was a 10-week course on Religious Art of Liverpool, with local specialist ‘in all things Liverpool’, Dr Lee Kendall. This started with the oldest example of religious art this side of the Mersey, the Calder (Caldway) Stones in South Liverpool, c 3000-2500 BCE. The course cantered through Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece. Hinduism’, Sikhism, Judaism, Catholicism, Anglicansim, Islam, Rastafari, and Earth/Science over the semester.
I’ve now completed 4 courses; three on campus and one online (Zoom call), and I’m in the middle of another on campus at 126, Brownlow Hill.
This semester there are courses in:
- Archaeology and Classical Languages
- Creative writing
- History and Local History
- Art and art History
- English Literature and Language
- Music
And the next semester will be enrolling soon.
People are coming to the courses from as far afield as Manchester, and I fully intend to sign up to another for next term as my current one (Great Goddesses of Ancient Egypt with Dr. Joanne Backhouse) will be finishing in March.
There’s nothing better than walking up to the campus from Central Station, grabbing a coffee on the way, and looking forward to learning some new, interesting facts in a fun environment. There will be people in your class that share your interests, who are good to chat to and, who knows, they may even become firm friends.
The list of courses for next semester is not released yet, but they’ll be available just after Easter on the Continuing Education site at conted@liverpool.ac.uk