When Jane Austen wrote 'I write only for fame...' she was being ironic as she published anonymously. 250 years on, our lecturer, Annelie Talent, explores the making of a literary celebrity and examines Austen's legacy

The history of chairs from the ancient to modern times What do your chairs say about you? Learn about the construction and style from the ancient times to the early 20th Century

Merry Christmas Everyone! Come join us to hear about the man who 'invented' Christmas

If you think of St Pancras International or New York Grand Central Terminus you imagine long romantic journeys. You know they are special places promising excitement and adventure. However, there are dozens of others. Join us to find out more.

Winston Churchill and Noel Coward were both keen amateur artists who painted for over forty years and even discussed painting. Winston's wit is the stuff of legends and Noel's is evident in his many plays and musicals. Join us to hear some of their stories.

The lecture take us on a journey beginning in Outer Mongolia in the 5th century BC and follows the 11th century migrations from Turkmenistan, the cradle of weaving, into the Caucasus, Persia and Afghanistan. Join us to hear more.

Movie posters have helped us decide how to spend our hard-earned cinema money for over a century. Join us to find out what we can learn from a hundred years of movie posters. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE BEGINS 1 HOUR LATER THAN USUAL AT 11.30AM

Romain de Tirtoff (known more famously by his pseudonym, Erté) was a Russian-born, French artist and designer who became revered as the ‘Father of Art Deco’.

Throughout history, travelling and journeys have been used as a way to display wealth, power and status. Today, we take a journey as a matter of course, not thinking really much of a distance of a hundred miles or more. In the past however, things were very different.

In this lecture the Simon Whitehouse traces the story of Covent Garden as the entertainment centre of London. He examines the origins of two legendary theatres that gave birth to modern West End theatre and introduces us to the performers who shaped the buildings and starred at the theatre.

This lecture explains why Stonehenge must be regarded as architectural in its layout and construction, embodying techniques that for centuries convinced antiquarians that it could not have been built by ‘primitive’ ancient Britons but must be a product of ‘sophisticated’ Romans.

This lecture explores how the Japanese aesthetic revolutionised Western art in the late 19th century, and how a new wave of artists today have brought a deeper understanding of the mokuhanga technique into Contemporary Art.

Bottom’s Up! traces the story of wine: from its humble beginnings in rotting grapes before the Bronze Age to the present when single bottles can change hands thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pounds