History Courses at WEA Sydney
Explore the past with WEA Sydney's history courses. From ancient civilisations and medieval empires to modern revolutions, our classes bring history to life. Learn from expert tutors as you uncover stories of saints and dictators, wars and peace, myths and facts. Join us in the Sydney CBD or online and discover the fascinating history of people, places, and ideas across the world.
Available Classes
The Great Labor Splits: 1917, 1931, 1955
<p>A look at the three major splits in Australia’s oldest political party, their impact on politics at the Federal and State level, and which of the flow-on effects are still being felt today.</p>
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Available Classes
8,000 Years of Chinese Traditional Art
<p>Set within the broader context of China’s diverse geography and cross-cultural exchange, the course presents a chronological journey through major artistic and architectural traditions spanning
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Available Classes
A Celebration of 400 Years of Women Artists
<p>In every century there have been outstanding women artists who have achieved a reputation that has tested time and sat well-earned, alongside their male colleagues. Often their life stories are
...Approximately 5 hours
Available Classes
From French Royalty to Empire - Art and decorative elegance from Louis XIV's Versailles to Napoleon
<p>French monarchs managed their images as carefully as any self-branded celebrity today. How did Louis XIV use the artisans and artists of the day through his patronage to enhance and dazzle his
...Approximately 4 hours
Available Classes
Portraits of Russia: Rublëv, Pushkin, Turgenev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky
<p>This course, focussed on the life and work of some of Russia’s most outstanding personalities, will begin with the work of Andrey Rublëv, Russia’s most famous icon painter, and his circle, and the
...Approximately 6 hours
Available Classes
Portraits of Scandinavia: Norway and Denmark
<p>The cold lands of the far north have in fact produced inspiring examples of music, drama, art and philosophy to match the best of the more famous cultures of France and Italy. Explore the genius of
...Approximately 6 hours
Available Classes
The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government
<p>Fifty years ago Governor-General Sir John Kerr removed the elected Prime Minister Gough Whitlam from office and installed the opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as interim Prime Minister. The
...Available Classes
Unfit to Govern
<p>Some monarchs, Presidents and Prime Ministers have been dangerously incompetent. President James Buchanan, 1857-1861, lacked the skills to govern in the national interest as Civil War loomed. Tsar
...Available Classes
The Tasman Map
<p>Learn of the history of the 1645 Tasman Map, the first map of Australia, and how it came to the State Library NSW. Over a period of forty years from 1606 to 1644 and based on sixteen separate
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Available Classes
Modern China - From Declining Empire to Global Power
<p>This course surveys China’s transformation from late Qing reforms at the turn of the 20th century to its rise as a global power at the beginning of the 21st. It examines historical shifts,
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