Why does University Governance fail to deliver Equality?
EQUALITY FRATERNITY EGALITY are central to Liberty.
Why does University Governance fail to deliver true EQUALITY to their students?
EQUALITY FRATERNITY EGALITY are central to Liberty. Why does University Governance fail to deliver true EQUALITY to their students?
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Today (21 March 2012) is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and to mark it, the OU has published a collection of audio tracks on iTunes U.
The collection includes a series on crime, order and social control, visiting UK communities to explore the issues of criminal justice and crime control initiatives, including a track on the killing of Stephen Lawrence.
There’s also a collection on race and rights, looking at how the legal system impacts on the lives of social workers; and another on classifying races, offering an insight into how large communities are organised to regulate their social behaviour.
Today (21 March 2012) is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and to mark it, the OU has published a collection of audio tracks on iTunes U. The collection includes a series on crime, order and social control, visiting UK communities to explore the issues of criminal justice and crime control initiatives, including a track on the killing of Stephen ...
Vic Finkelstein disability pioneer dies
Born in South Africa his experience of apartheid, including being jailed as a political prisoner, influenced his thinking about how society treats disabled people.
Vic Finkelstein was disabled after a pole-vaulting accident as a teenager, later travelling to Britain for treatment and winning a swimming medal for South Africa at the Stoke Mandeville Games.
Back in South Africa and while at university he became involved with the anti-apartheid movement in 1964 supporting Bram Fischer, Nelson Mandela’s trial lawyer who had gone underground.
In 1966 Finkelstein was sentenced to 18 months hard labour, reduced to three months being ‘a cripple’.
In 1968 he fled to Britain and helped found with Paul Hunt the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) which argued that oppression by society was the biggest issue for disabled people.
UPIAS focussed on changing what it called ‘the disabling society’.
Through UPIAS and in the 1970s the television programme Link, Finkelstein helped change the way society thought about disability. In 1981 he campaigned for the exclusion of the South African team taking part in the Stoke Mandeville games for disabled people.
He also helped set up the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People and the London Disability Arts Forum leading to the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive.
He was an NHS psychologist before joining The Open University in the 1980s as course chair of The Handicapped Person in the Community the world’s first course in disability studies.
He retired from the OU in 1996 becoming a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Leeds University.
Joanna Bornat, Emeritus Professor of Oral History OU Faculty of Health and Social Care remembered his OU valedictory lecture.
“I don’t think many people at the OU now will know that we had a giant of the disability rights movement in our midst.
She said with other disabled people Vic developed the idea that disability might be the creation of the society in which disabled people lived rather than impairment. That led to a movement that brought changes all of us benefit from now including access into buildings and transport and disabled voices in media and arts changing society for the better.
“Many if not most disabled people would argue there is much left to be done, but without Vic’s theorising and his steadfast non-compromising position, those changes might never have happened,” she said.
Joanna said Vic spoke about being a prisoner in South Africa. In jail he was given a bed instead of a mat on the floor and had ‘helpers’ to get him round the prison.
“His conclusion was that when necessary the state could make things accessible.
“He was given a five year banning order but said that made no difference to him as he was unable to do any of the things he was banned from doing,” she said.
Another OU colleague, Jan Walmsley, Visiting Professor in the History of Learning Disabilities told the Disability Law Service website that Finkelstein had an enormously powerful influence on the way the OU taught and continues to teach in health and social care.
She said he put the OU at the forefront of teaching and thinking about disability.
“As a colleague he was enormously generous to me, encouraging me in every conceivable way to develop my ideas, writing and research,” she said.
Vic Finkelstein died at Stoke Mandeville on November 30. A funeral service was held last week.
Vic Finkelstein, a ‘giant’ of the disability movement and credited with putting The Open University at the forefront of teaching and thinking about disability has died aged 73. Born in South Africa his experience of apartheid, including being jailed as a political prisoner, influenced his thinking about how society treats disabled people. Vic Finkelstein was ...
The story of Indians in Britain returns to India
Beyond the Frame: India in Britain 1858-1950 began a tour of India on November 25 which will continue into 2012.
It is led by The Open University with its Project Director, OU Professor Susheila Nasta MBE.
The tour is the follow-on to the larger project Beyond the Frame: Indian British Connections.
Both celebrate the often overlooked history of the Indian presence in Britain.
India in Britain spans almost ten decades from the beginning of the Raj to post-WW2 migration from south Asia to the UK.
Drawing on archival research from the three-year project, Making Britain: South Asian Visions of Home and Abroad, 1870-1950, the touring exhibition examines the impact individuals, communities and political activity had on British life and their relevance in India.
As well as the well-known visit by Ghandi to Britain in 1931 there are hundreds of other lives celebrated, providing a fresh perspective on the impact on both nations of a shared heritage.
People like:
Dadabhai Naoroji the first Indian elected to parliament in Britain – elected Liberal MP in North London in 1892
Sophia Duleep Singh (pictured right) an Indian princess and Suffragette who marched alongside Emmeline Pankhurst in 1910
Abdul Karim (pictured below) a servant who taught Hindustani to Queen Victoria and was said to be closer to her than John Brown
Indra Lal Roy DFC a WW1 fighter ace with 10 ‘kills’ to his credit in a fortnight and killed on July 22, 1918
Using contemporary accounts, posters, pamphlets, diaries, newspapers, political reports and illustrations, Beyond the Frame: India in Britain, was launched in Delhi on November 25 at the British Council India.
As part of the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme there is a range of educational activities running alongside the exhibition with teachers’ packs and free worksheets for school children.
The exhibition will be at the National Archives of India until December 30 followed by a tour of northern India appearing at British Council libraries and NAI regional archives and from February 2012 in southern India.
The NAI will also be displaying complementary materials from its own collection.
Professor Nasta, in India for the tour said: “In taking the exhibition to India we wanted to swivel the perspective to examine India’s role within Britain rather than Britain’s well-documented imperial influence in India.
“The exhibition will trace Indian-British interactions across the race, class, gender divide and draw public attention to the complex realities of both countries’ intertwined histories.
“We hope this work will capture people’s interest and make them appreciate the huge impact people from India had on British life,” she said.
- Link to online database Making Britain: Indian British Connections:
- And Making Britain: Discover how south Asians shaped the country:
- Link to The British Library website Asians in Britain:
An exhibition marking the south Asian presence and influence on life in Britain is taking that story ‘home’ to India. Beyond the Frame: India in Britain 1858-1950 began a tour of India on November 25 which will continue into 2012. It is led by The Open University with its Project Director, OU Professor Susheila Nasta MBE. The tour is the follow-on to the ...
Forum on employment issues for disabled students
The OU Careers Advisory Service is running an online forum on 'Employment issues for disabled students' between May 3 - 27, 2011, with two careers advisers on hand to answer questions and moderate.
This is the Careers Advisory Service’s first forum specifically for disabled students, giving an opportunity to share advice, thoughts and experiences about any employment-related issues of particular concern, at any stage of study.
Participants can post a question, add a helpful comment to support others or just come in and browse. The forum will provide an excellent chance to ask about and discuss a whole range of topics such as:
- Disclosing a disability to an employer
- Supportive work-experience opportunities for disabled students
- Reasonable adjustments in the workplace
- Alternative work styles
- Disability-related organisations
Please note: An OU username and password is required to acces this online forum, which is specifically about career and employment-related queries. Students who have a general question about support for disabled students in the OU should go to www.open.ac.uk/disability in the first instance.
From May 27 the forum will become read-only, and remain a useful resource for a further 12 months.
The OU Careers Advisory Service is running an online forum on 'Employment issues for disabled students' between May 3 - 27, 2011, with two careers advisers on hand to answer questions and moderate. This is the Careers Advisory Service’s first forum specifically for disabled students, giving an opportunity to share advice, thoughts and experiences about any employment-related issues ...
OU grad helping to educate the women of Cameroon into better life
Tabea Müller is an OU graduate who studied in Hamburg, Germany. Keen to use her degree in the field, Tabea now works in a development role in Cameroon and writes regularly about her experiences for well-known German weekly newspaper Die Zeit...
More than 10 years ago Tabea Müller completed her BSc (Hons) with the OU. After digging into the theories of gender, development, environmental policy and social psychology she now works with women in Cameroon who hope to make better lives for themselves through education.
“After a hard working day on their farms or in the market, three dozen women aged between 30 and 75 still have an important date. Two to three times a week they go to their literacy course. They try to catch up on what they missed out on when they were younger, when their families had no money for education or it was simply not seen as important that a girl goes to school. The women are participants of the Women’s Economic Empowerment and Literacy Project (WEELP) of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) which we carry out in the north-west of the country, sponsored by Mission 21.
“It’s 8am. My Cameroonian colleague and I find a taxi and squeeze ourselves next to a number of other people into an old car. Muddy roads lead us through amazing landscapes. White morning clouds hang halfway between the clear, green mountains. Waterfalls rush down from the shiny rocks. What a beautiful country! On the roadside, women have already started to prepare their fish rolls and puff-puffs which swim in hot oil over a small fireplace. Our destination today is a small Sunday school house in a village in north-western Cameroon. The group of women greets us with stormy embraces, joyful voices and small dances.” Some hours later we find ourselves in discussions about the best food for pigs, current market prices as well as health issues of the newborn piglets,” says Tabea. “Women share their experiences, ask questions, learn together and try out new ideas. All of them are self employed farmers, small producers or traders who feed their families with their own small farms, animal rising or small market activities. What have they all come for?
“The women want to know: how can I improve my business performance? How can I stop hand-to-mouth living and overcome poverty? How can I gain independence and power over my own life and decisions?
“With WEELP, we use and update the various abilities and experiences women are already equipped with. We counsel and accompany women on their different journeys to make their dreams come true. We work with self employed women of all religious backgrounds and ages who have not be able to get much in the way of education so far.”
Through workshops and training the women gain new knowledge and confidence. The project puts emphasis on sustainable production methods to protect the health of the women and their families, to protect the environment and secure long-term use of natural resources. The women are encouraged to exchange their experiences, to learn from and support each other. And not at least, WEELP offers courses on adult literacy.
“We believe that with economic power, women will also gain more social power and self-esteem which can help to make the world a better place,” says Tabea. “It’s amazing to see how the project has changed women’s lives over the last two years. Little things, small initiatives can and do make a difference. The project is still very small scale and has a low budget. But many raindrops make an ocean. We are close to the people, work together with them, at their speed, according to their needs.”
Tabea has been living in Cameroon for two years now to manage the WEEL Project as well as to conduct training sessions and counsel the staff of the Women’s Work Department of the PCC.
“Beside my work here it’s wonderful to be embedded in this lively Cameroonian community, to be close to the people, to be embraced by their joy and sorrows, songs and dances, celebrations and laughter.”
But what lead Tabea to help improve the lives of women and their families in Cameroon, so far away from her native Germany?
“More than 10 years ago, without even dreaming of it, I laid the foundation stone of this mission when I completed my BSc (Hons) with the OU. After deeply digging into the theories of gender, development, environmental policy and social psychology, I now (sometimes even literally) dig with the women in the African soil and find myself faced with all the various, diverse, contradictory aspects I had studied – but now in the middle of the field!
“Empowering people, enriching lives, learning and discovering new things and improving living conditions are processes which never end and build bridges between different people and cultures. Out of my personal experience, the OU functions as such a bridge builder, together with the various study centres like the one in Hamburg, my former bridge to the OU.”
Tabea Müller is an OU graduate who studied in Hamburg, Germany. Keen to use her degree in the field, Tabea now works in a development role in Cameroon and writes regularly about her experiences for well-known German weekly newspaper Die Zeit... More than 10 years ago Tabea Müller completed her BSc (Hons) with the OU. After digging into the theories of gender, ...