Arts and Humanities - OU Community Online

The OU's Nigel Warburton has recorded an episode for the new series of Radio 4's The Philospher's Arms on the topic of the status of forgeries and copies. The programme will be broadcast at 3pm on Tuesday 14 August 2012.

A first time author with an inspirational journey from study to retirement has dedicated her book to the Open University because, she says, it changed her life.

Moira Coleman was one of the OU’s first 25,000 students starting in 1971. She undertook six years of degree studies, self-funded while working full time as a secretary but also taking on extra typing work to cover fees and books.

Moira said: “The OU offered me a chance to fulfil the potential lost by leaving grammar school at 15, because of family poverty, with no educational qualifications. As an adolescent, I longed to go to university; as a 24-year-old with a string of dissatisfying jobs behind me, I still believed I was capable of more but the only way to know was to be tested rigorously. The OU offered that test in a way that was unique in its day.”

Remembering those days, Moira said: “I was excited to be part of something that was itself new and untried; I was ready and willing to take that risk. Everything about the OU appealed to me, not least the opportunity to continue working full-time while I studied. The approach to using tutorial support in conjunction with mixed media (then limited to TV, radio and printed materials) to support distance learning was revolutionary at the time and equally attractive.”

A full and successful career followed, with part-time work as a tutor for the Workers’ Educational Association leading to a permanent post on their professional field staff.

“This was the beginning of a 13 year career,” added Moira. “The range of work developed exponentially, opening the way to previously unimaginable opportunities, principally concerned with people who, against the odds, were keen to test themselves at higher levels, as I had done 20 years earlier. It was a chance to give something back.”

In her work with the WEA, Moira developed and delivered a series of courses preparing wary adult learners for the challenge of returning to study, with the objective of reducing first year drop out numbers.

Then in 1997, the work went a step further and on behalf of the WEA, Moira bid successfully for almost £250,000 of National Lottery funding to develop the courses into a computer-based, supported open learning format for disadvantaged adult returners living in rural Suffolk, known as the WEA Trailblazer Project.

“My OU pedigree came to the fore in a key element of the project,” said Moira, “which was enabling tutors to become communicators using digital resources. This was achieved by employing our own software programmer to work alongside both students and tutors.

“Unsurprisingly, he too was an ex-Open University student.”

Moira managed the project and bid to several other funding streams accessible in the Rural Development Area, securing another £500,000. A new post was created for her, Director of Learning Technologies, enabling Moira to cascade the entire experience within the Eastern District of the WEA and nationally.

When the funding ceased, so did the post, but the innovative approach of the Trailblazer project had caught the imagination of local education providers and Moira and the now redundant programmer set up a small software development business dedicated to enabling the education sector.

“This was my final taste of paid work, ceasing in 2010 by which time I was 63.

“Undaunted, I returned with relish to the historical research abandoned during the hectic, career-driven years.”

That research has resulted in Moira’s first book, ‘Fruitful Endeavours: the 16th Century household secrets of Catherine Tollemache’ which was published in August 2012.

The dedication reads: To the Open University, who took me in with an appetite to learn and sent me out with a hunger to learn more. Thank you from one of your first 25,000: 1971-76.'

Moria said: “The dedication is more than rhetoric; the hunger is still there, the desire to look into, not just look at.

“The OU changed my life and I have never ceased to be grateful.

“I found the OU experience to be rich and deep, providing me with a reservoir of mental stimulation that had been lacking before. This, and the gradual process of on-going personal achievement, helped me to gain self-belief. I learned to recognise my own strengths and weaknesses and develop strategies to enhance the former and overcome the latter. This had stood me in good stead for more than 40 years, enabling me to think outside the box, commit myself and finish what I start.

“At the risk of over-working a cliche, the Open University gave me an OPEN mind." 

Find out more:

• Buy a copy of Moira's book

For recent graduate Susan Allinson the support of her dog during her OU studies was as important as the support of a family. Susan shares her story with Platform.

Finding inspiration to study
Usually most students praise the support of their family and friends who have helped them through all the OU years. For me, it is actually my dog who has helped me through some difficult patches, and especially when looking for inspiration for those TMAs.

Writing up TMAs almost always requires isolation, silence and hopefully no distractions. I was easily distracted by my dog at my feet with her deep dark eyes boring into me. I resisted most of the time although would occasionally give in and take her out for a short walk.

A walk with the dog meant time to think
I revelled in those moments of distraction not because I had escaped from the real work but because I used this time to concretise my arguments and thoughts. And to my surprise it really worked! Once back in my seat, I couldn’t type fast enough, although, it does help if you have a good memory.

I graduated in April in London with a BSc after a long and very enjoyable six years of study.

Now that I have no reason to submit any more TMAs and to plan my life according to the cut-off dates, I find myself looking at the student homepage just to see if there are any e-mails for me. Alas, there are none. However, I still have the university’s links. This is where I came across the ‘OUSA Arts room’ and decided to have a look at this year’s student experiences and comments on my last course A218.

Promoting the benefits of having a dog
Amongst the usual banter of support and comradeship, there was one comment from a student who had just acquired a puppy and who wondered how this would affect her study. I do remember the day we bought our puppy after one of the OU exams in October 2001 and the way in which she changed our way of life – and only for the better I hasten to add.

The impact of animals on a persons life should not be underestimated and various research has taken place to explore the Human-Animal bond.

• An article in News in Health explores the health and social benefits of owning a dog. It suggests there is lots to be gained from this interaction but that we are still learning and more research needs to be done.
• According to about.com owning a dog or cat could also reduce stress and improve your mood.

 

 

The OU is one of the sponsors of IF: Milton Keynes International Festival which has been listed as one of the top 100 festivals in The Sunday Times 2012 Festival Guide.

The festival runs for 10 days at various locations across Milton Keynes and presents a busy international programme of concerts, comedy, cabaret, theatre, pop ups, activities and large scale events in unusual places and temporary venues.

The OU is sponsoring two of the festival’s events: As The World Tipped – a wired aerial multi-media theatre in which performers, suspended above the audience in the night sky, struggle to control their increasingly precarious world as they do battle with the effects of drastic environmental catastrophe; and the Cabaret of Ideas, described as a live Wikipedia of fascinating thought leaders, experts and mavericks from, or who have a strong connection with, Milton Keynes.

A handful of OU academics have been nominated to take part in the latter event in which the audience will lucky-dip four 20-minute conversations with people of interest.

Free tickets for members of the OU community!
Members of the OU community – staff, students and alumni – will be entitled to free tickets to the As The World Tipped event, which has been shortlisted in The Observer’s Ethical Awards.

For the 'free ticket' code and booking number - to a maximum of four tickets per caller - please email platform@open.ac.uk and state whether you're a member of OU staff, a student or alumni.

 

Julius Caesar - a production featuring a Royal Shakespeare Company cast - will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC4 on Sunday 24 June.

The film features a Royal Shakespeare Company cast, and was shot alongside the stage rehearsals and during the actual theatrical run in Stratford-upon-Avon. No television version of a play has ever been made in this way before. The programme is a collaboration between the RSC, BBC, OU and World Shakespeare Festival.

The series was commissioned to support the Arts faculty priorities of engaging an audience in Shakespeare and, through that, into a deeper engagement with English Literature. Dr Edmund King is the academic consultant on the programme for The Open University.

The OpenLearn website also offers more information, including specially shot, behind the scenes films with the cast and crew.

 

Please note: this URL may not be live until the day of transmission, and may only contain minimum content and resources if viewed prior to broadcast.

A £50,000 bequest to the OU’s Music department has helped to fund research into the work of Handel.

Music lover Florence Rigg who studied with the OU during the 80s (gaining a BA Hons), requested her legacy be used for Musical Studies.

Head of Music Dr Bob Samuels interviews Helen Green, who will be undertaking the research which provides an insight into eighteenth century music. 

 

The University, and the Music Department, are very grateful for Miss Rigg’s generosity.

Find out more:

• Leave gift in your Will
• The Handel research project
• Qualifications in Music
• Music research at the OU
• OU projects supported by donations