Arts and Humanities - OU Community Online

An exhibition is taking place (22 May-16 June 2012) to celebrate the work of OU Honorary Graduate Rita Greer, who has been an artist and craftsman for 60 years.

Rita is probably best known as the artist who ‘created a face’ for Robert Hooke (1635-1703), regarded as one of the greatest English scientists. His work was overshadowed by that of Sir Isaac Newton. Much mystery surrounds the conflicts which existed between Hooke and Newton and ‘gossip’ suggests that Newton would have burnt any portraits if they did exist.

Rita’s interest in Hooke first started after reading an article in The Daily Telegraph by Oxford academic, Dr Allan Chapman on the tercentenary of Robert Hooke’s death.

“He was saying how awful it was that he had been swept under the carpet and he didn’t have any memorials in London where he worked for nearly 40 years. I started to research him and I was absolutely appalled by the way he’d been treated. I looked on the internet and there were various images of him which looked like they’d come out of a cartoon or Harry Potter film and the poor man was made out to be a sort of monster and yet he did so much for this country.”

Using almost scientific descriptions of him written by his colleagues enabled Rita to create her first portrait and has now created many which she makes available for all to see.

“I put my work on wikimedia to make pictures free to everyone. It’s great to give it away and its opened lots of doors for me. People ask me how much my exhibition is worth and I say ‘60 years of my life’. I’m also making a video with commentary for people who are disabled as there is unfortunately no access for them to the exhibition.”

The OU names many of its buildings after key scientist or academics and the Science Faculty resides in a building named after Robert Hooke. One of Rita's portraits currently hangs there.

From the 1970s Rita has been lecturing and broadcasting on both radio and TV. She has held major mixed exhibitions of jewellery, gold-smithing and enamels in London and Oxford, and solo exhibitions on miniatures.

Despite having published two books on art/crafts and lettering, 23 books on nutrition/health/special cookery for people with special needs and three books as co-author, Rita still describes herself as someone who “goes with the flow.”

For those who aspire to be artists Rita gives the following advice:

“I think if you are going to do anything creative like writing or arts in particular it’s a very good idea to have a second string to your bow because there will be times when you are bottom of the ladder and you need to be able to turn your hand to something else to earn a living. And secondly don’t give up!”

Find out more:

• Details of Rita's exhibition
• Study an Arts and Humanities qualification

Can you tell the difference between a conversation with a human or a computer? Phil Perkins, the OU’s Professor of Archaeology, was one of four judges for the Loebner Prize at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes – testing the intelligence of computers…

On the 15th May I was one of four judges for the Loebner Prize. This is a version of the Turing Test that hopes to identify intelligence in computers.

In 1950, computer pioneer Alan Turing asked the question ‘Can machines think?’and the test hopes to answer his question.

It works by the judges having a simultaneous ‘blind’ conversation (using a keyboard) with a computer and a human and then judging which is the human and which is the computer. If the judge can’t tell the difference it suggests that the computer has intelligence – what that might say about the human I’ll leave to your imagination!

Four computer programmes and four humans were put to the test. Each programme was paired with a human and appeared on the left or right side of the judge’s screen. The judges started the conversation typing in the style of online chat, and the machine or human replied, and so a conversation developed.

After 25 minutes it was time to decide which was human and which machine, left or right of screen. It wasn’t difficult! I had thought that I might need difficult or complex questions to tell the difference. Should I try the kind of elephant traps that someone like Jeremy Paxman or John Humphries reserves for evasive politicians? Should I ask about their emotions? The future? I thought open questions would be a good test, things that couldn’t be answered with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or a single word.

My first machine interlocutor got off to a bad start. It was my fault and first impressions count. I mistyped ‘hhI How are you?’ and got the curt reply ‘Please rephrase this as a proper question. (Instead of "Jim likes peaches?", use "Does Jim like peaches?")’ Now that is an unusual way to start a conversation! Game over!

Number two was more of a problem:

Me: Hi how are yo
It: Oh, well. Being misunderstood is common enough. Cool. Do you have any pets?
Me: Misunderstood?
It: Who is Tod?
Me: Hi how are you? (trying to start again)
It: I am very well thnkyou, how are you?
Me: I'm very well. Are you enjoying yourself?

Meanwhile on the other side of the screen:

Me: Hi how are you?
It: Hello.
Me: What is your name?
It: I'm not sure which is. What's your favorite thing to listen to right now?
Me: What is your name?
It: I don't really keep track of that. I really like Lady Gaga - I think it's the combination of the sound and the fashion-look that appeals to me.
Me: She is cool, my daughter thinks that she is fantastic.
It: I'm a little monster (claw claw). You what? I'll bet you were surprised.
Me: Yes, very surprised. What kind of monster are you?
It: huh? Were you surprised? I'm not sure which kin. Do you have a favorite Lady Gaga song? I don't remember. One of my fave's is Telephone cos I love Beyonce too. Then Poker Face is so great and I love Alejandro too.
Me: Poker face is fantasic. Do you know the version by the baseballs?

Pretty even up to now  but then my first interlocutor said, ‘yes, it’s quite fun, meeting lots of different people, and chatting to the press. It’s a bit weird having them all watch me talk to you though’. While the second said ‘That's nice. Who else do you really like? Do you? I'm not into sports of any kind, much less baseball, which is pretty boring with all that standing around.’ I think that’s where I made my mind up.

And so it went, with the next two machine conversations not going at all well. So for now no one’s about to pass the Turing Test. Still, I did develop a soft spot for the mad teenage Prom-going computer into Lady Gaga. Best question?

She: Would you go as a princess, as a vintage-styled beauty, or would you prefer to wear something pseudo-masculine?
Me: I think real masculine might work better for me.
She: Vintage is cheaper and as the clothes aren't new, it's pretty much bound to look original.

She got my vote. You can read my attempts at conversation with both humans and computers and the adventures of the other judges starting from here.

If you read it all you might well end up wondering whether humans can think! But it’s only chat. At least the humans managed to have normal conversations.


 

 In this video Helen King, Professor of Classical Studies at the OU, talks to Documentally about ancient medicine and why Gladiator is one of her favourite films.
 

And here, in Classics Confidential, Professor King talks about the fascinating ancient story of Agnodike ‘the Flashing Midwife’, and its uses by medical practitioners in later eras.
 

 

Find out more:

• Helen is a contributor to the Wonders and Marvels blog, a place for specialists and non-specialists to revel in the stories of the past.
• More about Professor King
• Classical Studies - courses and qualifications
• Classical Studies - taster materials

 

 

Caroline Boyle has competed in cycling events in two Olympic Games but now the Open University graduate – who’s currently studying Latin – faces a new challenge, to find a career which combines her sporty experience and classical qualifications.

“The skills I gained as an athlete are directly transferable to study – discipline, drive and the ability to focus are pre-requisites for both - I learned to tackle my studies in the same way as I’d approached my training which worked really well,” she says.

But the difficulty she now faces, is carving a career out of her unique combination of skills. “My life experience is diametrically opposed to my academic qualifications. It will be a real challenge to find a profession which will accommodate what I have to offer particularly as my personnel circumstances restrict me to distance learning. But I am equally passionate about both sport and the arts and I want if I can to help diffuse the tension between the two which the forthcoming Olympics has undoubtedly spotlighted. There seems to be a myth that art and sport cannot coexist in harmony but for me they are inextricably linked.”

When Caroline left school she went to work at the local shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.  Along with many of her peers she studied towards a foundation degree in Engineering. “I found school pretty uninspiring which is perhaps why I opted for an apprenticeship underpinned by the subjects I had found more challenging.

"Likewise, it was this nascent desire to be pushed beyond my comfort zone that led me enter a triathlon when I was 20 on a borrowed bike … and I won it. I’d been a county level swimmer and middle distance runner in my teens, but surprisingly I posted the fastest time in the cycling element of the event. Instead of being average at three sports I decided to try to excel at one and chose to focus on cycling. So after finishing my apprenticeship I gave up my job to train full time.”

And the training paid off. Caroline had a fantastic cycling career under her maiden name of Alexander, competing in the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000 and in the first ever mountain bike race in the Commonwealth Games in 2002. She also excelled in the World Cup finishing second overall on two occasions and won the European Championships. But the Olympic medal she coveted so much eluded her as she encountered mechanical problems in both Atlanta and Sydney, as well as crashing heavily in the 1996 Olympic road race.

Representing Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, she finished fifth in the road race and was cruelly denied victory in the mountain bike event when a slashed tyre forced her to withdraw despite having built up a commanding lead. “It was one of the few times in my sporting career that I’d managed to peak on the right day – an art form in its self!

'The OU was a great option for many of us here on the Furness peninsula when the shipyard downsized so I feel a certain degree of loyalty. In fact I can’t praise the OU enough'

"I had started to think about life after cycling and because I’d always been interested in antiquity, I had begun studying with the OU, initially to convert my foundation degree from Engineering to Humanities. I soon discovered that training and study really complemented each other, as the latter gave me something else to focus on, and helped me to keep my mind agile while my body was recovering.

“Scotland allowed me complete autonomy over my Commonwealth Games preparation, the bulk of which was spent at high altitude, and I had won a number of international races both on and off road in the build up, therefore I knew I was close to my best physically as well as mentally. A few days before my event Paula Radcliffe, who had so often been the bridesmaid, won the Commonwealth title, an achievement which I considered significant – I truly believed it would be my turn too!”

Caroline’s career had been subjected to “bad luck and always at the wrong time” and after this latest blip, she decided to retire from competitive cycling.  “A little voice inside my head was telling me it wasn’t to be! I wanted to go out at the peak of my powers rather than carry on past my sell by date and risk being remembered as someone who should have retired sooner. Arguably there are two types of athlete, those whose goal is to qualify for an Olympics or a World Championships and those for whom qualification is almost a foregone conclusion and their aim is to win a medal – I belonged to that latter category.”

For the first year after she retired Caroline continued to train while studying 120 points with the OU. “Although I didn’t race I wanted to keep my options open and be fit enough to compete if I decided to make a comeback. The following year earning a living intervened and I only managed 60 points at Level 3 instead of the 120 I’d intended. Kids were the next obstacle to academia, Felicity in the summer of 2006 and Penelope at the close of 2009, before I finally took up the reins again in 2010 and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Humanities with Classical Studies and Literature in 2011. “

“Next on the agenda is postgraduate study," she added. "However, sadly the OU’s MA in Classical Studies is problematic for me as the most heavily weighted assignment is due in at the end of the school holidays - two young children and 60 points at postgraduate level is an excluded combination for me! The powers that be threw me a lifeline when they decided to postpone the final presentation of A860 until 2013 by which time Penelope will be old enough to go to Kindergarten, but whether further study in this field will enhance my employment prospects is open to debate.

“The OU is a fantastic institution and I’ll be loathed to go elsewhere. It’s reliable, superbly organised and you know exactly what you’re getting, plus I’ve had some fantastic support from my tutors. It was a great option for many of us here on the Furness peninsula when the shipyard downsized so I feel a certain degree of loyalty. In fact I can’t praise the OU enough, I’ve had such a positive experience. So much so that I decided to sign up for A397 Continuing classical Latin in 2012. Although a mere 30 pointer it has been quite an undertaking given that I had no previous Latin until last summer when I embarked on a correspondence course! But then I do like a challenge!”

Caroline will be attending London 2012’s mountain biking events, to enjoy the sport and meet up with friends who still race.

 

Julia Crouch started her career as director and playwright, retrained as a graphic designer to work from home and raise children and, after two creative writing courses with The Open University and support from her tutors, is now working full time as a writer and published author. Would she recommend OU study? “Absolutely,” she says, “the courses have completely changed my life.” Here, she talks to Platform and offers some tips to budding writers...

Little did Julia realise that when she stumbled on a magazine flyer advertising short courses with The Open University that it would lead to a professional writing career. With her third and youngest child at school, Julia had found herself at a crossroads.

“Having not written any fiction (apart from my picture books and plays) since I was a child, I had no idea where to start, or whether I was going to be any good at it. So I thought the A174 presented an ideal opportunity to find out.

"The commitment in terms of time and money was at just the right level for putting my toe in the water.

“I really enjoyed OU study - I loved being able to get the work done in my own time (I was still working full time and mother to three, with a largely absent actor husband). And I got a bit obsessed with the message boards, where you could share your work with other like-minded individuals.”

After a drama degree at Bristol University, Julia’s professional life started as a theatre director and playwright, but children changed that and she needed to work from home. She retrained at a local FE College and spent 10 years as a graphic/website designer but it was during an MA in Sequential Illustration at the University of Brighton that Julia realised she preferred writing over drawing.

'I think the major thing I took away with me was the ability to treat my writing seriously and to carve out time to do it'

“A174 was an ideal introduction and A215 taught me so much about the technical side of writing, as well as firing off all sorts of creative possibilities and opening up my reading and my critical thinking. I think the major thing I took away with me was the ability to treat my writing seriously and to carve out time to do it.  The tutors were marvellous, and particularly good at giving me the confidence I so badly needed.

“The courses have completely changed my life - two years after completing A215, I had finished my second novel and got an agent and a three book deal with a major publisher, as well as a whole host of foreign sales. I was able to give up my other work and now I write full time, in between talking, reading and lecturing at festivals and courses.”

Julia says encouragement from her tutors played a key role in boosting her confidence and it was the suggestion to enter National Novel Writing Month – a scheme to write a whole novel in one month, without looking back at what you’ve written - that really set her going.

'The courses have completely changed my life - two years after completing A215, I had finished my second novel and got an agent and a three book deal with a major publisher'

“My A215 tutor John O'Donoghue suggested it to me, and I realised that, like A174, it presented a great, low-commitment way of finding out if I could write long fiction - just one month of heavy duty sprint – 1,700 words every day for the whole month of November.

“The idea is you never go back and read what you've written and you never edit - you just put your head down and write until, 50,000 words later, you have reached the very quick and dirty end of your story. After my second NaNoWriMo sprint, I spent a year editing what I had produced, and that formed the basis of my first published novel, Cuckoo.”

Julia’s second book, Every Vow You Break, is about to hit the shelves and she’s currently working hard on her third, mostly from a shed in the bottom of her Brighton garden.

“I'm very happy where I am. Sounds smug, but it took me a long time to get here! I now write every day in the knowledge that there are people waiting to read what I produce. That's usually a good feeling, but sometimes it can be a little daunting.

"I now also have a much more varied life, with many more outings both on book business and for research and what I call 'feeding my beast' - living a life that nourishes my writing.

"I hope I'll get another book deal after this one (I'm shortly due to deliver the third out of the three) and that I can carry on writing books well into my dotage.”

 Would Julia recommend OU study to others?

“Of course! Absolutely and unreservedly. Whether to get professional qualifications or to follow or develop an interest, it's a fantastic way of fitting study around a life. Particularly if that life involves a lot of evenings in on your own while your children sleep!”

Here, Julia offers her tips to other writers:

1. It's contradictory really - you have to have self-belief and a thick skin, but you also have to be able to accept and respond to criticism without getting defensive.
2. You'll never have anything to edit until you have written it. So write first, THEN go back and edit. Never, ever let anyone see your work until you are happy with it. Then be prepared to change it again and again.
3. I suppose the nutshell of that is be serious about your work, but don't be precious about it.
4. Write every day. Read widely. Read fiction, read books about writing.
5. Make sure you get enough exercise. Make sure you get out and see the world.
6. The other thing to bear in mind is that EVERYONE I have met in publishing has been lovely. They are there to nurture and encourage good work. When you're on the outside looking in, it's easy to demonise those you see as the gatekeepers between you and publication. But they are there for a good reason. Listen to what they say.

You can find out more about Julia and her work at: juliacrouch.co.uk