Faculty of Social Sciences
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News from the Faculty of Social Sciences
20 March 2013
Double win at Royal Television Society Awards for OU/BBC co-productions
Two Open University/BBC co-produced programmes won prestigious awards last night presented by Royal Television Society (RTS). The Secret History of Our Streets won the history category and Protecting Our Children won the documentary category.The Secret History of Our Streets a series on BBC2 in May last year, returned …
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Free social work learning resources
Secret History of our Streets interactive
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+44 (0)1908 858673
14 February 2013
A dozen red roses may not be as welcome as washing the dishes on Valentine’s Day – Open University study finds
As audiences chuckle at films such as new romantic comedy “I Give It A Year”, researchers at The Open University have been looking at what keeps couples together after the flurry of Valentine’s Day romance is over.Interim findings from a major two-year study called Enduring Love? Couple Relationships …
17 January 2013
Police integrity report sheds light on police whistleblower attitudes
Research which demonstrates fluctuating attitudes within the police towards whistleblowing on breaches of official policing policy has been released by The Open University.Senior Lecturer in Criminology Dr Louise Westmarland, who led the study, said that the results “show that the ‘blue wall of …
16 August 2012
Modern relationships – time to rewrite the rules?
A new book by Dr Meg Barker, senior lecturer in psychology at The Open University, explores the complicated and contradictory rules of relationships. Rewriting the Rules, (Routledge), asks questions such as: Which to choose from all the rules on offer? Do we stick to the old rules we learnt growing up, or try …
2 May 2012
Social Science Bites: A Major new podcast series
Social Science Bites, a new podcast containing interviews with leading social scientists on different aspects of the social world, was launched today. The series is produced and presented by well known authors Nigel Warburton (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, The Open University) and David Edmonds (Senior Research …
30 March 2012
OU’s sports degree can offer that “podium moment” to fitness fans
A new Open University degree – which focuses on sport, fitness and coaching– has scored a hit with sport enthusiasts aiming to achieve their academic as well as sporting goals.Future fitness and sports leaders can struggle to combine an academic career with the demands of a tough training regime or job. …
29 March 2012
Students seek to get money savvy with OU finance course
Budgeting is not just something that interests the Chancellor as The Open University has discovered - its course in managing personal finance is pulling in higher numbers each time as tutors find more and more people want to get a handle on their money. Take up of places on You & Your Money: Personal Finance in …
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DB:123 You And Your Money: Personal Finance in Context
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2 February 2012
Economists call for radical and immediate reform of financial system
• New research uncovers key policy recommendations for financial reform to exit the crisis• MPs told “Focus must be on finance for innovation, not innovation for finance”London, 2nd February 2012 – The financial crisis has exposed a dysfunctional financial system that threatens European …
18 November 2011
Student film makers get creative with climate change message
Students from the UK’s leading film schools have risen to a challenge from The Open University and the BBC to present environmental debates in a fresh and creative way. More than 80 ideas for films were pitched as part of a competition open to the students with a remit covering a wide range of environmental …
Related links
Link to short film competition winners
Link to Creative Climate website
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+44 (0)1908 858673
19 May 2011
Businesses should be rewarded for innovation
European governments need to devise policies that enable financial markets to reward rather than penalise innovation and thereby encourage longer-term investment planning, research coordinated by the Open University warns.Evidence suggests that companies who engage in riskier and more innovative ventures are being …
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Professor Marianna Mazzucato, Faculty of Social Sciences
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01908 654 316
5 April 2011
Would you make a good eyewitness? Have a go with the OU's new PhotoFit app
We’re all familiar with the photo ‘reconstructions’ of offenders’ faces, created and publicised in the hope a member of the public will recognise the perpetrator and lead to a break in the case. Yet just how easy is it to recreate a stranger’s face from memory?The Open University has …
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Graham Pike, Professor of Applied Cognition at the OU
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+44 (0) 1908 655614
30 March 2011
Open University programme for BBC FOUR wins broadcast award
A documentary produced by the Open University for BBC FOUR, which focused on the reality of being sectioned, has won the 2011 Learning on Screen General Education Broadcast Award.Sectioned followed the lives of three men with long-term mental health problems who are initially ‘sectioned’ (detained under …
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Faculty of Health and Social Care
Learn more about mental health
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+44 (0) 1908 652580
8 March 2011
Restorative justice policy and research too narrow, says report
A report released today by the independent think-tank, Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS), has identified some key areas for improvement for restorative justice.‘Drawing together research, policy and practice for restorative justice’ is the result of a joint seminar held in partnership with the …
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International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR)
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+44 (0) 1908 652580
24 June 2010
What is Black British Jazz?
A team of researchers from The Open University is examining the cultural identity and emergence of Black British Jazz (BBJ). The project asks how far it can be considered a distinct tradition within British music and is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (£495,643). This is the first time …
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Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change
Black British Jazz on iTunes U
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+44 (0)1908 655026
11 May 2010
Leading economists and historians to debate “Innovation and Inequality” and their importance for understanding the financial crisis
15th-16th May 2010, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, ItalyLeading innovation economists, historians and industrial experts will gather in Pisa on May 15th to discuss dynamic links between innovation and inequality, the need for new indicators of inequality that go beyond wages and income, and the …
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+44 (0)1908 655026
19 April 2010
OU presents European Citizenship research findings to Brussels policy makers
Key findings from an international research project led by The Open University examining European citizenship are due to be presented to European policy makers at a conference in Brussels on 27 April. Legally, all citizens of EU member states are European citizens, and the Enact project has involved researchers from …
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Research Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance
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+44 (0)1908 655026
9 April 2010
OU academic honoured by Academy of Social Sciences
The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) has conferred the award of Academician on Richard Collins, Professor of Media Studies, at The Open University. Richard is among 57 academics to have received the award. Academicians are distinguished scholars and practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors who …
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+44 (0)1908 655026
8 April 2010
Eyewitness: Could you recall the face of a murderer? Ground breaking new series explores human memory
TX: Sunday 18 April, 10.50pm, BBC TWO, 3 x 60 minutesMany of us will be a witness to a violent crime in our lifetime and recalling the event to the police isn’t as easy as you might think – because our own memory plays tricks on us. In Eyewitness, an audacious and groundbreaking new three-part series on …
29 March 2010
‘Personal investment: financial planning in an uncertain world’ empowers readers to gain financial control
Timed perfectly with the critical period in which all are hoping that the recovery from the 2007-2008 financial crisis finally gets under way, The Open University, in association with Palgrave Macmillan has published a new book, Personal investment: financial planning in an uncertain world to help individuals and …
24 March 2010
Identity, Politics and Obama – Does ‘who we are’ still matter?
A groundbreaking new handbook released by SAGE this month brings together the vast and interdisciplinary field of identity research, culminating from a huge four-year, £4million ESRC funded research programme on Identities and Social Action. The SAGE Handbook of Identities is edited by professors Margaret …