The newspaper for all Social Sciences Students and Staff at The Open University

Society Matters was created in 1998. Today, if people ask what are the core values and aspirations of the Faculty of Social Sciences, one of the first places they look to find out is in the pages of the annual student and staff newspaper. For twelve issues Society Matters has sought to engage readers with those realities which make up everyday life. It has championed the involvement of students themselves, questioned government and academic dogma, informed readers of our curriculum and research priorities, and provided a diverse array of short and informative, often amusing, stories, all embellished by fine photographs and illustrations plus contributions from our two highly talented student cartoonists.

Society Matters has continually defended the right to free speech and used its 24 full colour pages to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of social sciences. We have dealt with war, peace, love, welfare, poverty, health and disease, climate change, global warming, multiculturalism, the war on terror, insecurity, identity and self image, media and political spin, money, overseas aid, arms sales, tsunamis, famines, religious bigotry, rights and responsibilities, family life, the clash of civilisations, refugees, immigration, the history of ideas, political representation, capital punishment, penal policy, mental health, child welfare, social care of the elderly, and done some crystal ball gazing about the future relevance of the social sciences.

Issue number 12, 2009-2010

Welcome to the twelfth edition of Society Matters. We interview the University Chancellor, Lord Puttnam, who predicts that the next 10 years will be more eventful for the University than the previous 40. We also focus upon those values on which the University was founded in 1969 - widening access to those people who have not had an eduication. The University is about to embark on a significant initiative to broaden access to higher education for prisons. Our four-page centre section highlights some of our successes, and demonstrates how the University hopes to overcome some of the problems associated with prison education in the future.

The twelth issue is packed with articles addressing a range of concerns: Africa and health, our ageing population, the internationalization of our curriculum, political expenses; the importance of financial education in the current world-wide recession, and an update on the University’s green credentials. The issue also includes analyses of the recent privatization of UK universities, the environment and happiness, UK poverty and inequality, and the importance of sustained UK media analysis for social scientists. There are also a wide-range of student and Associate Lecturer contributions on autism, on how Margaret Thatcher saved the OU, on Scotland revisited, and last but not least, an analysis of history’s top ten fiscal stimuli. .We also look in depth oat our new curriculum offerings for 2010.

Articles, letters and comments gratefully received: email the editor Richard Skellington, r.s.skellington@open.ac.uk

Deadline for the next issue: April 2010

Society Matters Extra

Two years ago we introduced a new facility, Society Matters Extra, which will be updated between now and the 13th Society Matters edition. There are around 35 features on the Society Matters Extra page and only lack of space has prevented these articles being published in the main newspaper. If you click on the link above you will access many more stimulating articles, and if you are an OU student, you may find them relevant to your social science studies.

Past Society Matters issues

Society Matters No 12 - Autumn/Winter 2009/2010

Society Matters No 11 - Autumn/Winter 2008/2009

Society Matters No 10 - Autumn/Winter 2007/08

Society Matters No 9 - Autumn/Winter 2006/07

Society Matters No 8 - Autumn/Winter 2005/06

Society Matters No 7 - Autumn/Winter 2004/05

Society Matters No 6 - Autumn/Winter 2003/04