The Open University

5 of the top orchestral film scores of all time

1 March 2018

Whether it’s the haunting theme from Schindler’s List or the magical motif from Harry Potter, there’s no doubt that film scores are hugely evocative and an integral part of the cinema experience. Dr Ben Winters is a Senior Lecturer in Music, an expert in Hollywood film music, and can often be found digging through manuscripts […]

9 books about dogs

26 February 2018

It’s the Chinese year of the dog, so why not add a book about dogs to your reading list? Dr Alex Hobbs, Associate Lecturer on the AA100: The Arts Past and Present and EA300: Children’s Literature module, has hand-picked these nine canine-led page-turners. Warning: some titles may induce weeping! 1) The Art of Racing in […]

Read more about 9 books about dogs

Three tales of Christmas music through time

19 December 2017

Music is such an integral part of the Christmas season, and has been for centuries. Here senior lecturer in music, Elaine Moohan, shares some of the accounts of Christmas music captured by the OU’s research project – the Listening Experience Database. Memories of music at Christmas In the weeks leading up to Christmas we seem […]

India in Britain – celebrating a shared heritage

26 September 2017

A major touring exhibition based on research from the OU and the University of Exeter to celebrate the long history of the Indian presence in Britain and its impact on British life has been shortlisted for an Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award 2018. “At the Heart of the Nation” exhibition is one of […]

What emoji can teach us about human civilization

9 August 2017

Dr Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, wonders where we would be without emojis today and traces their origins in history, right back to Ancient Egyptian times. Despite their popularity, emoji are still often viewed as a frivolous form of communication. For some, they seem to be a huge step back for civilization. Is it […]

Full-time carer and “superhero student” achieves dream degree

13 June 2017

Caring full-time for her grandfather with Parkinson’s disease, 26-year-old Danielle Haigh-Wood was convinced that she’d never achieve her dream of getting a degree. However, after taking the plunge with a short history course, she was hooked on OU life and began studying for a joint humanities degree in philosophy and history, graduating at Bridgewater Hall, […]

A Clockwork Orange: ultraviolence, Russian spies and fake news

25 February 2017

The writer Anthony Burgess is most famous for his novel, A Clockwork Orange. This month marks the centenary of the writer’s birth and his dystopian vision still casts a long shadow over popular culture. But what is perhaps more intriguing is how the book was once drawn into a world of Russian espionage, fake news […]

Winners of International Radio Playwriting competition – slavery, war and corruption

10 June 2016

BBC World Service and the British Council, with co-producer The Open University and in partnership with Commonwealth Writers, have announced the winners of the 25th International Radio Playwriting Competition. Joanne Gutknecht from Canada won the English as a First Language category for her script Playing With Fire, while Pericles Silveira from Brazil triumphed in the […]

Self-improvement through reading: gospel or a tall tale?

23 April 2016

The idea that reading contributes to our self-improvement is so embedded in our culture that we rarely stop to consider it. Edmund King, a Research Associate at The Open University (OU) and one of the lead academics on the Reading Experience Database (RED), examines the experience of readers over a period of a century and asks whether […]

green landscape coming out of the pages of a book

11 tips to help you read outside your comfort zone

23 April 2016

Is your bedside table stacked with crime thrillers, romantic novels or dystopian literature? Never tend to mix your genres, safe in the knowledge that you like what you read? Perhaps you’re missing out, says the OU’s Dr Alex Hobbs, a tutor in the Faculty of Arts. Here she shares her top 10 tips for expanding […]

OU News

Category: Arts