The Open University

OU academic chosen out of hundreds for a broadcast project

5 April 2023

An OU academic has won one of the nation’s ten coveted places as a “New Generation Thinker” to bring fresh thinking to a range of topics on the world around us. The project is run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and BBC Radio 3, and Dr Dan taylor, Lecturer in Social and […]

What to know about tax-free savings before the 5 April ISA deadline

31 March 2023

If you want to know about tax-free individual-savings account and why you may need to take one out now – see what Jonquil Lowe, senior lecturer in economics and personal finance at The Open University, has to say. The window for making the most of your savings this tax year is closing. As the final […]

Four ways the UK economy is being hampered by the private sector

27 March 2023

Alan Shipman is a senior lecturer in economics at The Open University. Here he talks about ways the private sector is hampering today’s UK economy and points to four ways it is doing so. The UK government has decided to go ahead with a rise in corporation tax in April 2023. The move is a […]

How world sport got into a mess over trans athletes – and how it can get out of it

23 March 2023

Jon Pike, The Open University World sport has been convulsed over the past few months – indeed years – by questions about trans athletes, especially trans women, competing in their acquired gender. Most recently, World Athletics announced its “preferred option” of a reduced 2.5nmol testosterone limit for trans women to compete, with a final decision […]

Wild Isles: starling murmuration in BBC documentary reveals as much about people as it does about birds

21 March 2023

Samuel Shaw is a lecturer in art history at The Open University and a self-confessed fan of the BBC/OU co production, Wild Isles. Here he talks about how fascinating and significant he finds the way humans look at nature – the art of birdwatching. I’m sitting on the sofa, watching starlings. There are thousands of […]

Brickies is back for a second series

20 March 2023

Brickies – the real-life documentary that follows the trials and tribulations of a group of bricklayers – is back! Expect a lot of fun and laughter from the brickies as they get on with the serious business of getting on with the job but we see a different side, too: just how much the cost […]

Three ways the ‘back to work’ budget will affect your finances

17 March 2023

Jonquil Lowe is a senior lecturer in economics and personal finance at the OU and gives her verdict on the recent budget and three key ways it will affect your finances. In the 2023 spring budget, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a raft of measures designed to boost economic growth and productivity. To achieve this […]

Music and mental health: the parallels between Victorian asylum treatments and modern social prescribing

10 March 2023

Rosemary Golding is a senior lecturer in music at The Open University who reveals here her fascinating research in how music was used to help patients in Victorian asylums with their mental health. Music has a powerful effect on the listener. It is linked to better mental health, and it has been shown to alleviate […]

Delving deep into the history of Welsh music

28 February 2023

Welsh Open University Music academics lent not just their individual expertise but their origins to help inform programme makers about Wales, ‘the land of song’, and the history of Welsh music in a BBC / OU co-production. ‘Wales: Music Nation with Huw Stephens’ looks at aspects of the musical history of Wales and is presented […]

Russo-Ukraine conflict one year on

24 February 2023

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is a lecturer in politics and international studies at the OU and specialises in communication, misinformation and security, particularly in Russia. Here she looks back on a year of war in Ukraine – lessons learned and reasons for an increasingly isolated Russia. Russia’s stated aim in invading Ukraine in 2022 was to […]

OU News

Category: Arts and social sciences