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Category: Arts and social sciences

Brickies is back for a second series

Brickies is back for a second series

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 […]

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

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

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 […]

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

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

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 […]

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Delving deep into the history of Welsh music

Delving deep into the history of Welsh music

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 […]

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Russo-Ukraine conflict one year on

Russo-Ukraine conflict one year on

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 […]

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Ukraine war: how have Vladimir Putin’s narratives survived a year of reality checks?

Ukraine war: how have Vladimir Putin’s narratives survived a year of reality checks?

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at The Open University. Her research interests centre on questions of communication, perception and security, with a particular focus on Russia.  Here she discusses Vladimir Putin’s narratives around the war in Ukraine:  The Russian state has a long history of using its information operations to try and […]

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The path of Plath: Sylvia’s work more enduring 60 years on from her death

The path of Plath: Sylvia’s work more enduring 60 years on from her death

It’s 60 years since the celebrated poet Sylvia Plath died, yet her work has become more enduring with the passage of time. Here Dr Jane Yeh, a lecturer in creative writing at The Open University, and an accomplished poet herself, tells us why. Sylvia Plath is the poet people most are likely to have come […]

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How the war in Ukraine is being fought

How the war in Ukraine is being fought

Military historian and Cold War expert Dr David Grummitt is a Staff Tutor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the OU. Here he shares his insight into how the war in Ukraine is being fought and its comparisons to the Cold War – the ‘conflict’ that never took place on the battlefield. […]

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Greek Goddess Artemis

Artemis is a new body suit for period pain – here’s why it’s named after a Greek goddess

Helen King, Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at The Open University, shares her knowledge of the Greek goddess Artemis whose name has been adopted by the makers of the latest garment used to ease period pain. A new body suit to control period pain is in the pipeline – and it’s called Artemis. Named after […]

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Looking back on three years of Brexit

Looking back on three years of Brexit

It’s three years since Brexit so we asked professor of foreign policy and international relations Jamie Gaskarth to look back to see what has been achieved. Before Brexit, Britain was in a uniquely favourable position in global terms. Its closest ally, the United States, was the most powerful military actor in the world. Britain was […]

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