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Category: Arts and social sciences

Why Jane Austen readers still leave letters at her graveside

Why Jane Austen readers still leave letters at her graveside

When Jane Austen died in July 1817, aged just 41, she was buried in Winchester Cathedral. I moved to the city in 2025. As a lecturer in English literature, I have long researched and taught Austen’s novels, so I was keen to visit her final resting place, says Naomi Walker, Associate Lecturer in English Literature, […]

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Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter receives honorary doctorate from OU

Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter receives honorary doctorate from OU

The playwright and screenwriter, James Graham, has received an honorary doctorate from The Open University (OU). Graham is known for writing plays like Dear England, a story taking us to the heart of Gareth Southgate’s England men’s football team, and for screenplays like Sherwood, a gripping crime drama tapping into his own experiences of growing […]

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OU Creative Writing academics back initiatives supporting would-be authors

The Open University’s Creative Writing team has teamed up with a leading writers’ agency to offer new and upcoming authors a competitive edge in the tough world of novel writing. OU Creative Writing has joined forces with the Ruppin Agency and Writers & Artists to support writers with the re-launch – after 16 years – […]

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Five contemporary haunted house books that will have you calling for an exorcist

Five contemporary haunted house books that will have you calling for an exorcist

It’s the creepiest time of the year again, as the nights draw in, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a spooky read. Here are some suggestions from The Open University’s Jennie Owen, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing. These suggestions, all from the past five years, include some unexpected takes on the haunted house novel. […]

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Kent County Council is Reform’s ‘shop window’ – its leaked Zoom call implies chaos and poor leadership

Kent County Council is Reform’s ‘shop window’ – its leaked Zoom call implies chaos and poor leadership

A leaked video of an online meeting between members of the Reform-led Kent county council showed shocking exchanges says Lisa Lazard, Professor in Psychology, The Open University. There was shouting, swearing and repeated interruptions. At one point, council leader Linden Kemkaran mutes another member of the council. Councillors Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barret and […]

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How the National Trust’s art collections can shape meadow restoration

Earlier this year I found myself stood among a sea of swaying ox-eye daises in a floodplain meadow on the Attingham estate in Shropshire, on land owned by the National Trust, says Samuel Shaw, Lecturer in History of Art, The Open University. I noticed other plants growing here: the sunny yellows of meadow buttercup, the […]

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Reporter Tir Dhondy (copyright BBC)

OU/BBC documentary investigates the rise of sextortion scams

A new OU/BBC documentary explores why sextortion scams on social media are becoming increasingly common. Airing on Sunday 5th October at 9pm on BBC Three and iPlayer, ‘Blackmailed: The Sextortion Killers’ follows reporter Tir Dhondy, as she takes a closer look at the darker side of social media. With unprecedented access and interviews with industry […]

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Five books for football fans

Five books for football fans

Football isn’t just played on the pitch – it lives on in the pages of countless captivating books that capture the drama on and off the turf. With the football season well under way, Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill, lecturer in creative writing at the OU has a selection of books to feast your eyes on. 1. […]

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What kind of democrat are you?

What kind of democrat are you?

Remember those explosive Brexit-style dinner-table discussions throughout the country? Now an international team of researchers led by the UK’s Open University, has devised a simple FREE interactive test to show people whether the actions they see as being democratic might be considered politically extreme to others. The £2.72 million EU Horizon-Europe/Innovate UK funded project has […]

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From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

US president Donald Trump’s claim that pregnant women should avoid paracetamol – a statement that is both harmful and not backed by the science – fits into a long and damaging tradition of blaming parents, especially mothers, for autism, says Lindsay O’Dell, Professor of Critical Developmental Psychology, The Open University. Despite decades of research and […]

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