The Open University

How an obscure 1909 novella that foretold the internet can guide us through the latest lockdown

12 January 2021

Dan Taylor, Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at The Open University writes for The Conversation about how literature can provide us with guidance about living through lockdown. For most people the latest national lockdown means uncertainty: precarious jobs and incomes, concerns about the safety of loved ones, and – for many parents – the difficulty […]

A creative education – a writer’s insight

11 November 2020

Dr Ed Hogan, Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University, and a successful novelist, offers an insight into the reality of being a writer and finding inspiration in unlikely places… Where do you get your ideas from? Often, writers hate that question. Is it because it might lead to an uncomfortable revelation? Did they […]

hand seen writing on a notepad while sat outside

8 cheats and tricks for sparking writing ideas

11 November 2020

Moments of intense inspiration – when the whole story arrives fully formed and sends you sprinting to your desk – are rare for most writers. Much of the time, we have to rely on tricks and cheats to get the words flowing. Dr Ed Hogan, Lecturer in Creative Writing, offers some advice, if you’re struggling […]

Could you be a creative writer?

9 November 2020

The short answer is yes. Anyone can develop skill in writing fiction; most of us were happy making up simple stories when we were children, just as we were confident about painting pictures. As we get older, we lose some of that artistic intuition, and feel as if the creative arts are the province of […]

US election puts personality politics in spotlight

3 November 2020

As the world awaits the outcome of the US election Dr Kesi Mahendran, a social and political psychologist at the OU, sheds new light on this crucially important vote and specifically its headline player Donald Trump. Her team’s research focuses on the public conversation between leaders and their citizens and the rise of populism. Yet […]

Report airs fresh concern for migrants’ healthcare rights in a COVID world

27 October 2020

A report calling for universal access to healthcare and raising the needs of migrants denied healthcare is launched today (Tuesday October 27th) co-authored by The Open University (OU). Dr Kathryn Medien is lecturer in sociology and has co-authored a report by The New Economics Foundation and the Patients Not Passports coalition called: “The International Struggle […]

OU relationships academic is made a Fellow

21 October 2020

Jacqui Gabb, Professor of Sociology and Intimacy at The Open University, has been named among this year’s Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) FAcSS is the national academy of academics, learned societies and practitioners in the social sciences, and its mission is to promote social science in the United Kingdom. Recipients of a […]

Campaign to recognise the UK’s #changemakers

19 October 2020

The Open University has launched a social media campaign in partnership with UK Parliament Week to highlight “changemakers” past, present or predicted in society. The OU’s student-focused POLIS Open Politics team and UK Parliament Week have partnered to launch the Changemakers project from 12 October until 30 November. The aim is to think about people […]

Clive Emsley, on receipt of honorary doctorate from Edge Hill University, 2016

OU pays tribute to pioneering historian of crime and policing

13 October 2020

Staff and colleagues around The Open University (OU) have been paying tribute to Emeritus Professor Clive Emsley, a founding member of the History Department at The Open University and one of the world’s foremost exponents of criminal justice history, who has died this month aged 76. Among his accolades Clive provided the first scholarly history […]

Survey finds couples “avoid conversation on their relationship”

5 October 2020

Research taken up among couples, conducted in collaboration with the OU shows nearly two thirds do not talk about their relationship – with anyone. The polling (*) was carried out in collaboration with the OU’s Professor Jacqui Gabb to coincide with the launch of Paired – an app for couples to engage in relationship matters. […]

OU News

Category: Arts and social sciences