The Open University

How “not very academic” Linda is now on track for a psychology degree

14 February 2018

Linda has always been fascinated by what makes “people tick” and in her current role at a law firm she’s worked for many years with clients who have sustained severe brain injuries. “In my role I get to see neurological reports and I find these fascinating. How the brain works, its cognitive functions and how […]

Pension age rise for women sparks inequality fears

1 February 2018

Amid recent battles for equal pay by BBC women and ahead of next month’s centenary celebrations of women being given the vote in the UK, it might be a surprise to learn that equality is not always welcome between the sexes. The law has changed to create equality of state pension age for men and […]

Research photograph [CREDIT: Professor Shailey Minocha]

Can sharing photos online help reduce feelings of loneliness in older people?

23 January 2018

Everyone loves uploading their holiday albums or even photographs of their meals on social media, but is this just for our entertainment or are there other benefits? Research by The Open University and Oxford Brookes University is investigating whether sharing photographs via social media reduces loneliness and social isolation in older people. The research, which […]

A trans review of 2017: the year of transgender moral panic

3 January 2018

Three years ago, 2014 was hailed as “the transgender tipping point” – a year when trans people became more visible and better understood. Sadly, looking back on 2017, it seems it was the year of a transgender moral panic. In the first half of the year, every few weeks seemed to bring another news story […]

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 […]

House prices in 2018: steady despite the hints of demolition

18 December 2017

Lecturer in Economics, Alan Shipman, offers his view on what the next year has in store for the UK housing market… Judged by what they announced, UK policymakers moved decisively in 2017 to arrest the long rise in house prices , as part of a broader strategy to cut living costs and assist first-time buyers. But […]

The speculum finally gets redesigned – by women

12 December 2017

The vaginal speculum – that creepy looking metal device used to examine the vagina and cervix – has remained largely unchanged since the 19th century. But a team of female designers in San Francisco is looking to give the unfriendly implement a new design. In an interview with Wired, the designers described the hazards of […]

Here’s the truth about false accusations of sexual violence

24 November 2017

Senior lecturer in psychology Lisa Lazard looks beyond the recent headlines to probe why accusations of sexual harassment and violence provoke an air of suspicion. “Inflated statistics” Why didn’t these women speak up sooner? This was asked time and time again during the recent public furore around sexual harassment, violence and abuse. Underlying the question […]

Budget 2017: Reducing VAT threshold is a stealthy tax rise for small businesses

21 November 2017

Ahead of this year’s Autumn Budget, we asked OU lecturer in personal finance, Jonquil Lowe, about one of the key issues expected to come up – what the anticipated reduction in the VAT threshold will mean, if you have a small business or are self-employed. Jonquil’s thoughts ahead of Budget 2017 “Self-employment is often a […]

From Ayurveda to biomedicine: understanding the human body

20 November 2017

What is a human body? This may seem a facetious question, but the answer will be very different according to which medical tradition you consult. Take Ayurveda, a traditional system of medical knowledge from India which has enjoyed a renaissance of popularity in the West since the 1980s – and is the subject of a […]

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Category: Arts and social sciences