OU News

News from The Open University

  1. Home
  2. Category: Arts and social sciences

Category: Arts and social sciences

Five books to read if you loved the Agatha Christie whodunnits

Five books to read if you loved the Agatha Christie whodunnits

If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie Dr Anthony Howell, Senior Lecturer in English at The Open University, and the author of the free OpenLearn short course on the Queen of Crime has picked out five brilliant detective-fiction novels by other authors. Here’s his list. Almost fifty years after her death Agatha Christie’s books and […]

Read more about Five books to read if you loved the Agatha Christie whodunnits

Gaza campus protests: why understanding 1960s student demonstrations and police reaction is relevant today

Gaza campus protests: why understanding 1960s student demonstrations and police reaction is relevant today

For anybody interested in the history of the 1960s, the ongoing protests at US universities have a peculiar resonance. Dr Sinead McEneaney, Staff Tutor and Senior Lecturer in History at The Open University, tells us why. In the past weeks, riot police have entered several college campuses at the behest of administrators to break up […]

Read more about Gaza campus protests: why understanding 1960s student demonstrations and police reaction is relevant today

pound coins

‘Financial nutrition’ podcasts set to help transform your money outlook

Two Open University academics on a quest to urge people to indulge in daily ‘financial nutrition’ have released a podcast series to provide exactly that. Their ‘Financial Five-a-Day’ podcast is a series of interviews with financial experts, who have excelled in their field. They share their expert tips to help ignite a rethink in the […]

Read more about ‘Financial nutrition’ podcasts set to help transform your money outlook

Cartoonists to get on board with conveying global challenges

Cartoonists to get on board with conveying global challenges

Political cartoonists have been depicting global problems for centuries making make us laugh out loud, provoke action or leave us reeling in shock. Now a group of academics from The Open University, Kings College London and a Philippines cartoon collective called Pitik Bulag, are staging a competition to demonstrate world issues through cartoons. The history […]

Read more about Cartoonists to get on board with conveying global challenges

Apprentice studying

500 ‘diagnostic’ assessments!? Time to reflect

Let me start with a story. Many years ago, I had a student who was struggling to get specialist support to meet his learning needs. He had dyslexia and was entitled to additional support paid for by government funding. Dyslexia was a topic skirted over in one of my degrees and so, as an Associate […]

Read more about 500 ‘diagnostic’ assessments!? Time to reflect

Michael wearing graduation gown and blue glasses, looking at the camera with a background of plant leaves.

Historian who challenged the view of Black British history is honoured

A pioneering Black historian whose research has transformed the nation’s understanding of our Black British history has been awarded an honorary degree from The Open University and confessed he is “unashamedly woke” . A delighted Michael Ohajuru made the comments as he accepted his Doctor of the University award, for all that he has accomplished, […]

Read more about Historian who challenged the view of Black British history is honoured

Black and white image of a globe

What are the EU’s new migration rules, and why did they take so long to pass?

Simon Usherwood,  Professor of Politics & International Studies in the School of Social Sciences & Global Studies at The Open University, writes for The Conversation about the EU’s new migration rules, and why they took so long to pass. The European Parliament has passed a landmark package of laws to overhaul its rules on borders […]

Read more about What are the EU’s new migration rules, and why did they take so long to pass?

The idea that US interest rates will stay higher for longer is probably wrong

The idea that US interest rates will stay higher for longer is probably wrong

Alan Shipman, Senior Lecturer in Economics at The Open University, writes for The Conversation about the idea that US interest rates will stay higher for longer is probably wrong. The 0.4% rise in US consumer prices in March didn’t look like headline news. It was the same as the February increase, and the year-on-year rise of […]

Read more about The idea that US interest rates will stay higher for longer is probably wrong

How conspiracy theories around George III’s madness and Queen Charlotte’s scheming took hold of the 18th-century British press

How conspiracy theories around George III’s madness and Queen Charlotte’s scheming took hold of the 18th-century British press

Natalee Garrett is a lecturer in history at The Open University and here she examines how the rumours about the mental health of George III and the supposed scheming of Queen Charlotte began in the press at that time. During the Georgian period, the British royal family had a strange habit of concealing illness, even […]

Read more about How conspiracy theories around George III’s madness and Queen Charlotte’s scheming took hold of the 18th-century British press

The buried secrets of Pompeii reveal new truths in OU/BBC programme

The buried secrets of Pompeii reveal new truths in OU/BBC programme

Two experts from The Open University help to demystify the latest findings of an archaeological excavation in volcano-hit Pompeii that features in this OU/BBC co-production. The three-part series, Pompeii: The New Dig, due to air at 9pm on Monday, 15 April, on BBC Two, reveals a grand banqueting hall featuring black walls and a white […]

Read more about The buried secrets of Pompeii reveal new truths in OU/BBC programme

Page 8 of 52