The Open University

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

23 February 2023

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 […]

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

10 February 2023

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 […]

How the war in Ukraine is being fought

9 February 2023

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. […]

Looking back on three years of Brexit

3 February 2023

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 […]

Ukraine: why supply of US and German tanks echoes cold war

26 January 2023

Dr David Grummitt is an Open University staff tutor in history and a military historian. Here he talks about Germany’s latest decision to allow its Leopard 2 tanks to be exported to Ukraine and what it could mean. The decision that Germany and the US will allow the export of M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 […]

Remarkable ancient find of an extinct language goes on public display

26 January 2023

A 2,500-year-old stone slab found in Italy and inscribed in the ancient, extinct Etruscan language is now on show to the public for the first time. But you’ll have to venture to the Fondazione Luigi Rovati museum in Milan to see The Vicchio Stele, as it is called, which was discovered in 2015 by a […]

“Can’t talk. It’s not safe, I’m driving”

20 January 2023

New research led by the OU aims to improve road safety by challenging the perception that hands-free phone use by drivers is ‘safe’. Latest government figures show that by the close of 2021, 20 people were killed and 616 injured in collisions in Great Britain where mobile phone use was recorded as a contributory factor. […]

Ways that can help you stop feeling blue about finances in 2023

9 January 2023

Jonquil Lowe is a senior lecturer in economics at the OU and specialises in personal finance. Here she provides some New Year tips for those likely to struggle in 2023 and for others who could ease their load. Stats show over a third of UK households, that’s 10.8 million, are struggling or in serious difficulties […]

The clitoris – a brief history

5 January 2023

Helen King is an Open University Emerita Professor of classical studies – here she explores the history of the clitoris and shows just how much wasn’t known about it and how far science has come to understand it. “What’s the difference between a bar and clitoris? Most men have no trouble finding a bar.” […]

China’s increasing economic ties with the Gulf states are reducing the west’s sway in the Middle East

23 December 2022

Dr Emilie Rutledge is an economist at The Open University who has held research and consulting positions in the Middle East for 12 years. Here she talks about the increasingly close relationship between China and the Gulf states. At the end of November 2022, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the “golden era” between […]

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