The Open University
This unit looks at the short poems in German that were set to music by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) for a single voice with piano, a genre known as ‘Lieder’ (the German for ‘songs’). Once they became widely known, Schubert's Lieder influenced generations of songwriters up to the present day. This...
Textiles in Ghana carry a far greater importance than you might expect. This unit will help you to understand how textiles can carry an assortment of meanings and values, including wealth, status and office. This study unit is just one of many that can be found on LearningSpace, part of...
Just how dangerous is the everyday workplace? What can be done to mitigate risks and avoid hazards? And what trade-offs have to be made between the competing demands of safety, efficiency and wider social responsibility? This album looks at three very different case studies - farming, food...
This unit shows how partial differential equations can be used to model phenomena such as waves and heat transfer. The prerequisite requirements to gain full advantage from this unit are an understanding of ordinary differential equations and basic familiarity with partial differential equations....
What are museums for? In this album we look behind the displays to reveal the conflicting roles, power struggles and ethical dilemmas that affect museums today. Once the undisputed sources of authority on the objects in their care, museums now have to justify their decisions to the government, to...
How does an ice skater rotate so effortlessly on ice? What are the forces at play? How do they keep spinning? And more importantly, how do they stop? The tracks on this album use a variety of sports ranging from Ice Skating to the Highland Games to illustrate the nature of rotating bodies,...
Donatien Alphonse François, better known as The Marquis de Sade, is infamous throughout literature and popular culture for a life and body of work that pushed boundaries. Literally synonymous with sexual and violent excess, his reputation as a writer is often clouded by the extreme nature of his...
In the first decade of the 21st century we saw financial markets collapse, sudden spikes in food prices and projections of major environmental impact from climate change. All pose serious challenges to the global economic and financial systems. Economist and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen along...
This unit looks at how telescopes and spectrographs are designed to improve our ability to observe the universe. You will examine how different technologies have been developed over the last four hundred years to enable us to look deep into space. This study unit is just one of many that can be...
To what extent has the definition of English literature changed over the last 50 years? What criteria do we use when classifying a novel as English? And is this definition organic enough to assimilate new works and different interpretations? Professor Terry Eagleton leads the discussion by...
Since 2002, the UK has seen the first female President of the Law Society, the first woman Chairman of the Bar, and the first woman at the Court of Appeal. And yet women are still poorly represented at the top of the legal profession. Is this because women continue to face discrimination, or do...
How was the Moon created? What is the moon made off? Decades after human’s first landed on the Moon, we still lots of questions about the Earth’s only natural satellite. Through the rocks brought back from various missions to the Moon we’ve been given a fascinating insight not only into the moons...
Are you aware of the environmental impacts of the stuff you buy? Is that chair you bought made from wood from a sustainable forest, or was it illegally logged ? Or perhaps your TV set's inner parts are too difficult to recycle or cause pollution when it’s dismantled at the end of its life. All...
Formula 1 is the ultimate motor sport. It demands the highest level of skill from both drivers and the engineers behind the cars. So what are the secrets of good car design? How are Formula One cars engineered for maximum performance? This album takes a behind the scenes look at Red Bull Racing,...
In Thailand, the international media is the battleground for political ideas. Protests have become increasingly dramatic and well organised. In October 2008, Red-shirts, in their thousands, donated their own blood and poured it on the walls and under the gates of Government House while...
How fundamental are fungi to a forest's eco-system? And how can they be utilised to reclaim barren land and grow sustainable plantations for economic markets? In this album, scientists from the UK and Malaysia explore how fungi form constructive and cooperative partnerships with other plants and...
Corporate governance and shareholder activism have gained in importance over recent years. This unit will enable you to consider the issues addressed by corporate governance. You will examine some of the recent scandals and the regulatory reactions to them, before looking at the elements that...
How are Britain's small business entrepreneurs leading the country out of the recession? Research by The Open University Business School suggests that innovative enterprises have performed best among Britain's five million small businesses throughout the economic downturn. Young entrepreneurs and...
Disney and Google are just two companies renowned for their ‘business culture’. Have you ever wondered why the company you work for is different from others? This unit explores how the concept of culture developed to the point where it is now possible to see and (feel) the difference between...
The framework of rules that serve to bind relations between states is referred to as Public International Law. It primarily concerns itself with the actions carried out by or on behalf of states as opposed to private citizens, but how effective is this global system in the 21st century? What are...
How does music help to engage disaffected or disadvantaged young people? How can taking to the streets help build rapport with the youth community? This album is packed with positive examples of youths who've turned their lives around with the help of youth workers. At Madcap Arts they build...
Want to learn to fly a helicopter? In this album Royal Berkshire Ambulance pilots show two complete beginners the ropes. Normally, Marie and Tracey dispatch air ambulances, now they find out how to fly one. The five video tracks offer a hands-on explanation of the science and engineering behind...
How should you address the President of a French Company? Should you reward workers in Turkey by giving them envelopes full of money? Why are so many good international managers coming out of Eastern Europe? Few enterprises nowadays remain untouched by global influences. Few managers can expect...
What are waves and what happens to them when they pass through a gap? Do different sorts of waves behave in the same way? Dr Andrew Norton of The Open University uses a ripple tank to demonstrate some of the key features of wave motion, and show how waves spread out when they pass through an...
The impact of disorientating spaces on people with dementia can be profound, and can create serious deterioration in their wellbeing. Case studies of new build and refurbished care homes reveal how dementia-friendly interior and exterior design enable improved working practices for care staff,...
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) systems now dominate our everyday lives. This unit will explain what constitutes such a system and how ICT systems work. You will also look at how ICT systems convey, store and manipulate data, and how they process data. Finally you will learn how...
The EU has set ambitious targets for both renewable energy and carbon reduction, but the UK has been reluctant to sign up to new targets beyond 2020. How does the UK Government plan to tackle this problem and what targets is it considering?
Concerned about your impact on the environment? Interested in learning how to shape a more sustainable future? This album shows you simple ways to adapt your lifestyle and how to think globally. Five video tracks demonstrate how to assess the ‘ecological footprint’ of your household, examine the...
The splendidly evocative ruins of ancient Rome have long been a challenge to historians and archaeologists in reconstructing how it looked and functioned. It became the largest city in the western world during the imperial period, so how was the city constructed, and what were the materials used?...
Want to learn to fly a helicopter? In this album Royal Berkshire Ambulance pilots show two complete beginners the ropes. Normally, Marie and Tracey dispatch air ambulances, now they find out how to fly one. The five video tracks offer a hands-on explanation of the science and engineering behind...
What caused the financial crisis of 2007-9 and the recession that followed? How did governments and the international banking system respond? Senior Lecturer William Brown is joined by three course team members to address the key issues that emerged as a result of the financial crisis and what it...
It is often said that a movie comes to life in the edit suite. Ben Harrex of Final Cut post production studios in London discusses five themes with examples; The Cut, The Dissolve, Cropping and Resizing, Titles and The Sound. Ben explains how the video editor has a huge amount of creative control...
Has the emphasis on raising educational standards in the UK led to adult-led learning replacing play? This unit will help teachers assess the importance of spontaneous play and socialising in the playground as well as looking at the value of play and the varying attitudes that adults have towards...
Did you know that by surfing the internet you can lose your privacy, your money and even your identity? Computer viruses and Trojans often arise during the investigation of computer-based crime, such as the downloading of child pornography. But what if you are innocent? Often Trojans are cited as...
The heritage traditions of Scotland are unique in comparison to the rest of Britain. This unit uses two case studies to demonstrate how heritage sites have helped to forge the Scottish national identity and history. This study unit is just one of many that can be found on LearningSpace, part of...
Participating in the democratic processes is seen as being a fundamental aspect of citizenship. All pupils need a broad knowledge and understanding of the rights, responsibilities and duties of citizens, as well as an understanding of forms of government. Notions of citizenship have been forged...
This album examines the revolution in scientific thinking that overthrew classical physics in favour of quantum physics. Called the crown of the twentieth century, quantum mechanics is a blueprint for how everything behaves on an atomic level. Seven video tracks presented by Robert Llewellyn...
As the volume of information grows in databases, libraries and on the internet, information literacy skills are key to being able to find and manage information effectively in a complex society. Information literacy is about recognising when information is needed, and locating, critically...
How do you tell someone that they're dying? And how will they respond to the news? This series explores different ways of breaking bad news and looks at the impact of how the news is delivered has upon the person hearing it.
Geology is the scientific study of the Earth, its origin, structure, processes and composition. This album is concerned mainly with the interpretation of geological maps and the relationship between the landscape and underlying rocks. It reveals how the geological history of any area can be...
Traumatic injury causes millions of deaths and disabilities globally. How does the body react to tissue damage and what are the psychological effects of injury? The six video tracks in this album present a range of powerful and moving case studies and show how access to emergency and longer-term...
How are volcanoes created? And how can scientists re-construct eruptions from many thousands of years ago? On a field trip to Iceland, Dr Dave McGarvie visits a range of volcanoes. These include Askja, a particularly spectacular and active volcano in Iceland’s remote interior, and the valley...
Traumatic injury causes millions of deaths and disabilities globally. How does the body react to tissue damage and what are the psychological effects of injury? The six video tracks in this album present a range of powerful and moving case studies and show how access to emergency and longer-term...
From robot surgery to nation-wide hunts for stripy snails via Michael Faraday, The Open University's new podcast series caters to all tastes. Take-Away Science is about anything and everything interesting in science. Featuring interviews with practising scientists at the cutting edge of...
This album Investigates recent debates in sociology, cultural theory and psychoanalysis, and explores the nature of social identity, ‘socialisation’, subjectivity and personhood. The case studies explore the value and relevance of different theoretical frameworks for understanding identity by...
How important is oral history in understanding the life of people with learning disabilities? This audio, recorded in July 2009 at the Social History of Learning Disability Conference at The Open University, features people with learning disabilities sharing their experiences first-hand with...
In Ghana, types of cloth and the design of textiles are about more than just fashion. Woven Kente cloth is a great status symbol, marking wealth and, in the past, office - something to be worn on important occasions and by important people. Adinkra is a printed fabric, hand-made and worn mainly...
Can a play written in the seventeenth century protest against contemporary issues? Is it possible to use a Shakespearian tragedy draw attention to political injustice? Apartheid was a system of enforced legal racial segregation in South Africa that was imposed on the country's majority non white...
Open University researcher Jeff Johnson talks of the importance of the Science of Complex Systems as a means to unravel real-world, complex problems that cannot be tackled by conventional reductive methods. Using Bird Flu as an example he demonstrates how complex systems thinking allows...
Renowned as one the key figures of Romanticism, William Wordsworth broke through poetic traditions and barriers to produce verse that redefined the principles underlying the writing of poetry, placing the poet's emotions and interaction with a natural, pastoral world at the centre of poetic...