History & The Arts
Do fictional characters shift perceptions of transgender people?
New research in America suggests that characters like Laverne Cox's Sophia Burset in Orange Is The New Black may have more impact on how society reacts to transgender people, than the reported experiences of real people. Erica L Rosensthal and Traci Gillig share some of their findings.
Nature & Environment
Expert insight: Amazonian challenges and policy responses
An in-depth look at the Amazon System and the challenges it faces.
Society, Politics & Law
From insecurity to insecurity: Black and Ethnic Minority Europeans in the UK
How can racism and xenophobia undermine democracy and the public finances?
Education & Development
Do challenges make learning more fulfilling - or off-putting?
Motivation is sometimes reported to be the key factor in educational achievement - but what is motivation? If we understand motivation a little better, we might get better at helping students to succeed.
Science, Maths & Technology
What do genes do?
This free course, What do genes do?, explores how information contained in DNA is used, explaining the flow of information from DNA to RNA to protein. Also introduced are the concepts of transcription (as occurs between DNA and RNA) and translation.
Money & Business
An American Classic: How Spam became a success
Fritter away a few minutes with the story of how chopped meat in a tin became a branding success. What can we learn from the constant reinvention of a staple?
Society, Politics & Law
The Curious Geography of Weetabix: A Cereal Tale for Our Times
Where is Weetabix actually from? Prof. John Allen investigates.
History & The Arts
Shakespeare: For All Time?
A current production of Julius Caesar is causing controversy in the USA for allegedly depicting Donald Trump's murder, but what does this tell us about the nature of Shakespeare's plays?
Society, Politics & Law
The body: a phenomenological psychological perspective
The body has traditionally been treated as a biological object in psychology. However, is there more to our bodies than that? Some psychologists recognise that we relate to other people and the world about us through our body. This free course, The body: A phenomenological psychological perspective, explores the theoretical perspective on ...
Languages
Why is 'modern language' taken to mean 'European language'?
In education in the UK, 'modern languages' all too often means those of Northern Europe. Dr Jieun Kiaer argues that it's an attitude that's outdated.
Education & Development
Has media literacy become self-destructive?
Danah Boyd, founder of Data & Society, asks if American society has become too distrustful of experts
Languages
Understanding language and learning
Learning is understood broadly as any kind of activity, whether in a formal or informal context, that enhances an individual’s knowledge or skills in one way or another. The relationship between language and learning is approached in three ways: learning a language, learning about language and learning through language. This free course, ...