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Education & Development
Why riot? Community, choices, aspirations
This free course was made in the summer of 2021 in the aftermath of street disturbances in working class areas of Northern Ireland. It was produced with young people from Belfast and local community activists, for young people aged 14+. The course aims to help young people think about what community means to them; to identify issues they are...
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History & The Arts
What is a literary festival?
Literary festivals have gained traction in recent years, and perhaps one of the better-known literary festivals in the UK is ‘The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts’.
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History & The Arts
The importance of planning a musical performance
Many of us have had the festival experience as a spectator, but what’s it like to actually perform at a festival in front of hundreds of thousands of people? Dr Sean Williams, Lecturer in Music Technology, shares his experience DJing at Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.
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History & The Arts
Classical Studies: festivals
‘Festival’ at its very essence, is a collective event where people come together to enjoy life’s simple pleasures – music, dancing, food and drink. But it isn’t a modern concept. Academics within our Classical Studies discipline share their favourite ancient Greek and Roman festivals, the only difference being, that in antiquity, the gods were ...
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History & The Arts
Celebrating festivals from the past and present
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) has curated a virtual festival to showcase and celebrate some of the lesser-known festivals of the past and present. Explore festivals dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome, discover the rise of literary festivals and ‘protestivals’, plus take a look at two very different sides to Glastonbury.
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History & The Arts
Glastonbury and the festival
Glastonbury, a town nestled in southwest England, is one of the most popular and sacred pilgrimage sites, and it also happens to host one of the world’s most famous music festivals!
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History & The Arts
Protestivals - What are they?
Protest Festivals or ‘Protestivals’ as they are also known, might seem like a relatively new concept, but scholars say that the roots of this particular form of protest can be found in the alternative globalisation movements that started in the 1980s.
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History & The Arts
An education in Religion and Worldviews
Religious education is a statutory requirement for all school children in England. This course explores how the teaching and scholarly community is working to ensure this curriculum remains relevant for the twenty-first century. It is aimed at parents, faith and community group members and all others who might be interested in the purpose and ...
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Get outdoors and get active
Designed to inspire outdoors activity while you carry on learning, our fun ideas cover a range of subjects from nature, psychology and astronomy, to health and wellbeing. Take a digital detox from screens and notifications with OpenLearn.
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Education & Development
An introduction to intercultural competence in the workplace
You might think that knowing about country facts or differences between cultures is the key to being interculturally competent – but that is in fact only a small piece of the puzzle! Intercultural competence is an umbrella term for a range of qualities, attitudes and skills that allow you to mediate and communicate appropriately and effectively ...
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Education & Development
Double trouble: my experience of studying part-time as a mixed-race individual
In this article Dr Laura Tan gives a fresh mixed-race perspective on having twice the cultures, twice the workload… so it was only right that she had twice the celebration at graduation!
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Society, Politics & Law
Ecology and economy under the fig tree in South Asian Cities
Trees in South Asia are protected for their religious symbolism, so you’ll find them in crowded cities. Shonil Bhagwat looks at their natural and cultural heritage.