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Free course

Coping in isolation: Time to Think

Free statement of participation on completion
Coping in isolation: Time to Think

During this pandemic, millions worldwide face prolonged periods of social isolation. What can you learn about coping from Open University graduates who studied while imprisoned in the Maze and Long Kesh prison during the years of conflict in and about Northern Ireland? In this free course, two graduates, David and Michael, reflect on lockdown under COVID-19, living with uncertainty and on their study experiences with the OU while imprisoned in the 1970s and 1980s, and offer ways to adjust to the current pressures facing people across the globe.

This free course explores resources from the Open University's Time to Think projectTime to Think is an oral history archive and ongoing collaboration for teaching, research, impact and knowledge exchange between The Open University (Open University in Ireland, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) and Open University Library) and people who participated in the Time to Think archive. This includes Loyalist and Republican ex-prisoners, OU tutors and office staff and prison staff and governors.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • develop existing and new skills for coping with isolation and confinement
  • understand the role education can play in surviving adversity
  • develop skills for self-reflection and self-empowerment to use in a range of other contexts
  • reflect on and learn from the stories of those imprisoned during the conflict in and about Northern Ireland.

First Published: 06/04/2020

Updated: 28/04/2020

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