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level 3: advanced icon
History & The Arts
Emotion: an introductory picture
What is emotion? This free course, Emotion: an introductory picture, takes a philosophical approach to this question in an attempt to understand why people respond to events in a certain way. Is there a difference between an emotion and a bodily feeling or is one a consequence of the other?
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History & The Arts
Leo Tolstoy on King Lear
In this extract from 'A critical essay on Shakespeare' - published in English in 1906 - Tolstoy suggests King Lear shows Shakespeare up as something of a hack.
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Languages
The Great Fall: A personal perspective, before and after
A personal take on experiences before and after the Berlin Wall fell from an Open University lecturer in Classical Studies.
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History & The Arts
Election days: 1880 - Squabbling peers
The Peers of Scotland gather to select their representatives for the new Parliament of 1880. It's not a smooth process.
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level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Approaching plays
Do you want to get more out of drama? This free course, Approaching plays, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary plays. You will learn about dialogue, stage directions, blank verse, dramatic structure and conventions and aspects of performance.
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History & The Arts
Exploring Philosophy
Have you ever considered what being conscious actually means? By choosing to live in a particular state are you consenting to be subject to all its laws? For some there’s an assumption that philosophy might not be relevant to modern life but Dr. Nigel Warburton, senior lecturer in Philosophy at The Open University argues that many of us today ...
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History & The Arts
360 Degrees of Separation
How does Surrealism relate to Freud? What does Freud have to do with the Prisoner's dilemma? Josie Long takes you on a whistle-stop tour and finds the connections between Surrealism, Psychoanalysis, Game Theory, Nuclear Fission and microbes that may have played a key role in the origins of life.
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Science, Maths & Technology
60 second adventures: Behind the scenes
Go behind the scenes with the 60-second adventures team to learn how OU academic content is transformed into informative and entertaining short animations.
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History & The Arts
Charles Dickens, Race and Colonialism
What can the works of Charles Dickens tell us about race and colonialism in the Victorian era? Dr Alex Tickell, a Senior Lecturer in English, explores…
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level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Wilberforce
William Wilberforce, the politician and religious writer, was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in Britain. This free course explores Wilberforce's career and writings and assesses their historical significance. In particular, it examines the contribution that Evangelicalism, the religious tradition to which Wilberforce belonged, made in ...
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History & The Arts
A collection of extracts from the works of Charles Darwin
Some selected pieces from Charles Darwin's writing and work
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level 1: introductory icon
History & The Arts
An introduction to material culture
This free course, An introduction to material culture, introduces the study of material culture. It asks why we should study things and outlines some basic approaches to studying objects.