2,281 search results
How the potato fuelled the rise of liberal capitalism
History & The Arts

How the potato fuelled the rise of liberal capitalism

...family!” he exclaimed. The potato provided ideal nourishment. “Some of the stoutest men we know, are brought up on milk and potatoes,” he reported. Buchan maintained that once people understood the advantages they would personally derive from a potato diet, they would happily, of their own free will, embrace the potato. The benefits would accrue both to the...
View article How the potato fuelled the rise of liberal capitalism
Article 5 mins
Methods of studying children: the background
Education & Development

Methods of studying children: the background

...a longitudinal study, and the way it is reported also involves case studies of individual children and their families. Discover methods of studying children The collection of articles, videos, photos and audio exploring child development has been made possible by a partnership between the British Psychological Society and The Open University Child and Youth Studies Group....
View article Methods of studying children: the background
Article 5 mins
An informal and friendly introduction to British Sign Language
Education & Development

An informal and friendly introduction to British Sign Language

...families and deaf communities, but it was not recognised as an official language until 2003. Here at the OU we have around 1,300 students who have registered with a hearing disability. The Open University Students Association teamed up with one such student, Joshua Page, and his friend Joshua Sprules to put together some basic BSL tuition to introduce you to BSL. BSL uses...
View video An informal and friendly introduction to British Sign Language
Video 20 mins
Approaching prose fiction
History & The Arts

Approaching prose fiction

...history of the form as a whole. These patterns cannot be assembled into a grand design, but the forms of fiction, the ways in which stories have been told, have their own history. An understanding of that historical pattern, haphazard and fragmentary as it may be, does give us some insight into the forms of life which literate societies have evolved in history, some...
View course Approaching prose fiction
Level 2: Intermediate 20 hrs
Life with the lions: Why relocating South African lions to Rwanda might create its own problems
Science, Maths & Technology

Life with the lions: Why relocating South African lions to Rwanda might create its own problems

...history of the species, populations in distant regions will have accumulated genetic differences. This leads to genetic diversity. On the species scale, genetic diversity can be seen as different genetic clades, or different branches on the lion-tree. These patterns of genetic diversity are disrupted when two populations from different regions are mixed. The seven lions...
View article Life with the lions: Why relocating South African lions to Rwanda might create its own problems
Article 5 mins
What is the haka and why is it performed at rugby matches?
Health, Sports & Psychology

What is the haka and why is it performed at rugby matches?

...history. Of course, not only will the hopes and dreams of all New Zealanders be riding high on their team winning yet another world title, but indeed the mana, or sense of pride, in what it means to 4.5m people to be Kiwi will be proudly on display. The famous All Black haka (war challenge) first performed in 1888 against Surrey, will be seen by millions of viewers...
View article What is the haka and why is it performed at rugby matches?
Article 5 mins
Referendum Rhetoric: keeping a-hold of nurse or leaping into the dark?
Society, Politics & Law

Referendum Rhetoric: keeping a-hold of nurse or leaping into the dark?

...history and culture which needs to be challenged, whatever the result. It is not just the insults (‘hypocritical’, ‘dishonest’, ‘immoral’, ‘bitter’, ‘vengeful’, ‘verging on the squalid’) or the loose allusions to Hitler which debase the currency of political rhetoric. It is also a disregard for the origins of expressions which have been prayed in...
View article Referendum Rhetoric: keeping a-hold of nurse or leaping into the dark?
Article 10 mins
Clavius - a lunar mystery
Science, Maths & Technology

Clavius - a lunar mystery

...history of the surface and can be used to determine the age of different regions of the Moon. Older parts of the lunar surface have relatively large numbers of craters, having been exposed for longer. In contrast, the smoother seas with fewer and smaller craters represent more recent outflows, now solidified, that took place after the end of the main phase of bombardment...
View article Clavius - a lunar mystery
Article 5 mins