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Climate of fear: culture of hope
Languages

Climate of fear: culture of hope

...English, the word ‘climate’ has both a literal and figurative meaning. It refers to the typical weather conditions of a place – ‘the UK has a mostly temperate climate’ – as well as the prevailing mood or attitudes of people within a situation – ‘there was a climate of fear in the office.’ In this article, we look at why, to try to control the former of...
Latitude and Longitude
History & The Arts

Latitude and Longitude

...English Parliament offered a prize of £20 000 to anyone who could determine longitude at sea to within a half a degree (or two minutes: the Earth revolves through 360o in 24 hours, so every one degree of longitude corresponds to four minutes). Many eminent scientists set to work, but it was an unknown amateur clockmaker from Yorkshire, John Harrison, who rose to the...
The nature of history
Education & Development

The nature of history

...English prep school, we were given a list of 100 history dates to learn. Each form had different coloured dates and if you didn’t get a certain mark in the end of term test, you risked punishment, even a beating. As one of my former students bitterly complained: “The trouble with history is that it is just one thing after another”. Enter any history lesson now at...
How is a University obsession with teenagers hurting part-time students?
Education & Development

How is a University obsession with teenagers hurting part-time students?

...English problem, set against changes to fee structures that have resulted in part-time fees tripling since 2012, and no maintenance grants for part-time study. [Somerville College accommodation block, Oxford] As universities compete to fill accommodation blocks - like this new building at Somerville College, Oxford - part-time students are being forgotten The sub-degree...
Exploring Ireland’s historic army barracks network
OpenLearn Ireland

Exploring Ireland’s historic army barracks network

...English parliament refused to maintain a large army in peacetime. However, the Protestant ruling elite of Ireland, conscious of their status as a religious minority on the island, and with memories of the Williamite-Jacobite War fresh in their minds, were more open to the prospect. In 1698, the Irish parliament accepted plans to reroute 12,000 Williamite soldiers to...
What do scientists really do? My experience interviewing researchers
Science, Maths & Technology

What do scientists really do? My experience interviewing researchers

...English literature. Looking further into the future, I want to pursue a degree in science and carry on discovering what I am most passionate about and then dedicate my career to it. Contributors: Devyani Gajjar: PhD student, School of Social Sciences & Global Studies, AstrobiologyOU Mark Fox-Powell: Research Fellow, AstrobiologyOU Oleg Kozhura: PhD student, School of...
Can quotas make gender equality happen in politics? Lessons from business
Society, Politics & Law

Can quotas make gender equality happen in politics? Lessons from business

...English universities. And, of course, the UK has a second woman living in 10 Downing Street as prime minister. So things are changing for the better, aren’t they? Politics is becoming a more progressive profession, isn’t it? And the British electorate is more accepting of women making laws and developing policy, no? Possibly. It’s easy to overlook the startling fact...
Why do we need free speech?
History & The Arts

Why do we need free speech?

...English), Lake Success, New York. November 1949.] Eleanor Roosevelt holding a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, New York. November 1949. In On Liberty (1851), John Stuart Mill presents a now-classic argument for freedom of speech. Mill champions ‘absolute freedom’ of speech. It is a good thing for liberal societies, he says, because it allows as...