1,763 search results
The nature of history
Education & Development

The nature of history

...writing, I thought it was all over. We had in fact hardly started; there were illustrations to find, exercises to devise, websites to organise, primary sources (evidence created at the time) to be chased up; and suggestions for visits and other interesting activities to suggest. Delivery of history has changed too beyond all recognition. No more endless copying down of...
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Article 10 mins
Why books are a lifeline for prisoners
Society, Politics & Law

Why books are a lifeline for prisoners

...writing and telling stories can help put the disorder and unhappiness of life life into some sort of shape. It allows empathy for others. Our conversation was surprisingly upbeat, with the focus on the future rather than the grim present. Back in London, there have been anguished protests from authors, with many a reference to hope, fairness, decency, to the reading of...
View article Why books are a lifeline for prisoners
Article 5 mins
Socrates - Teacher, Paragon or Chatterbox?
History & The Arts

Socrates - Teacher, Paragon or Chatterbox?

...writing histories, or teaching ambitious young men how to get on. For Socrates, though, there was only one question that mattered: how can we live good lives? And by ‘a good life’ he didn’t mean a life packed with power, or money, or fame. He meant an ethically good life: the life of someone who is courageous, temperate, pious and just; above all, someone who is...
View article Socrates - Teacher, Paragon or Chatterbox?
Article 5 mins
Should we read John Locke today?
Society, Politics & Law

Should we read John Locke today?

...write legal documents that protected slave ‘owners’. How, then, should we approach what seems to be a double standard: freedom for some but not all? To what extent should we draw upon – or disregard – thinkers who lived in a vastly different world to ours, and correspondingly held very different beliefs? To explore these questions, you are first going to look at...
View article Should we read John Locke today?
Article 10 mins
Impossible Peace 2: The murders at Massereene
OpenLearn Ireland

Impossible Peace 2: The murders at Massereene

...writing moments when I thought carefully about every word; about whether I would be understood or misunderstood. The Belfast Telegraph used my photograph alongside a short blurb: How - after Saturday - do you begin to explain to people that the dissidents are not an IRA? That Saturday was March 7th 2009; when another murder scene was painted onto the canvas of an...
View article Impossible Peace 2: The murders at Massereene
Article 5 mins
Egyptian mathematics
Science, Maths & Technology

Egyptian mathematics

...writing on papyri. Later still, there developed a cursive, everyday script called demotic, that looks like a mad doctor's handwriting at the end of a bad day. Most of the handful of extant mathematical papyri are written in hieratic. Because of the great variability of hieratic and demotic in the hands of different scribes, Egyptologists habitually transcribe all texts...
View course Egyptian mathematics
Level 2: Intermediate 9 hrs
Language in the real world
Languages

Language in the real world

...writing, listening, speaking, gesturing, grimacing, laughing, crying, etc. You are using language right now! Given its importance, perhaps it’s useful to begin by asking ourselves: What exactly do we mean by ‘language’? As a first step, consider the difference between ‘language’ and ‘languages’. Activity 1 Timing: Allow 30 minutes Watch the videos below,...
View course Language in the real world
Level 3: Advanced 6 hrs
Non-existent countries
Society, Politics & Law

Non-existent countries

...creative ways in which countries can come into existence. I mean examples, like Elgaland-Vargaland that are in the book which you might like to explain in a second. But just how those are almost kind of creative conceptual ideas of what a country could be. Dr Nick Middleton Yes they are and I've deliberately included them to make people think because we’re brought up to...
View audio Non-existent countries
Audio 10 mins