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level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Religious diversity: rethinking religion
Religion is not necessarily what you think it is! This free course, Religious diversity: rethinking religion, introduces you to a selection of the vast variety of religious beliefs and practices in Britain today. Having some familiarity with religion and belief is increasingly required to make sense of issues of local, national and international...
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
Reading and note taking – preparation for study
Reading and note taking are two essential study skills. How do you read? This free course, Reading and note taking preparation for study, will introduce you to different techniques to help you to alter the way you read according to the type of material you are studying. You will also learn the techniques behind successful note taking and how to...
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
Psychological research, obedience and ethics
In this free course, Psychological research, obedience and ethics, you will learn about the importance of ethics in research that is undertaken by psychologists. You will read about the famous study on obedience conducted by Stanley Milgram, and watch two psychologists talk about their research with meerkats and chimpanzees.
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Society, Politics & Law
Why we should abolish imprisonment for children and young people
Dr David Scott takes a look at the consequences of imprisoning children and young people, and the alternative solutions to this.
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level 1: introductory icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Forensic science and fingerprints
This free course, Forensic science and fingerprints, covers how science can make fingerprints easier to study, how they are used in court and some of the questions about the extent to which fingerprint identification is sound and scientific. Students will learn the principles used in classifying and matching fingerprints (often called marks).
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
Human rights and law
Human rights now seem to take precedent over many areas of our lives, but where do these rights come from and how did they develop? This free course, Human rights and the law, looks at the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights and its influence on law in the UK and examines the Human Rights Act 1998.
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level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Art and the Mexican Revolution
In this free course, Art and the Mexican Revolution, you will explore one of Diego Rivera’s key murals which was commissioned by the Mexican government in the period after the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. These monumental public artworks, designed to win over the Mexican peasantry and working-class to the new post-revolutionary state, ...
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Society, Politics & Law
'Hate the poor!': the new politics of loathing in vitriolic Britain
In light of a new Social Attitudes Survey, Mark J Smith examines why problems in the UK are being blamed on the most vulnerable
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
The social nature of being human
This free course, The social nature of being human, will introduce you to several of the social aspects of humanity and being human. Some of these are obvious, as, during the course, you will think about crowd behaviour and consider traditional dilemmas of being in crowds. Others will be less obvious, such as the seemingly intimate and private ...
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Nature & Environment
The animals are rebelling because they are dying. And we should too. Lessons from a modern-day fable
Reading news about animals as modern-day fables alerts us to human beings’ vulnerability to climate change. What moral lesson about sustainable futures are exposed by restorying news of animals in the context of climate change?
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
From Brexit to the break-up of Britain?
This free course, From Brexit to the break-up of Britain?, sets the experience of Brexit in the context of the UK. It first analyses Brexit as a symptom of the political, economic and social geography of the UK, focusing on its uneven development in a country increasingly dominated by London and the South East of England. It then considers how ...
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Society, Politics & Law
What is crime?
The Open University's senior lecturer in Criminology, Dr David Scott discusses the concept and aspects of crime.