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Society, Politics & Law
Are there other responses to urban terror than just more bollards?
Can we adapt urban environments in the face of a changing terrorist threat? Jon Coaffee says it's going to take more than just more concrete and steel barriers.
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History & The Arts
How the potato fuelled the rise of liberal capitalism
It can make chips. It can make mash. And the potato can even help create an entire political-economic system. Rebecca Earle explains how.
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Society, Politics & Law
What is Royal Assent - and why don't laws come into force straight away?
The Monarch's sign-off on a Bill is the last stage in making laws in the United Kingdom. But there's sometimes a delay before the new law comes into force.
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Attention
What does 'attention' mean to you? This free course, Attention, will help you to examine how we 'pay attention'. How do we manage to single out sounds and images that require attention and how easy is it to distract someone and why.
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Science, Maths & Technology
How network science can unravel Al Capone's criminal associates
In new research which studies the social relationships of organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s, Chris M. Smith and Andrew V. Papachristos were able to take advantage ofthe availability of thousands of notes and documents on Al Capone’s criminal network. By applying network analysis to the criminal relationships in Capone’s gangs they find ...
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Nature & Environment
North Sea, air safety and Brexit
Does the political fight about who controls safety in the North Sea reveal just how difficult Brexit is going to be?
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Society, Politics & Law
Should we be worried about the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement?
The UK government has confirmed that despite the path chosen by the US, the UK would honour the Paris Agreement. Here Shonil Bhagwat looks at the motivations and implications behind the US decision, and how international action on climate change will go on.
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Society, Politics & Law
‘Citizen sensing’ and new forms of environmental monitoring
What technological challenges are faced by communities seeking to understand environmental change at different geographical scales?
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Society, Politics & Law
After the mudslide, what help does Sierra Leone need?
Following the destructive landslides, which killed hundreds, Sierra Leone will need support from the rest of us. Professor Tony Redmond explains what they'll need.
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Seeing institutions in different ways
To help you to understand the complexity of institutional development, this free course, Seeing institutions in different ways, will present institutions in three key ways: as rules and norms, as meanings and values and as big players. The rules govern social life and the norms establish how people should behave, while institutional development ...
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Society, Politics & Law
The ethics and politics of the migration and refugee crisis
We've shared some of the Who Are We project - but this isn't the first time the OU's academics have come together with artists. Discover some earlier collaborations.
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Society, Politics & Law
Using art and creative methods to interrogate identity, citizenship and migration
A programme at the Tate Modern, titled Who Are We?, brought together academics, artists and activists to explore migration, citizenship, identity and belonging. The programme was collaboratively curated by a consortium comprising The Open University, Loughborough University, University of Warwick and Counterpoints Arts, an arts organization ...