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Society, Politics & Law
What does toilet paper teach us about poverty?
The purchasing pattern of a bathroom staple has a lot to teach us about how poverty works. Atif Kukaswadia explains.
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Society, Politics & Law
Why it is a huge mistake to get rid of parent governors on school boards
By scrapping elected parents from school boards, the government is removing a vital source of knowledge and undermining a democratic system of education, Jacquline argues.
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Society, Politics & Law
Banking crimes without end
Has the UK financial sector become the 'serial offender' of corporate crimes with mis-selling of products like PPI and pensions?
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Society, Politics & Law
Is cleaning a route to a better life for migrants?
New research in Finland suggests that the time demands, insecurity and relative isolation of cleaning work may make the dream of integration harder for new arrivals to achieve.
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Managing complexity: a systems approach
Do you need to change the way you think when faced with a complex situation? Managing complexity: a systems approach, is a free course that examines how systemic thinking and practice enables you to cope with the connections between things, events and ideas. By taking a broader perspective complexity becomes manageable and it is easier to accept...
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Society, Politics & Law
PodMag May 2016
PodMag is the monthly update of news, views and interviews from the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University.
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Society, Politics & Law
Occupying Turin: refugees breathe life into abandoned buildings of Olympic village, but authorities want them out
A mutual tolerance of shared spaces has made it possible for refugees in Turin’s Olympic village to find some modicum of stability in their daily lives.
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History & The Arts
The winding garden path: Radicalism amongst the flower beds
How did the Levellers help shape the early internet? And are allotments and organic gardens radicalism in the earth?
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level 1: introductory icon
Digital & Computing
Systems diagramming
Please note: This course contains a Flash activity which is no longer playable. It is being updated. This course can still be studied, but you may like to postpone your study for now if you would rather have the full experience.
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Nature & Environment
Sir David Attenborough and The Open University
Sir David Attenborough and The Open University have had a long-standing relationship since the university's birth. David explains how that relationship came about and how it has developed over the years.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Is norovirus an economic threat?
Is the loss to the global economy of the "winter vomiting virus" hard to swallow?
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Society, Politics & Law
Immigration detention: what's the problem with privatisation?
Who's profitting from the misery of the detainees? This article questions the issue of privatisation in Immigration Removal Centres.