article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Would Donald Trump's wall work to reduce migration from Mexico?
One of the central planks of Donald Trump's campaign for President has been the pledge to build a wall between the US and Mexico. In a personal opinion piece, Lisa Wade explains why a wall might exacerbate the problem he's hoping it will solve.
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
What is happening in Brazil?
The Brazilian Parliament voted on Sunday [17th April 2016] to begin impeachment proceedings against the nation's president. How did it come to this?
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Can the way research is reported play into sexist assumptions?
The way much research on sexual differentiation is conducted and communicated has come under intense criticism from scholars in both the natural and social sciences. Cliodhna O’Connor describes how traditional gender stereotypes are projected onto scientific information and its subsequent reporting. But the dynamics of online spaces have also ...
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Remaking the relations of work and welfare
How do 'welfare to work' programmes such as the New Deal take into account and shape people's personal lives? This free course, Remaking the relations of work and welfare, looks at how participation in, and drop-out from, 'workfare' programmes are interpreted within different theoretical perspectives, and uses two case studies to connect the ...
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
Society, Politics & Law
Nationalism, self-determination and secession
What makes a 'nation' and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This free course, Nationalism, self-determination and secession, will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own.
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Robert Owen and New Lanark
Childcare, education, working conditions, healthcare, crime: these issues are hotly debated in today's society. They are also issues that Robert Owen, seen by some as a visionary and by others as a knave and a charlatan, sought to address in the early 1800s. This free course, Robert Owen and New Lanark, uses a series of essays written by Owen to...
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
David Hume
This free course, David Hume, examines Hume's reasons for being complacent in the face of death, as these are laid out in his suppressed essay of 1755, 'Of the immortality of the soul'. More generally, it examines some of the shifts in attitude concerning death and religious belief that were taking place in Europe at the end of the eighteenth ...
audio icon
Society, Politics & Law
PodMag April 2016
PodMag is the monthly update of news, views and interviews from the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University.
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Why the UK can't take business support for the EU for granted
Corporate response to the EU Referendum may be more complex that we might have anticipated, Sofia Vasilopoulou explains why.
article icon
Nature & Environment
What can Chinese students in Southampton teach us about going green?
Research amongst Chinese students studying in the UK explores whether studying overseas can change people's behaviour.
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Why New York-style rent controls would not work in London
Alan Shipman explains why the New York rent control model can't be easily copied by cities in the UK.
video icon
Society, Politics & Law
True stories of the 1975 EEC Referendum
As the UK prepares to vote on our future in Europe, what happened last time the public was asked? We've dug through the archives to find some stories from the 1975 EEC Referendum.