Free courses
Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 9 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
- Geography
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level 2: intermediate icon
Society, Politics & Law
Rising China and Africa's development: oil
China has emerged as a global economic superpower over the past few decades. This has sparked intense academic and popular debate about the long-term implications of its continued growth. The expansion of China into African countries in pursuit of natural resources has incited particular controversy – does it spell increased cooperation between...
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Society, Politics & Law
Passports: identity and airports
This free course, Passports: identity and airports, offers a sociological analysis of the modern airport. Using a lively mixture of videos, interactive exercises and readings, the course explores how the social world of the airport is made and maintained. In particular, it investigates how the processes that constitute this world - queuing, ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Society, Politics & Law
Who counts as a refugee?
The words 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' have a wide variety of connotations in Britain, many of them negative. This free course, Who counts as a refugee?, explores how changing social policy and terminology help to shape, and are shaped by, the experiences of people seeking asylum in the UK.
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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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Nature & Environment
‘Land grab’: an environmental issue?
This free course, ‘Land grab’: an environmental issue?, explores how environmental problems are entangled with economic and political issues and offers tools for making sense of the complexity that results. The case of land grab illustrates how everyday issues such as food prices are caught up in connections that link different places, different...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Mosquito resistance to insecticides
Learn about how allele frequency can change rapidly in a population in response to selective pressure by considering how evolutionary change can occur in insects that are exposed to insecticides. This free course, Mosquito resistance to insecticides, further demonstrates how traits that are advantageous in one environment can have effects that ...
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Society, Politics & Law
Why maps are made
Cars have sat nav systems, mobile phones use GPS: maps are important in everyday life whether captured by aerial photography, satellite imagery or simply drawn. This free course, Why maps are made, looks at how we read and evaluate the information in maps and assesses the values embedded within them. From mental maps to public transport and ...
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Society, Politics & Law
Who are Europeans?
What is Europe and what defines a European? This free course, Who are Europeans?, looks at the development of identities within Europe and the European Union. You will assess the mechanisms through which a new identity commitment is being formed and the limitations of and oppositions to this process. Can a genuine European identity ever be ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Society, Politics & Law
What is Europe?
The European Union (EU), formed out of the ashes of the Second World War, continues to expand in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite the EU's growing size and significance, the question 'What is Europe?' still resonates through the continent. This free course looks at a range of different views on the question, contrasting ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Society, Politics & Law
A Europe of the Regions?
What role will the 'regions' play in the emerging governance structures of the European Union? This free course, A Europe of the Regions?, examines the rise of the regions and regionalism in Western Europe. You will look at the possible development pathways for Europe: will it become a federal super-state or a decentralised 'Europe of the Regions'?