Blue chat for a blue day: collecting some thoughts on the marketing wheeze that is Blue Monday.

Links to resources recommended by 'Pathways to Success in Higher Education' by The Open University in Wales. 

Baffled by modern art and architecture? You’re not alone! This collection gives new insight into today’s shifting kaleidoscope of visual culture by placing it in the context of the developments of the 19th and 20th century. In the mid 19th century there was a growing realisation that everything had changed. Industry was booming, and the speed of life increasing. Artists, thinkers and architects strove to find new ways of encapsulating this new world … and modernism was born. The collection describes how throughout the twentieth century different media and artforms were added to the canon, and the sophisticated social structure of the Art-world developed.

This material forms part of The Open University course A226 Exploring art and visual culture.

New research in America suggests that characters like Laverne Cox's Sophia Burset in Orange Is The New Black may have more impact on how society reacts to transgender people, than the reported experiences of real people. Erica L Rosensthal and Traci Gillig share some of their findings.

As Channel 4 News showed following the Westminster attacks, it can be easy for even the best journalists to slip up covering a fast-moving story. 

This course extends language skills and cultural knowledge. By working with authentic material from German-speaking countries, you will learn how to communicate in a wide range of situations: expressing opinions; reporting other people’s comments; explaining processes and trends; electronic communications; structured notes and texts. Cultural themes explored include changing demographic and social patterns; jobs and the role of work; German media and arts; issues of faith and personal beliefs; and issues in recent Germany history. There is an integrated residential school which takes place in Germany. . This material is taken from The Open University Course L203 Motive: Upper Intermediate German.

How was Darwin initially received in Europe, and beyond? Why was he eagerly accepted in some countries and bitterly rejected in others? And how can modern media make him accessible to a much greater audience? History professors Thomas Glick and Peter Kjaergaard reveal the controversies, which occurred when Darwin's ideas were first published around the world. Immediately, they were interpreted through the lens of wider cultural and political debates, which very much affected their reception. Few doubted that Charles Darwin was a great naturalist, but there were many who argued with evolutionary theory and some who only accepted it after significant alterations. Today the Internet has created a vast new audience for Darwin, but this doesn't mean that all the arguments have gone away.

The tracks on this album were produced by The Open University in collaboration with the British Council. They form part of Darwin Now, a global initiative celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin and the impact his ideas about evolution continue to have on today’s world. © British Council 2009.

Can surveys be rigged to give each client the result they want? Or is there some subterfuge at hand in the way the results of polls can be reported? Let this article guide you through the murky world of using opinion polls to make a point.

Sport is a massive global phenomenon. Events and sporting heroes attract an enormous amount of interest. What’s going on? Why do sporting heroes matter so much and why is the media full of sports news? This album uses interviews with four key people in sport (Ed Smith, Sue Tibballs, Ed Warner and Sunder Katwala) to explore the relationship between sport and the media and considers the role of media representations in constructing our understanding of sport and creating its place in the wider popular culture. Course chair, Professor Kath Woodward also reflects on the course and the material in this album through two academic perspectives. This material forms part of the course D170 This Sporting Planet.