Open University Courses

AA306 Shakespeare Text and Performance

This intensive study of nine Shakespeare plays takes close account of the social and political circumstances in which they were written and performed. This broad historicist approach is complemented by a strong emphasis on the diversity of twentieth-century critical responses to the plays and on modern productions of them, both on stage and on screen. The course will develop your knowledge of the range and variety of Shakespeare’s dramatic work; examine how its reception and status has been shaped by cultural and institutional factors; and explore themes such as questions of genre, politics, sexuality and gender.

EA300 Children's Literature

This course provides a broad introduction to the vibrant and growing field of children’s literature studies. You will study children’s literature in English ranging from its beginnings in eighteenth-century chapbooks and fairy tales, through seminal nineteenth-century novels, to contemporary examples of fiction illustrating current trends. The course also includes the study of picture books old and new, stage performance and film, storytelling and poetry. You will learn about the distinctiveness and purposes of children’s literature, its prestigious and popular modes and its different representations of children’s worlds.

A230 Reading and Studying Literature

Reading and studying literature builds on the introductory courses in arts and humanities, The arts past and present (AA100) and Voices and texts (A150). It will introduce you to the study of English literature by looking at a selection of texts from the Renaissance to the present day. The course offers a stimulating mix of classic texts and less well-known works from a range of genres, including drama, poetry and prose fiction as well as autobiography, travel-writing and film. An overarching concern of the course is the uses we make in the present of the literature of the past.

A207 From Enlightenment to Romanticism

This interdisciplinary course is designed to give you a critical understanding of this crucially formative period in modern European history. At its heart is a range of European texts associated with the epoch-making transition from Enlightenment to Romanticism. The texts include music, philosophical and scientific writings, historical documents, poetry, paintings and architecture by figures as diverse as Mozart, Rousseau, Davy, Byron, Goethe, Schubert and Delacroix – and topics as varied as Napoleon, the French Revolution, religious revival, African exploration and slavery, the Lake District, New Lanark, the Soane Museum and Brighton Pavilion.

K101 An Introduction to Health and Social Care

We all depend on care services at some time in our lives – at home; in hospitals, clinics or GP surgeries; in community and residential settings. This course provides an up-to-date, authoritative overview, with real-life case studies taking you deep into the experience of receiving care and working in care services. Whether you’re involved in care work (paid or unpaid), use services yourself, or simply have a general interest, this course will help you to build knowledge and understanding, develop practical skills, and prepare for further study.