Global education gathering is high point of the year
‘A real high point in a celebratory year’, was how our outgoing Vice-Chancellor Professor Mary Kellett described PCF9, the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning hosted by The Open University in Edinburgh last month. We have links to some of the highlights of this successful and thought-provoking event (pictured right).
ID@OU is a hive of activity this autumn. There’s news of two exciting new OU-led projects – an accelerated learning programme for girls in Zimbabwe, and a partnership supporting community-based agroecology in Latin America. And two cutting-edge reports, on the global education workforce and on age-friendly cities.
Two new free courses have been launched, and on top of all this, there’s a very full programme of upcoming events. Finally, our partner organisation, Innogen, has shared an eyecatching new video presentation of its work. Enjoy!
ID@OU
News and research round-up
SAGE Learning hubs offer second chance for girls denied a basic education
Girls from some of the poorest districts in Zimbabwe are beginning an accelerated learning programme directed and co-ordinated by the OU’s International Development Office. Read more…
Supporting community organisations’ agroecological innovation for sustainable, socially equitable development
Les Levidow leads a new £181,000 AHRC-funded research partnership for an agroecology-based solidarity economy in Latin America. Read more…
Teamwork is key to educating the world’s children
The Transforming the Education Workforce report is launched at the UN General Assembly. Primary research for the report was carried out by Professor of Education and International Development Freda Wolfenden. Read more…
We must incorporate ‘gerontechnology’ into urban development policy
Dr Hannah R. Marston from the OU’s Digital Health and Wellbeing Special Interest Group is co-author of a paper recommending a key update to the WHO’s Global Age-Friendly Cities Guide. Read more…
China in Africa research translated into free course
The research project led by Professor Giles Mohan has concluded with a course on how Chinese investment in African oil is playing out. Read more…
This is how to fix inequality
Economics lecturer Dr Hanna Szymborska sets out a programme of tax reform and ‘predistribution’. Read more…
New OpenLearn course on Politics, media and war: 9/11 and its aftermaths
A free OpenLearn course assesses the wider consequences of 9/11 from a standpoint of international politics and media sociology. Read more…
Sarah Brown inspires PCF9 with a vision of innovative education financing
The global education campaigner's address at the Pan Commonwealth Forum also commends the OU's pioneering work in mobile education. Read more…
Catch up on what you missed at PCF9
Find papers from the Pan-Commonwealth Forum. Read more…
Could a ‘No Deal’ Brexit increase the UK’s suicide rates?
Shocks to the economy are known to trigger or exacerbate mental health difficulties, says OU Mental Health lecturer Dr Sharon Mallon. Read more…
ID@OU academics present at 31st annual EAEPE conference in Warsaw
Visiting Professor Smita Srinivas presented the conference keynote on Development Variety and the Future of Economics, and Professor Theo Papaioannou presented his reflections on the ideas of Entrepreneurial State, Innovation and Social Justice. Read more…
Telling the story through images
IDII’s partner organistation, Innogen, unveils a new video promoting its work. Read more…
Opportunities
ESRC-funded PhD studentships
The Open University is inviting applications for full and part-time studentships in its suite of pathways, including the Development Policy and Practice Pathway, within The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership. Deadline 8 January 2020. Read more…
WELS Postgraduate Research Open Day
This event on October 15 is an opportunity to find out more about doctoral research and how to make an application. Read more and register…
Events
Workshop on The Belt and Road Initiative: The role of China in contemporary international development
15 October, 10:00-16:30, Hazel Seminar Room, Wilson Building D Block, Open University, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA
This event features three separate sessions on aspects of contemporary Chinese activity and influence internationally. Read more and register…
China’s reconnection to Europe via the BRI: the China-Europe freight train and its impact on China’s interior and border cities
15 October, 13:15-14:30, Hazel Seminar Room, Wilson Building D Block, Open University, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since 2013 has forged a new spatio-economic connection between China and Europe through the older transport technology of freight trains. Xiangming Chen, Paul Raether Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies and Sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, leads this seminar which examines China’s motivation and rationale, and local impacts. This event is part of the Belt and Road Initiative workshop (above). Read more and register…
IKD Workshop: Building the OU gender–social policy network, global governance and policy impact
30 October, 10:20-15:30, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
This is the second workshop of the newly established IKD Gender and Social Policy Research Theme Network, an interdisciplinary platform connecting academics who study gender in different topics and from different disciplines. Read more and register…
International Health Worker Migration and Recruitment: global governance, politics and policy (part of the Open University International Development Seminar Series)
30 October, 12:00-14:00, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
This lunchtime seminar will hear from Nicola Yeates, Professor of Social Policy, on her latest work. Read more and register…
The other road to serfdom: 'shock therapy' and the rise of the rentier class in post-Soviet economies (Open University International Development Seminar Series)
27 November, 12:00-14:00, CMR06, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
Dr Balihar Sanghera (Sociology, University of Kent) presents a moral economy critique of the transition to a market economy in the post-Soviet space. In a reversal of the classical ideal of a ‘free market’, neoliberalism has promoted and celebrated rent extraction, sometimes over wealth creation. Not surprisingly, some post-Soviet economies seek to extricate themselves from neoliberalism through alternative economic imaginaries, such as the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative. Read more and register…
Exploring cancer patients’ experiences in East Africa using patient pathways and mixed methods (Open University International Development Seminar Series)
11 December, 12:00-14:00, CMR06, The Open University, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
This lunchtime seminar will hear from Dr Cristina Santos (OU, Economics). Read more and register…
Open Impact Conference. Extending the frontiers of access to higher education in Africa: strategies for leveraging online and distance learning programs
13-14 December, Hotel Africana, Kampala, Uganda
This conference organised by The Open University Business School, the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Makerere University, will bring stakeholders together to co-create a strategic vision for Open and Distance Learning in Africa for the future. Early bird registration closes 3 November. Read more and register…
The Nigeria-Biafra war, 50 years on, and the building on alternative archives (Open University International Development Seminar Series)
22 January 2020, 12:00-14:00, CMR06, The Open University, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
This lunchtime seminar will hear from Françoise Ugochukwu (Development Policy and Practice, OU). Read more and register…
