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Upcoming Events

What's on at the OU? As an OU graduate, you have access to a number of free, online events across your University. Here are the latest events you can attend. Just click on the links to find out more and save your place. We look forward to seeing you!


Infinite possibilities – careers with any degree

Thursday 14 March, 2024 - 12:30 to 13:30

Online

Join us for an Open University alumni event Infinite possibilities – careers with any degree, a panel discussion with the OU careers team and employers including the Local Government Association Graduate Development Programme, Liberty Global and FinTrU.

Our panel includes OU graduate Kevin McDermott (graduated in BSc Social Policy and Criminology in 2017). Kevin started in a graduate level role at FinTrU but is now a Senior Associate managing a team.

Click on this link and book your place now.


Career Opportunities in Rural Areas of Wales

Tuesday 19 March 2024, 12:30 - 13:30

Online

Do you live in rural Wales and want to know about the different options and opportunities available to you in your area? Join us for an exclusive online webinar on Career Opportunities in Rural Areas of Wales. Hear from successful professionals based in rural Wales who will share their stories and tips. Discover the various roles and sectors that are in demand in rural areas of Wales, such as agriculture, tourism, education, health, and environment

Find out more and register.


Join us at Imagine! Festival of Politics and Ideas in Belfast

Once again, The Open University is proudly sponsoring the Imagine! Festival of Politics and Ideas in Belfast. As part of the festival, we have organised several engaging, free events, featuring our talented Open University academics. We are delighted to invite you along. Find out more below and reserve your place. We look forward to welcoming you.

The Making of ‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’

Tuesday 19 March, 2024, 7:00pm – 8:30pm

2 Royal Avenue, Belfast

Can documentaries and storytelling be a vehicle for understanding stories from a contested but shared past? Could they help us to better understand the present and inform our future?

This event will seek to address these questions and more through a panel of filmmakers and consultants to the award-winning BBC / Open University documentary series ‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’. The panel includes Dr Philip O’Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Environment and Politics, The Open University and academic consultant for the series; Gabi Kent, Senior Lecturer in Knowledge Exchange, The Open University; Eddie Doyle, Head of Content Commissioning, BBC NI; Rachel Hooper, Creative Director, Walk On Air Films; and Sian McIlwaine, Producer/Director, KEO Films.

Get your free ticket here

Coming to America

Wednesday 20 March, 2024, 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Online and at The Open University, 110 Victoria Street, Belfast

Why did the Irish emigrate in such vast numbers? What was their experience when they arrived in America? How did emigration change over the years? What impact did Irish emigrants have on American society?

This event explores the fascinating story of Irish migration to America, a story that begins long before the Famine of the 1840s and continues to be written.

We will take a look at the allure of the New World for various groups of Irish emigrants since the eighteenth century. What made America so appealing to different groups of Irish people at different times? We’ll also consider the ways in which Irish men and women were met with hostility in America. Through a series of case studies, we will see how they made themselves at home in the New World; the elements of their own culture that they retained and how they influenced American music, education and culture.

Get your free ticket here


Her Story: Ending online violence against women in Northern Ireland

Thursday 21 March, 2024, 7:00pm – 8:00pm

The Law Society of Northern Ireland

The Open University’s Professor Olga Jurasz will open the event by sharing results and insights from the largest-ever study into online violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland.

Professor Jurasz will be joined by Sophie Nelson, Policy Officer at HEReNI, Tahnee McCorry, CEO of White Ribbon NI, and Leigh Lyle-Toal, Co-Vice Chair of Belfast Pride. Dr Róise Connolly, Lecturer at the Open University Law School will chair the event.

You’ll learn about the impact that online violence has on women and girls in Northern Ireland, and societal attitudes towards it, and join a vital conversation about how to tackle this modern phenomenon. You’ll also hear first-hand accounts of how Northern Ireland’s organisations and the government are working towards making a change in this space.

Get your free ticket here


“It sounds like a whisper”: feminist psychology and the gendering of power

Thursday 21 March, 2024 - 17:30 to 18:30

Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Milton Keynes and also online

In her inaugural lecture, Rose Capdevila, Professor of Psychology at the OU, will discuss her research around the gendering of power in three contexts: activism, the history of psychology and social media.

Informed by intersectional feminist theory, which argues that different types of discrimination can operate together to make each other worse, the lecture will explore the relational constitution and legitimisation of gender in these spaces.

Find out more and register


Countdown to the European Lunar Symposium: Living on the Moon

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 - 19:00 to 20:00

Dark Space Planetarium, The Johnston, St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright, DG6 4EG

The Open University in Scotland is proud to host 'Countdown to the European Lunar Symposium: Living on the Moon with Professor Mahesh Anand'.

Found out more and register


Generative AI: Hopes and Fears - Dumfries

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - 19:00 to 21:00

Easterbrook Hall, Bankend Road, Dumfries, DG1 4TA

The OU in Scotland and South of Scotland Enterprise's panel of experts discuss worries, excitement and confusion around generative AI.

Find out more and register


Generative AI: Hopes and Fears - Edinburgh

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 - 19:00 to 21:00

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ

The OU in Scotland and South of Scotland Enterprise's panel of experts discuss worries, excitement and confusion around generative AI.

Find out more and register


Education Conference: Evolutions in Education

Wednesday, 24 April, 2024 - 14:00 to 18:30

Thursday 25 April, 2024 - 14:00 to 18:30

Online (Microsoft Teams)

The Open University is hosting a free online conference, for anyone interested in the education sector, from early years to further education, anywhere in the UK. Evolutions in Education will consist of interactive sessions, panels and talks considering how The Open University works across the UK with practitioners in a wide range of educational settings. It also offers an opportunity to meet education colleagues from across the UK and to find new resources, build networks and share your experiences.

The sessions will be led by Open University academic and external engagement staff and will explore the themes and topics mentioned in a highly interactive, innovative and open way. Each session will be based around discussing current practice and experience, giving those taking part the opportunity to learn from colleagues across the UK and across settings.

Find out more and register.


Inaugural Lecture - Violence, women and the law: an unfinished story

Thursday 9 May, 2024 - 13:00 to 14:00

Online (Microsoft Teams) or in person on the OU's Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes

In her Inaugural Lecture, Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law in the OU’s Faculty of Business & Law, will explore the uneasy relationship between violence, law and women’s lives using three examples: conflict-related sexual violence, online violence against women and the impact that withdrawal of rights and laws has on violence they experience.

Find out more and register