Alumni Association
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!
Saturday 3 June 2023: 16:00 to 17:00
Mackintosh Queens Cross Church, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G20 7EL
Stephen Peake, Professor of Climate Change and Energy at The Open University, is presenting the event 'Gaia and Her Renewable Energy Miracles: For All, Forever' at Glasgow Science Festival 2023.
Gaia is a touring artwork. A giant globe measuring seven metres in diameter and created from detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, the artwork provides the opportunity to see our planet, floating in three dimensions.
Join The Open University for a talk around our planet's use of energy, gaining a sense of perspective from the Gaia art installation. Put on a pair of 'energy goggles', hitch a ride on a sunbeam, and take a once in a lifetime tour of Gaia’s energy system. We will look forward to how Scotland and Glasgow will help achieve our 100% renewable, peaceful, energy futures.
This talk takes place around the My Earth art exhibition at Mackintosh Queens Cross, usually entry to see this exhibition would cost £5, but would be free if attending this show.
Book your place at this free event via the Eventbrite page for Gaia and Her Renewable Energy Miracles.
Saturday 10 June at 13:30 to 15:00 on Sunday 11 June 2023
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG
The Open University is delighted to be hosting a range of activities as part of the Glasgow Science Festival 2023.
Find the Glasgow Science Festival team in the centre hall at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, with free activities linked to the collections and the festival's theme 'Glasgow’s Looking Forward'.
Staff and students from The Open University will be on hand, offering opportunities for you to take part in a musical treasure hunt, have a go at building the Leonardome, be a lunar explorer, and investigate an augmented reality heart.
All of these events are free and no booking is required. There is more information about all of these on the Glasgow Science Festival website
Tuesday 13 June 2023: 12:00 to 13:00
Online or Berrill Theatre, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Computerised systems and process designs should effectively reflect peoples’ needs, according to Professor Anne Adams, Professor of Engaged Practice and Research at the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology, who will deliver her inaugural lecture on the subject
This is a hybrid event with networking opportunities afterwards for in person and online attendees.
Wednesday 14 June 2023: 11:00 to 13:00
Online / webcast
How do we build a strong and resilient musculoskeletal system and how can we have fun at the same time? Dr Jackie Richards will talk to us about dance and what are the benefits of dancing. What is creative dance and where can it take us? Dave Curry will share with us his journey of walks combined with his passion for travelling. We will explore how to exercise well and enough but how can we also make it fun.
Dr Jackie Richards- Advisor and Older Dancer, she has founded and managed a local creative dance organisation, regularly attends ballet, contemporary and creative dance sessions and danced in a variety of public performances and She advises several organisations concerned with ageing, adult learning, language, stereotyping. Jackie’s work is encouraging active lives, new friendships, more community involvement and Health & Wellbeing.
David Curry - Diabetes UK Service Champion, Middle Aged Old Goat (MAOG) The motto David lives by comes from Voltaire (French Philosopher) - “I have chosen to be happy because it’s good for my health “.
Sunday 18 June at 10:00 to Saturday 24 June at 18:00
Crawick Multiverse, Sanquhar, DG4 6EG
Summer Solstice Week is a week-long programme of events co-hosted by The Crawick Multiverse Trust and The Open University in Scotland.
Summer Solstice Week celebrations will take place at Crawick Multiverse, near Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, and in other local venues including schools, community halls and arts centres.
The entire week offers a superb chance to explore the Crawick Multiverse artland (designed by the late Charles Jencks), with its giant conical grass mounds representing colliding galaxies, long avenue of standing stones and other features inspired by the sun, stars, and other wonders of the cosmos.
Wednesday 5 July 2023: 13:00 to 14:00
Online
This practical online workshop will help give your CV a boost! We'll give you the tools to see why recruiters say ‘yes’ to some CVs and 'no' to others. We’ll critique elements of a CV so that you can apply what you have learnt to your own. Discover ways to tailor your CV and make an impact to give your CV it’s best chance to make it to the top of the right pile.
These sessions are a safe space to share and discuss with other students or just to listen. There are no required participation elements, and the session will not be recorded. We hope you’ll join us.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 - 10:00 to Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - 16:30
OU Milton Keynes campus, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
Join us for the next Social History of Learning Disability Conference exploring the theme, 'Community: Now and in the Past'. Presenting the latest in learning and research from the UK and internationally, this conference will hear from self and family advocates, alongside academics and practitioners. This is an inclusive conference with accessible presentations and welcomes people with learning disabilities and their families to attend.
Find out more about the event, including the full programme and register.
Tuesday 11 July 2023: 12:00 to 13:00
Online
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) is many things, including a warning against scientific meddling and a retelling of ancient myth. In this presentation Dr Alex Barber considers it as political allegory. The prompt for doing so is a recently rediscovered novella written in revolutionary Paris three decades earlier by Francois-Félix Nogaret. Two characters in this earlier work are compared to Prometheus after each builds an artificial human. Startlingly, one is called Nicator (i.e. Victor) while the other is called Frankésteïn (a purposeful mutation of the surname Frankenstein). Excavating the politics buried in this obscure 1790 work helps us to see how Shelley was responding to the revolution and its aftermath. She was also engaging in debates her own parents, the political philosophers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, had helped to shape in the 1790s.
Tuesday 11 July 2023: 13:30 to 14:30
Online
Want to use your study to change your life but not sure where to start? You’re not alone. We can help you DISCOVER what you need to and decide what to do next.
Take a look at the OpportunityHub event page for alternative dates and times this workshop is running.
Wednesday 12 July 2023: 11:00 to 13:00
Online / webcast
The LGBTQ+ community is aging like other communities but are there different issues? In this talk Dr Joe DeLappe and Tony Collins-Moore will explore what is the appropriate way to support the LGBTQ+ community to age well and how caring can work from an alternative family dynamic perspective.
Tony Collins-Moore- Carers Wellbeing Academy Manager, Carers Centre Tower Hamlets. Tony describes himself as advocate or & safeguarding champion, husband, animal lover, honest, fun & life loving man.
Dr Joseph DeLappe– Research Associate, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies, The Open University. Joe works on a range of health, wellbeing, and social care projects at the OU. His own research interests include health inequalities for LGBTQ+ populations, particularly as they age.
Thursday 13 July 2023: 18:00 to 19:00
Berrill Theatre, Milton Keynes or Online
In her inaugural lecture, Rachel Hilliam, Professor of Statistics in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will explore the role played by Data Science in ensuring that data is being used ethically, stored safely and analysed robustly.
About Rachel Hilliam
Rachel Hilliam is Professor of Statistics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, where she has previously held the roles of Director of Teaching for Mathematics and Statistics and academic lead for the Mathematics and Statistics student support team. She has worked in a number of universities and as a medical statistician in the NHS before joining The Open University in 2011.
Read more about Professor Rachel Hilliam
This event will also be recorded and livestreamed to YouTube and our Research webpages.
To attend the event in person or watch online: book here
Wednesday 19 July 2023: 12:30 to 13:30
Online
Succeeding at a job interview can take time and preparation. If you are looking to build your interview confidence this is a session for you. As more and more employers carry out interviews online, find out the best way to prepare, how to ace your answers and build your confidence through practice with the brand-new Interview360 tool.
Please note that as this is a live interactive workshop it will not be recorded.