Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Onderdeel van Reisalbum met foto's van bezienswaardigheden in Napels en omgeving (c) Giorgio Sommer (attributed to).

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Projects

Art, Visual Culture, and the Global Climate Crisis

This project sheds light on the connections between artistic and scientific image cultures. Its focus is a series of short documentary films that explore the importance of art and natural history collections across the UK in order to shift understanding about the global climate crisis. The first two films launch in June 2022 and were produced, directed and edited by Elizabeth Penman with funding from The Open University in association with OU Scotland and Glasgow Museums.

Led by Dr Samuel Shaw and Dr Carla Benzan

Methodologies for Global Challenges

This is a student-facing project that aims to develop new reflective and critical pedagogies. It supports student engagement with contemporary challenges facing global societies, including climate change and carbon literacy. The project is funded by the FASS Centre for Scholarship and Innovation and the Global Challenges and Social Justice Teaching Lab in the School of Social Sciences and Global Studies.

Led by Dr Maria Nita

Eco-creativity Conference

An annual cross-faculty event hosted by The Open University exploring the interface between culture, environment, social change, and political activism.

Led by Dr Maria Nita

Wild Life: Creative Encounters with Urban Nature

This project builds on an interdisciplinary panel ‘Encountering Urban Wildlife’ at IF: Milton Keynes International Festival 2021. The event brought together local birders, prominent activists, creative educators, and environmentally-engaged academics to reflect on the kinds of relationships we have with urban nature. Moving forward ‘Wild Life’ aims to bring environmentally-engaged research across OU faculties to under-represented secondary school students and schools. The aim is to foster new kinds of relationships with the urban wilds through skills-based creative workshops integrated with citizen science projects.

Led by Dr Carla Benzan and Dr Robert Wallis