The Open University

An open book with an illustration on display

OU Art Historian helps people reconnect with the natural world

25th June 2026

How can heritage help nature thrive? OU art historian explores the links between National Trust collections and nature recovery projects.

The outside of the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Rome

Music academic publishes new research on an unknown composer

16th June 2026

On 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation, the congregation of a small church in Oxford heard music by Paolo Papini for the first time in over four hundred years. Ensemble Res Sacra led by Thomas Neal sang three pieces by Papini that I transcribed from manuscript as part of my research on music at the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome. The hospital was a large charitable institution founded to care for abandoned infants and orphans and the sick poor but was also musically active employing a professional choir and organist.

Creative Writing academic has been shortlisted for the Aurora Metro Virginia Prize for Fiction

10th June 2026

Emily Bullock, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, has been shortlisted for the Aurora Metro Virginia Prize for Fiction with her manuscript: For Always Only.

a body of water surrounded by a forest, Wye Valley, Buxton, UK

OU Creative Writers focus on the environment and climate change

9th June 2026

Creative Writers in the department of English & Creative Writing are involved in research and writing projects that draw attention to local effects of climate change and focus public attention on the environment.

@Blast Films two person looks at an flower embroidery on the table

Art History academics consult for OU/BBC series - Hidden Treasures of the National Trust

15th May 2026

Art History academics Professor Clare Taylor and Dr Andrew Murray consult for OU/BBC series Hidden Treasures of the National Trust, which returns on BBC Two & BBC iPlayer Friday 15 May at 21:00.

CD cover image featuring a towering iceberg in the process of melting into the ocean.

Free Range Orchestra - CD release "D R I F T"

24th April 2026

New CD release by the Free Range Orchestra featuring a new commission from Stevie Wishart and other improvisations.

OU Art Historians contribute to Tate Britain study morning on ‘Birds in Art’

7th April 2026

Academics from The Open University’s Art History department shared their work at a special study morning held at Tate Britain.

book cover and text "What’s in a photo? Frederick Douglass and Ram Singh II, Maharaj of Jaipur" on an OU-branded template

Frederick Douglass and Ram Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur: Introductions to the Art-Historical Trickster Hall of Fame

16th March 2026

Renate Dohmen’s chapter ‘What’s in a photo? Frederick Douglass and Ram Singh II, Maharaj of Jaipur. Or: Lateral art history and the post-indian trickster, an experiment in method’ published in The Routledge Companion to Art and Challenges to Empire (2025)