Missed the Short Courses Online Sessions? You can now enjoy recordings of each session at your own leisure. Arts Contemporary Approaches to Documentary Print Media Title: Contemporary Approaches to Documentary Print Media Tutor: Ed Bruce The concept of documentary movement in film and photography aiming to capture the particularities of place and time is well known. These interests are also expressed in the field of printmaking. Teaching Fellow Ed Bruce will show contemporary examples of documentary prints that are concerned with place, topography, landscape and memory. Ed Bruce is a Printmaking Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning and graduated with a postgraduate qualification in Fine Art Practice from the Glasgow School of Art in 2019, specialising in Printmedia. He has been invited by the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium to attend a printmaking residency. Ed is interested in print used in graphic communication, normally designed to be direct and simple. Conversely, Ed produces signage forms that are manipulated, disrupted, multi-layered and complex, crossing the field boundaries of media, exploring different mixes of typography, graphics and signs. Ed is currently researching the protocols and etiquettes we use to convey messages and how these may be applied to the (graphic) communication between opposing sides. View Lecture Recording View Lecture Slides Cora James Photographer: Collaboration & Professional Practice Title: Cora James Photographer: Collaboration & Professional Practice Tutor: Cora James In this talk, Teaching Fellow Cora James discusses her approach to collaboration in photographic practice and takes you through her experience of working with director and artist Steve McQueen, the Tate and children's charity A New Direction on an ambitious project in 2018. The project captured 76,146 children in 3,128 photographs. She currently works as a Photography Specialist Technician at London College of Communication, A Project Days Tutor at Edinburgh's Stills Gallery and a Freelance Project Facilitator at PhotoFusion. View Lecture Recording Introduction to Portraiture Title: Introduction to Portraiture Tutor: Christine Frew In this lecture, Teaching Fellow Christine Frew will be showing examples of historical and contemporary works that help us better understand the process of looking at and representing ‘the model’. Why do artists make portraits? Who for? How has the relationship between artist and model developed over time? Is a model or sitter even necessary? She'll discuss different approaches to Portraiture, including her own - what informs it and how it’s made, as well as aspects of composition, style, technique and how some artists have used the Self Portrait to scrutinise, analyse and document themselves and their life. Christine Frew trained at Edinburgh College of Art, gaining a BA Honours Degree in Drawing and Painting with Printmaking. After graduating, she worked in contemporary galleries and museums before moving to New York to take up a post with an arts journal. She has taken part in group exhibitions and collaborations with other artists. Her work focus is mainly figurative and often involves portraiture and storytelling and sometimes works in oil paint, often rendering it to look like watercolour and at other times moulding and shaping thick paint. She enjoys drawing in mixed media including inks, wash and watercolour to create multi layered images. Her practice involves research and combines ideas of ethnography, popular culture, art history, self presentation and identity - a portrait, the story a person has to tell. She has exhibited in Edinburgh at galleries such as Talbot Rice Gallery and Inverleith House, at Transmission in Glasgow as well as in London, Bath, New York and New Orleans. View Lecture Recording View Lecture Slides Introduction to Printmaking: Techniques Used to 'Record' the Landscape Title: Introduction to Printmaking: Techniques Used to 'Record' the Landscape Tutor: Ed Bruce An brief introduction to some printmaking techniques alongside examples of artists’ prints on topographic subjects. People of all creative abilities are welcome to join this online session. You will explore how printmakers have engaged with the urban, suburban and rural landscape in the modern period, employing a variety of techniques to engage with the theme of 'documenting surroundings.' Various printmaking methods will be examined including etching, lithography, screen-printing, relief printing, monoprinting and collagraphy. There will be a particular focus on intaglio techniques with descriptions of dry-point, hard and soft grounds, aquatint, sugar-lift, and acid biting effects using spit-bite, foul-bite, for example. Ed Bruce is an Art & Design Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. View Lecture Recording Tapestry Journeys: The Importance of Artist Networking Title: Tapestry Journeys: The Importance of Artist Networking Tutor: Fiona Hutchison This session will take you on an international journey: to symposiums, residences, and exhibitions, showing how networking with artists at home and abroad influenced the creative process. Teaching Fellow Fiona Hutchison has been designing and weaving tapestry for over 30 years and has travelled the world to promote contemporary Scottish Tapestry. View Lecture Recording Humanities Dialogues Across Borders: Patrick Suskind's 'Perfume' and its Film and TV Adaptations Title: Dialogues Across Borders: Patrick Süskind's "Perfume" and its film and TV adaptations Tutor: Dr. Malgorzata Bugaj Patrick Süskind’s 1985 novel “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” and Tom Tykwer’s 2006 feature under the same title inventively harness techniques specific to, respectively, literature and film in order to create an array of synaesthetic associations. While Tykwer’s film is a faithful adaptation of the literary work, TV mini-series “Perfume / Parfum” (2018) produced for ZDFneo / Netflix updates the original plot by transposing the world of the 18th-century France into the modern day Lower Rhine Valley. My lecture investigates how re-interpreted stories and ideas create a dialogue between literature and moving image (cinema and television/streaming services). Website accompanying the lecture: https://edin.ac/3hny6uS Dr Malgorzata Bugaj is a Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning. She teaches courses on 20th century avant-garde film, European cinema, film theory, female filmmakers, and cinema and the five senses. Her recent publications include journal articles and book chapters on synaesthesia in film, adaptations, intermediality, and auteurs of European cinema. View Lecture Slides View Lecture Recording Dramatising the Political in Contemporary Scottish Theatre and Performance Title: Dramatising the Political in Contemporary Scottish Theatre and Performance Tutor: Dr Rania Karoula Theatre has always been an important aspect of Scottish cultural life, providing excitement, entertainment, controversies, and food for thought. There have been countless performances that provoked arguments, discussions, and criticism among theatregoers (usually in the pub afterwards). Join us for a trip down memory lane on how contemporary Scottish performance presented, questioned, and familiarised its audiences with the notion of the ‘political’ and how it addresses current issues brought about by the pandemic. Dr Rania Karoula is a Teaching Fellow in Literature and Theatre at the Centre for Open Learning. She has taught and designed courses on Jane Austen, American Short Stories, modernist European theatre and contemporary Scottish performance. She worked with David MacLennan (7:84, Wildcat Stage Productions) in 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' at Òran Mór, Glasgow. Her publications include journal articles on modernist and contemporary Scottish theatre and her first monograph on the Federal Theatre Project by Edinburgh University Press appeared in December 2020. View Lecture Slides Geomythography: A New Window on the Past Title: Geomythography: A New Window on the Past Tutor: Stuart McHardy Through the analysis of site-specific oral traditions, archaeology, placenames, history and the landscape itself Geomythography focusses on cultural continuities that allow us to develop new perspectives on the past. Stuart McHardy is a writer, historical scholar, poet, musician, folklorist and renowned lecturer on Scottish history and culture, at home (and here at the Centre for Open Learning) as well as abroad. Immersed in the storytelling arts and history alike, he continues to be fascinated by the culture and history of Scotland, his latest book, Stones of the Ancestors 2020 (Luath Press) was co-written with archaeo-astronomer Dougie Scott. View Presentation Slides Making Literary Connections: Stevenson's Edinburgh and 'Jekyll and Hyde' Title: Making Literary Connections: Stevenson's Edinburgh and 'Jekyll and Hyde' Tutor: Dr. Anya Clayworth An interactive session exploring digitally the relationship between the work of Robert Louis Stevenson and the city of Edinburgh, we will look specifically how Stevenson’s 1886 novel, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde engages with the city and with ideas about duality. There will be a short lecture followed by an open discussion which will focus on the following aspects of the novel: Stevenson’s exploration of duality in character, place and philosophy and his use of silence in the novel. Take the opportunity to be inspired to explore the literary heritage of our city and rediscover Stevenson’s home city. Anya Clayworth is the International Foundation Programme Director and a Teaching Fellow in Humanities at the Centre for Open Learning . She received her PhD from the University of Birmingham in 1996 before working as a Teaching Fellow in the School of English at the University of St Andrews and joining the University of Edinburgh in 2007. She is an expert on the journalism of Oscar Wilde and published an edition of Wilde’s journalism with Oxford University Press. Anya teaches Literature courses for the Centre for Open Learning’s Short Courses Programme. Anya has been nominated many times for the Edinburgh Students Union Teaching Awards in recognition of her passionate and enthusiastic approach to Literature and the Humanities. Please note that this session has limited capacity and as such may mean that not all registrants can join the session. The session will have an element of class discussion and will require participants to switch on their audio and video in order to participate fully. View Presentation Slides View Lecture Recording Poetry, Social Distance and Community Title: Poetry, Social Distance and Community Tutor: Dr. Reena Sastri Can poetry create and sustain a sense of community in a time of social distance? How does poetic language—as distinct from political discourse, news, or social media—reflect on civic life, as well as more intimate forms of human connectedness? We will explore these questions through a selection of poems from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Reena Sastri lectured in American, British, and Irish literature at the Universities of Oxford and York before joining the Centre for Open Learning as a Teaching Fellow in the Humanities. She has published widely on 20th and 21st century poetry. Slides and recording from this session are not available. The University of Edinburgh and Scottish Enlightenment Thought Title: The University of Edinburgh and Scottish Englightenment Thought Tutor: Dr. John Gordon The University of Edinburgh was one of the principal centres of the Scottish Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. This lecture will commence with a brief discussion of the syllabus studied by students in the late sixteenth century, and contrast this with the radically modern ideas which thinkers such as David Hume and Adam Smith were later to advance - ideas which still resonate in our time. John Gordon is a Teaching Fellow in Humanities at the Centre for Open Learning. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, and has taught with the university since 1989. John's principal interests are the Scottish Enlightenment and the philosophy, literature and history of the ancient Greeks. View Presentation Slides View Lecture Recording The World of Homer between History and Myth Title: The World of Homer between History and Myth Tutor: Rolland Man The wonders of Troy, the song of the sirens, the magic potions of Circe… the list can go on. Just a few of the wonderful ingredients that made generations dream of the mythical world of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Are they pure invention or there is a reality behind them? Without destroying the magic, we will look at what facts may hide behind some of the best-known episodes from the epics. Rolland Man is a Teaching Fellow and teaches Film and Literature at the Centre for Open Learning. He heard the song of the sirens at an early age and is still under the spell of Homeric epics. View Lecture Recording View Lecture Slides Where Do Fairy Tales Come From? Unlocking the Myth of Cupid & Psyche Title: Where Do Fairy Tales Come From? Unlocking the Myth of Cupid and Psyche Tutor: David Wingrove Although fairy tales come from a wide range of cultures and places, many seem to originate from a single source. That is the Graeco-Roman myth of Cupid and Psyche. A dark and erotic tale of mystery and magic, it features a plucky heroine, a handsome prince in the guise of a monster and a vengeful and all-powerful Mother Goddess. Join us and find out where your favourite stories began! David Melville Wingrove is a Teaching Fellow in Literature and Film Studies. He has published widely on a bizarre range of topics and describes himself as a Lecturer in Hollywood Glamour and Gothic Excess. View Reading List View Lecture Slides View Lecture Recording Social Sciences The Economic Impact of COVID-19 Title: The Economic Impact of COVID-19 Tutor: Dr. Vangelis Chiotis This taster session will examine the macroeconomic impact of Covid-19, focusing on two aspects. First, we will look at the fundamental economic concepts of GDP and economic growth in the context of the current pandemic. Second, we will discuss potential economic policy responses by the state, such as the furlough scheme and the idea of a universal basic income. Vangelis Chiotis is a teaching fellow at the Centre for Open Learning. He holds a PhD in Politics, Economics and Philosophy for a thesis on moral contractarianism and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Over the past ten years he has taught economics, political economy, politics and social science. His research interests revolve around three themes: Social contract theory, theories of justice and social conventions; the bi-directional interaction between individual agency and social structures; the efficiency and morality of social institutions. View Presentation Slides View Lecture Recording Who Runs The World? Global Governance and COVID-19 Title: Who Runs The World? Global Governance and COVID-19 Tutor: Dr. Andrew Drever The present global health crisis has been met by different responses from various key actors on the world stage, from the self-interest of powerful nation-states to attempts at coordination and cooperation by international organisations such as the World Health Organisation. All of this maps on closely to some of the fundamental questions in International Relations (IR), such as ‘who or what holds the most power in world politics?’ and ‘can the world ever be governed without a world government?’ This taster session will explore these questions, looking at how major traditions in IR can help us make sense of current events. Andrew Drever is a Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning. He has a PhD in Politics (University of Edinburgh, 2016), an MA in Political Philosophy (University of York, 2010), and a BA (Hons) in Politics (University of Strathclyde, 2008). Andrew also teaches in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, and the School of Social Sciences and Global Studies, Open University. He has tutored, lectured, and convened courses on international relations, political science, political theory, social theory, social science, and study skills. View Presentation Slides View Lecture Recording Science and Nature Beach Pebbles: Windows into Scotland's Geological Past Title: Beach Pebbles: Windows into Scotland's Geological Past Tutor: Dr. Angus Miller Scotland’s geology is incredibly varied, this small country has a fantastic variety of rock types formed over a vast reach of geological time. The best place to see this variety is on Scotland’s pebble beaches. How do pebbles form and why do some survive better than others? What processes result in some beaches having a wide range of pebble types and sizes, and others being dominated by a single rock type. What can a pebble tell you about Scotland’s geological history? Angus is a Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning. He is passionate about all aspects of Scotland's geology, particularly in the often under-appreciated links between geology, landscape and people: “Our geology is messy, complicated and very diverse; and it contributes in many different ways to how people have lived in Scotland in the past, our modern society, and our future prosperity”. This session does not have lecture recording available. View Lecture Slides Biology of Birds (Taster Session) Title: Biology of Birds (Taster Session) Tutor: Dr. Sue Lewis This free taster lecture will use materials taken from our fascinating and popular series of courses on The Biology of Birds. The lecture will explore the incredible diversity of bird species, looking at their evolution from theropod (dinosaur) beginnings. We will explore how birds fly and look at some of the incredible migration journeys that some species undertake each year. The unique and delightful sound of birdsong will be studied, along with the diversity of mating systems. Finally, we will think about the ecology of birds, their range of feeding mechanisms and how we can help to protect bird populations by focusing on conservation solutions. This taster lecture is perfect for anybody with an interest in birds, from the newly curious to experienced ornithologists. View Lecture Slides View Lecture Recording Hyperloop: The Next Generation of Transportation Title: Hyperloop: The Next Generation of Transportation Tutor: HYPED Team The Hyperloop concept, developed by Elon Musk, is a new form of transportation that will be faster and more sustainable than current modes of transport. It is predicted to reduce the travel time from Edinburgh to London to 45 minutes and to outperform even the low energy consumption required by electric cars. This lecture will explain what is the Hyperloop, the benefits of the transport, the feasibility of its implementation, and the comparison with other modes of transportation. HYPED is a society/research group that focuses on advancing the development of the Hyperloop worldwide and in the UK. The team has qualified for the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition finals 3 times in a row, has received awards for published research papers and has taken to schools across the world to teach using the excitement of the Hyperloop. View Lecture Slides View Lecture Recording Palaeontology: the Greatest Show on Earth Title: Palaeontology: the Greatest Show on Earth Tutor: Dr Tom Challands Life on Earth has a long, rich history spanning some 3.5 billion years. It has taken time for mankind to understand and decipher what the mysterious petrified organic remains of this rich history represent and what they can tell us about life on Earth in the past but also how life might respond to changes in the future. The evolution of life on Earth is a roller coaster ride of originations and extinctions all culminating in the biosphere we see today. Palaeontologists now employ a whole range of sophisticated techniques to not only analyse patterns of evolution but also to understand how extinct organisms actually functioned and how they differ from present day life. This is the job of a palaeontologist. In this lecture, Centre for Open Learning's Head of STEM, Dr Tom Challands, will take you on this roller coaster ride and share with you some of his experiences looking for fossils in the arctic, the Isle of Skye and, closer to home, the Firth of Forth. He will demonstrate how we use various technologies from the humble hammer to multi-million pound synchrotron radiation sources to extract every ounce of information from long-dead organisms now entombed in rock. This talk will be a trip from cold, wind-swept rocky exposures to the lab, as well as touching on the more mundain yet important tasks involved in the study of palaeontology. Ultimately, all these adventures contribute to our understanding of The Greatest Show on Earth, a show that everyone is part of. Dr Tom Callands completed a degree in geology at the University of Edinburgh and a Masters degree in Palaeobiology at Bristol University where he was also the Bristol Dinosaur Education Officer for the Bristol Dinosaur Project. He studied for his PhD at Durham University. Tom’s area of research involves studying the evolution of fossil fish and their sensory systems in particular from the time that fish evolved into land-going creatures. Besides fish, he has been closely involved in work with the discovery of new dinosaur material on the Isle of Skye including a ‘dinosaur disco’ of hundreds of footprints at a single site. Having undertaken field work in the Arctic, America and South Africa, his favourite place to explore for new fossils is right on his doorstep here in Scotland which boasts some of the most important fossil fish sites in the world. View Lecture Recording View Lecture References Volcanoes That Shaped Edinburgh Title: Volcanoes That Shaped Edinburgh Tutor: Dr. Angus Miller Edinburgh's startling scenery is the result of volcanic activity hundreds of millions of years ago, which created the tough rock of the city hills. Unusually, there have been two completely separate and contrasting episodes of volcanic activity here. Volcanoes created the site of Edinburgh castle – the original focus of the city, and the reason it became the capital of Scotland – and strongly contribute to the character of the city that is much loved by today’s residents and visitors. Angus is a Teaching Fellow at the Centre for Open Learning. He is passionate about all aspects of Scotland's geology, particularly in the often under-appreciated links between geology, landscape and people: “Our geology is messy, complicated and very diverse; and it contributes in many different ways to how people have lived in Scotland in the past, our modern society, and our future prosperity”. View Presentation Slides View Lecture Recording This article was published on 2024-10-14
