Compassion is for self, not just for others

At a dark point in the year, Dr Kerry Hughes from the School reminds us to attend to self-care, and self-compassion. In this dark time of the year, when Spring is as yet unsprung, as night claims the hours when work has ceased but we are not yet done, remember self-compassion.    When repeated requests for…

We wish you a happy festive season and holiday, and all good fortune for 2021.

As the calendar year ends, the academic year continues - but there is a breathing space! Open University modules pause for two weeks, tutors finally turn away from their computer screens, and in the School the emails and meetings STOP. It's wonderful, though the break is never long enough.  We send this message to all…

Good old days or bad old days? History and national identities

Dr Sandra Obradovic from the School presents new research about how we connect the past and present of the nation, with all the tensions that can involve. There is a very special relationship that exists between how we perceive history and how we construct nations. References to epic historical battles and golden eras, as well…

Chatbot vs. person: Research on human-machine interaction

Dr Jenny Lynden, a Staff Tutor in the School, has been researching human-machine interaction. In a recent article in the journal Discourse, Context & Media, Jenny, together with a colleague from the University of Surrey and designers from a chatbot company, AMO, published findings from their research. They used a microlevel sociolinguistic analysis to understand how…

Your next Psychology and Counselling module?

This week we begin a new series in which Associate Lecturers introduce modules they tutor. Look for DE300 on Tuesday 6th August, followed by DD317 and DD310, then Level 2 modules. To see these posts and other news about the School of Psychology and Counselling at the Open University, check the blog regularly or become…