2.2 Diversity between states To attempt more precise definitions would run the risk of arbitrarily excluding many of the phenomena we need to address. In fact the intentionally loose, multifaceted nature of these definitions reflects the reality of regional diversity, which has many dimensions. The differences start with the states which in practical political terms largely define regions, for they are themselves very different in area and population size, in economic strength, in cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity, a
1.2 What does this unit cover? This unit offers some responses to these questions by outlining the variety of regions and regionalisms, their recent growth and its causes, their development in the EU context, and different future scenarios. Section 2 attempts to define ‘region’ and ‘regionalism’ in the face of their extreme cultural, economic and political diversity.
10.3 Further study The resources within this unit have covered a wide range of subject areas including education, environment, technology, history, law, literature, politics, social care and social sciences. If you are interested in becoming an Open University student you might want to visit New to the OU. Below is a list of the Open University courses that have been drawn upon to create the OpenLearn Scotland collection. What is poetry? is from A175
8.2 Nationalism, self-determination and secession What makes a ‘nation’ and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This unit will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own. To access this material click on the unit link below. It leads to a separate OpenLearn unit and will open in a new window.
4.2 John Napier For many years, John Napier (1550–1617) spent his leisure time devising means for making arithmetical calculations easier. Just why a Scots laird at the turn of the seventeenth century should have thus devoted the energies left over from the management of his estates remains a puzzle. Up to the publication of his description of logarithms in 1614, three years before his death, Napier was best known to the world for his Protestant religious treatise A plaine discovery of the whole Revelat
4.1 Overview For a small country whose population has never been much in excess of five million, Scotland seems to have more than its fair share of famous men and women. Native Scots or those descended directly from them have been the recipients of some 11 per cent of all the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded. In this section of the OpenLearn Scotland collection, we look in detail at the lives and work of four great Scots: John Napier, James Clerk Maxwell, Robert Owen and David Hume. Â
3.7 Finding information in science and nature This unit will help you to identify and use information in Science and Nature, whether for your work, study or personal purposes. Experiment with some of the key resources in this subject area, and learn about the skills which will enable you to plan searches for information, so you can find what you are looking for more easily. Discover the meaning of information quality, and learn how to evaluate the information you come across. You will also be introduced to the many different ways of orga
3.6 Oil industry in Scotland Photographs can solicit powerful emotional responses and are often used to draw people's attention to issues or to raise awareness of demands. This unit takes a look at how one set of photographs, used as part of a particular demand, was created. It looks at the process of producing images by exploring a series of photographs made with the intention of affecting the way a globalised industry is seen and understood. The industry in question is the oil industry based in Aberdeen, on Scotland's
3.3 The Tay Bridge disaster This unit will analyse a particular historical event, the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. The disaster came towards the end of a period of intense development of the railway system in the UK. The bridge had materials that were well known: cast iron was used for the columns and wrought iron for the trussed girders. The construction of the bridge was, at the time, the largest single engineering project in Britain, the Tay estuary being about two miles wide near Dundee, and the bridge was the longe
2.2 Curriculum framework in Scotland In this unit you will find discussion of national curricula frameworks relating to Scotland, England and the Republic of Ireland. These literacy curricula vary in the details of their prescription and the level of flexibility. To access this material click on the unit link below. It leads to a separate OpenLearn unit and will open in a new window.
2.1 Overview The Scottish education system is distinctive and has a long independent history. The units within this section cover the national curriculum framework in Scotland and give examples of learning in some Scottish schools. In teachers' professional development, The Open University works with The General Teaching Council for Scotland (the independent regulatory body for the teaching profession in Scotland) to develop courses and qualifications specifically tailored to Scotland's needs, e.g.
4.1 Race and place The following poem was written by Jackie Kay who was born in Glasgow in 1961. Her mother was a white Scottish woman and her father was a black Nigerian student. She has written extensively about the subject of identity in the context of her own experience – for example, of being an adopted child, brought up in Glasgow. 3.4 Audio activity Using audio is a very idiosyncratic practice amongst Open University students. Some listen to them in the car, others on a personal stereo on the train, some while washing up, others at their desk. Flexibility of use is certainly one of their virtues. However you use them, some of the following may be useful guidelines. Read the notes for the activity before you listen. At the very least try and fix in your head or note down the main purpose of the a 1.2.1 Summary The passport example illustrates the tension between how I see myself and how I am seen by others, between the personal and the social. Institutions such as the state play an important role in constructing identities. Difference is very clearly marked in relation to national identity. Such official categories contain omissions and cannot fully accommodate the personal investment we have in our identities, n Introduction This unit looks at identity, focusing upon the individual's perception of self in relation to others; the relationships between multi-ethnicity, cultural diversity and identity; and the effects of inequality and social class upon identity. It also looks at inequality and social class as they relate to perceived identity. This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Introducing the social sciences (DD100) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you References 5 Further reading For further discussion and explanations of events in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, G. Squires and C. Hartman's (eds) There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster (2006, Routledge) brings together a series of social sciences essays and commentaries around different dimensions of the disaster. There are many books and studies detailing the evolution of council estates in Britain and focusing on the many problems facing some of the residents who live in them. Tony Par 1 Aims of the unit The aims of this unit are to: Explore some of the many complex and different ways in which questions of social justice and of inequality come to be seen in terms of the deficient behaviour of different problem populations. In particular, it explores how particular groups of people and particular places come to be identified as ‘problem populations’ and how social welfare and crime concerns intersect in the management of these populations. 4.1 Learning from video clips This video clip is a short feature that provides you with guidance on how to learn from video materials.
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