Courses July and August 2022
Suddenly there were lots of new FutureLearn courses I was keen to do, together with a couple which only run for a limited time and I'd been waiting for them to be rerun. So, naturally I decided to do the lot.
Discover the Hidden History of York (University of York) This course concentrates on three different themes. The first is the role of the mystery plays and also of the nunneries. The second is the persecution of those who refused to give up their Catholic beliefs following the reformation, and which I felt didn't give sufficient weight to the growing power of central government, so that it was portrayed as purely a religious argument. The third week looked at the role of the chocolate industry and in particular the colonial and sexist attitudes which were displayed. There were some who objected to this being highlighted, but I felt it placed York clearly as a city within the time period.
Casing the Joint: Introduction to the Histories of Crime (University of Newcastle, Australia) As with all the UNA courses, this was the first three weeks of a longer course. However, it was extremely interesting, giving the opportunity to search various registers to look at crimes - I searched my surname and found one seventeenth century ancestor who was a witness in a case of undue bellringing by the church warden. It also looked at early 'mug shots' of criminals in Sydney.
Understanding Media: Introduction to Critical Medial Literacy (University of Newcastle, Australia) Another good course, looking at bias in media and encouraging the students to consider why things are put as they are. Definitely encouraged thought. The third week looked at LGBTQ+ representation and I ended up discussing Hannibal/Will Graham.
Islamic Calligraphy (Universiti Malaya) Interesting to learn a bit about the subject, but when I came to try out the calligraphy I found it very restrictive, as every letter has very precise dimensions. Also, I'd bought a cheap calligraphy set and writing right to left wasn't easy.
Biodiversity, Guardianship and the Natural History of New Zealand (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) A new course, and absolutely fascinating. I knew nothing about the history of New Zealand at the beginning of the course, and now have a very good initial idea. The course is short, but the links are really good and I'm really pleased I took it. I'm now following their second course.
Also, one weekend I did an Open University short course on Hadrian's Rome. I'd tried an interactive game on Hadrian, did really badly so thought it would be worth finding out a bit more. It must have worked (short-term anyway) because when I had a second go at the game I did much better.
Discover the Hidden History of York (University of York) This course concentrates on three different themes. The first is the role of the mystery plays and also of the nunneries. The second is the persecution of those who refused to give up their Catholic beliefs following the reformation, and which I felt didn't give sufficient weight to the growing power of central government, so that it was portrayed as purely a religious argument. The third week looked at the role of the chocolate industry and in particular the colonial and sexist attitudes which were displayed. There were some who objected to this being highlighted, but I felt it placed York clearly as a city within the time period.
Casing the Joint: Introduction to the Histories of Crime (University of Newcastle, Australia) As with all the UNA courses, this was the first three weeks of a longer course. However, it was extremely interesting, giving the opportunity to search various registers to look at crimes - I searched my surname and found one seventeenth century ancestor who was a witness in a case of undue bellringing by the church warden. It also looked at early 'mug shots' of criminals in Sydney.
Understanding Media: Introduction to Critical Medial Literacy (University of Newcastle, Australia) Another good course, looking at bias in media and encouraging the students to consider why things are put as they are. Definitely encouraged thought. The third week looked at LGBTQ+ representation and I ended up discussing Hannibal/Will Graham.
Islamic Calligraphy (Universiti Malaya) Interesting to learn a bit about the subject, but when I came to try out the calligraphy I found it very restrictive, as every letter has very precise dimensions. Also, I'd bought a cheap calligraphy set and writing right to left wasn't easy.
Biodiversity, Guardianship and the Natural History of New Zealand (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) A new course, and absolutely fascinating. I knew nothing about the history of New Zealand at the beginning of the course, and now have a very good initial idea. The course is short, but the links are really good and I'm really pleased I took it. I'm now following their second course.
Also, one weekend I did an Open University short course on Hadrian's Rome. I'd tried an interactive game on Hadrian, did really badly so thought it would be worth finding out a bit more. It must have worked (short-term anyway) because when I had a second go at the game I did much better.