Cloisters - Christmas Special 2006

Courses - What’s New for 2007?

with Arthur Chapman

A number of tutors have been busy preparing courses for us over the last few months and we’ve been doing our bit to put them on to the site. So prepare yourselves for a feast of new courses coming on stream in the next six months.

It’s nearly the shortest day (or longest day if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) and it will soon be Spring (or Autumn) but whatever the time of year there’s always something to do in the garden, or plan what to do, so look out for a new course “The Ecology of Your Garden” by Maggie Towse. This will add a new dimension to our catalogue and will provide a fascinating and practical guide to how best to garden from an ecological perspective. Profusely illustrated (many of the photographs taken by Maggie herself) and with a superb mix of theory and practice this will be a wonderful course to spur you on to brightening up your garden and helping the environment while you do so. Topics covered include: an introduction to Ecology; climate and weather; soil; habitats; recycling; and the garden neighbours of plants.

While we’re on the biological theme it’s fitting to mention a new course which will be ready early next year by Alison Tunnicliffe – “Herbal Remedies – The Science Behind the Old Wives’ Tales”. More and more people are interested in herbal medicine and there is much miss-information around, so Alison has produced this short course to introduce students to some of the issues and to discuss some of the areas of interest. If you’ve tried green tea but not sure how it helps you, or if you’ve never heard of St John’s Wort, or what it can be used for, then give this course a go and find out.

Jenni Jenkins has been busy with another Philosophy course – this time looking at Aesthetics. “What is Art?” is the title of Jenni’s latest offering and is suitable for anyone interested in Art, the Philosophy of Art, or both, or Art History – there can’t be many people not falling into at least one of these categories. Questions such as “Can there be a definition of Art?”, “Is beauty only in the eye of the beholder, or is there some objective criteria that can be used to judge?”, and “Is there a specific aesthetic attitude, different from any other feeling?” and many more will be discussed. We’ve all had discussions with friends about this question and have longed to understand more about it, so here’s an opportunity not to be missed, courtesy of the New Curiosity Shop – College of Online Learning.

One, final course to mention, is “PC for Me”, written and tutored by Craig Mill. Craig has been working for many years in the field of Accessibility and this latest Three Wishes course provides a practical introduction for anyone wanting to set up their computer to make it more accessible and easier to use. Maybe you have already mastered this “esoteric” art – maybe not – or maybe you know someone who would benefit from such a course. It is surprising how much can be done to make your computer easier to use and more accessible without the need for additional software. So have a think and see if you know of anyone who might benefit from this course – it might even be you!

Well, that’s a brief overview of just four of the courses which will be ready early in 2007. There are still more in the pipeline on, for example, Drama & Theatre Arts, Journalism, and Birdwatching, as well as more courses in astronomy, archaeology, philosophy, and others areas, so there will be plenty more to choose from in 2007. Don’t forget that all these are in addition to the 20 or so courses already on offer.

We look forward to welcoming you, your relatives, friends and acquaintances to the world of Online Learning at the New Curiosity Shop – so don’t be shy: sign up, sign someone else up (or use a gift voucher), or tell someone else about what’s available. And, finally, if you have any ideas for courses that we could produce please let us know via our course suggestion box.