A103_1

Studying the arts and humanities

About this free course

This free course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Arts and Humanities http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/find/arts-and-humanities.

This version of the content may include video, images and interactive content that may not be optimised for your device.

You can experience this free course as it was originally designed on OpenLearn, the home of free learning from The Open University
–http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/studying-the-arts-and-humanities/content-section-0

There you’ll also be able to track your progress via your activity record, which you can use to demonstrate your learning.

Copyright © 2016 The Open University

Intellectual property

Unless otherwise stated, this resource is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Licence v4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en_GB. Within that The Open University interprets this licence in the following way: www.open.edu/openlearn/about-openlearn/frequently-asked-questions-on-openlearn. Copyright and rights falling outside the terms of the Creative Commons Licence are retained or controlled by The Open University.
Please read the full text before using any of the content.

We believe the primary barrier to accessing high-quality educational experiences is cost, which is why we aim to publish as
much free content as possible under an open licence. If it proves difficult to release content under our preferred Creative
Commons licence (e.g. because we can’t afford or gain the clearances or find suitable alternatives), we will still release
the materials for free under a personal end-user licence.

This is because the learning experience will always be the same high quality offering and that should always be seen as positive
– even if at times the licensing is different to Creative Commons.

When using the content you must attribute us (The Open University) (the OU) and any identified author in accordance with the
terms of the Creative Commons Licence.

The Acknowledgements section is used to list, amongst other things, third party (Proprietary), licensed content which is not
subject to Creative Commons licensing. Proprietary content must be used (retained) intact and in context to the content at
all times.

The Acknowledgements section is also used to bring to your attention any other Special Restrictions which may apply to the
content. For example there may be times when the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Sharealike licence does not apply to any
of the content even if owned by us (The Open University). In these instances, unless stated otherwise, the content may be
used for personal and non-commercial use.

We have also identified as Proprietary other material included in the content which is not subject to Creative Commons Licence. These
are OU logos, trading names and may extend to certain photographic and video images and sound recordings and any other material
as may be brought to your attention.

Unauthorised use of any of the content may constitute a breach of the terms and conditions and/or intellectual property laws.

We reserve the right to alter, amend or bring to an end any terms and conditions provided here without notice.

All rights falling outside the terms of the Creative Commons licence are retained or controlled by The Open University.

Head of Intellectual Property, The Open University

978-1-4730-1395-7 (.kdl)
978-1-4730-0627-0 (.epub)

Contents

- Introduction

- Learning outcomes

- 1 Studying the arts and humanities

- 1.1 Introducing the arts and humanities

- 2 Reasons for choosing to study the arts

- 3 Hopes and expectations about study

- 4 Concerns about study

- 5 Studying the arts, expectations and concerns

- Conclusion

- Keep on learning

- Acknowledgements

Introduction

This course is an introduction to studying the arts and humanities. It takes you through a series of exercises designed to
develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and improve your confidence as an independent learner.

This OpenLearn course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Arts and Humanities.

Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

- understand more clearly the reasons for studying the arts and humanities

- demonstrate an awareness of the basic skills and techniques for studying at a distance.

1 Studying the arts and humanities

1.1 Introducing the arts and humanities

This course is an introduction to studying the arts and humanities. It takes you through a series of exercises designed to
develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and improve your confidence as an independent learner.

So this introductory course will serve several purposes

- First of all, they will give you the experience of working through study material on your own.

- Secondly, this material will introduce you to, or renew your acquaintance with, the tools of study that you will need.

1.1.1 Distance-teaching technique

We also want to introduce you to the distance-teaching technique used in this course, which is to offer you a point at which
to stop so that you can work out your response to a question, and then read our discussion. The stopping-point is signalled
as an ‘Exercise’, followed by a pause, and then ‘Discussion’. We hope that this system will give you the feel of a dialogue
such as you would have in a tutorial, with tutor and other students. You will get the best results if you actively engage
in the process: though it may seem tempting to read straight on to our discussion, you will be a more effective learner if
you work out your response first, because you will then have something on which to measure our discussion.

We suggest also that at this point you equip yourself with a note book to use to complete exercises. Alternatively, you may
wish to use the course Forum to record your responses.

For the first dialogue, then, let me ask you a question …

2 Reasons for choosing to study the arts

Exercise

Why have you chosen this course?

Please jot down your reasons for choosing this course, either in your notebook or in the course Forum. We suggest you list
six points, but it doesn't matter if you record less than six reasons or whether you want to write more. Remember, there are
no wrong or right answers here!

View discussion - Exercise

So, now let us return to your reasons for choosing this course. First, though, you may like to know of some of the reasons
given by learners registered with the OU to study the arts and humanities:

I was good at English and history at school. I think I'll enjoy studying them further.

I never did all I could at school and I wasted my time. Now that I have a chance to do some study I want to take it.

I've spent some years doing a job which does not particularly interest me, and I need some kind of intellectual challenge.
I want to meet other students, too.

I have always promised myself that I would find out what arts subjects are all about, and now I have the time.

How do these reasons compare with the ones you wrote down? If they make you want to add to your own list, please do so. We
want you to end up with a list of no more than six reasons that begin to identify why you have chosen to study the arts. Once
you have your list, please go on to the next exercise

3 Hopes and expectations about study

Exercise

Record your six reasons, but this time try to place your reasons in rank order, beginning with the reasons that seem most
important to you.

View discussion - Exercise

4 Concerns about study

Exercise

Let us continue this process of thinking, writing and sifting. As we have suggested, many students approaching study have
worries about what lies ahead. Let's look at some worries that students have expressed to us. We will give you six statements;
identify any that apply to you on a list, and add others you may have. Identifying these helps towards a constructive assessment
of your own situation. Again, rank them in order:

I have not written an essay since I left school, and that was 20 years ago. Will I cope?

My work has got more demanding since I began studying. How shall I find the time to fit the study in?

I do not know anything about music or philosophy or classical studies. Will I be able to manage them?

If I'm honest, I have often taken things up and not finished them. Will this be different?

What shall I do if everyone knows more than I do?

I think my partner won't like me doing it.

Other feelings I have are…

With your rank order in your mind, write your responses to the statement below:

I feel anxious about studying the arts because…

View discussion - Exercise

5 Studying the arts, expectations and concerns

Now we would like you to develop a little further the work you have done. You have captured some of your own ideas about approaching
the arts. You have been ‘trying to trap some of the ideas floating about in your mind’.

Exercise

We would like you now to write a paragraph of about 250 words on the reasons why you are taking up studying the arts, what
you are looking forward to in future study itself, and what your concerns about it are. To do this, you will need to look
back at the points we have worked through already. Your answer should aim to answer the following question

Will I be glad that I made the decision to study the arts, or will I regret it?

Since you have only 250 words to write, you will not be able to include all the points you have made, or all your positive
or negative feelings. So you will need to prioritize your points, and discard those that are less important to you. It may
be useful to start by making separate lists of points in favour of the decision (hopes) and points against (fears).

When you have completed your writing, you might like to reflect on the process you have gone through, and jot down in your
notebook or the course Forum what you found easy, and what was more difficult for you. In this way you will begin to identify
your own strengths and weaknesses.

View discussion - Exercise

Conclusion

This free course provided an introduction to studying the arts and humanities. It took you through a series of exercises designed
to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance and helped to improve your confidence as an independent learner.

Keep on learning

Study another free course

There are more than 800 courses on OpenLearn for you to choose from on a range of subjects.

Find out more about all our free courses.

Take your studies further

Find out more about studying with The Open University by visiting our online prospectus.

If you are new to university study, you may be interested in our Access Courses or Certificates.

What’s new from OpenLearn?

Sign up to our newsletter or view a sample.

For reference, full URLs to pages listed above:

OpenLearn – www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses

Visiting our online prospectus – www.open.ac.uk/courses

Access Courses – www.open.ac.uk/courses/do-it/access

Certificates – www.open.ac.uk/courses/certificates-he

Newsletter – www.open.edu/openlearn/about-openlearn/subscribe-the-openlearn-newsletter

Acknowledgements

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.

The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful
acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this free course:

Course image: edward musiak in Flickr made available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.

All other written material contained within this course originated at the Open University

Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be
pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

Don't miss out

If reading this text has inspired you to learn more, you may be interested in joining the millions of people who discover
our free learning resources and qualifications by visiting The Open University – www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses.

Exercise

Discussion

It doesn't matter if you wrote down six reasons or whether you listed more, but we hope that you wrote something. This may
seem a small point, but it is important. Learning on your own – without being able to question, or discuss, ideas with others
– is a technique that has to be learned; and perhaps the first step towards this is to practise being active in the learning
process. Distance-learning resources are normally written in ways to encourage you to develop as an independent, reflective
learner. One of the ways in which this is done is by asking you, the learner, to note down your responses to questions posed
in the text.

Back

Exercise

Discussion

We hope that this process has made you think (though probably not for the first time) about why you are beginning to study
the arts. You may already have realized that the process of writing down your reasons, though, takes your thinking a little
further. And when you are asked to decide whether one reason is more important than another, you are beginning a process of
identifying and ranking points. This is a process that you should find very useful when studying independently.

Back

Exercise

Discussion

Again, we are not so interested in the number of anxieties: you may have only a couple, or you may wish you had space to write
a dozen! It's more important that you identified them, and put them in the order that seems most important to you. Although
these are personal reasons, the process you have gone through – of thinking, sifting and placing your points in order – is good practice. It is a vital preliminary
stage in constructing an argument, which is an essential skill you should be developing as you progress your studies in the
arts and humanities.

Back

Exercise

Discussion

It is impossible for us to know what your reflections were, or what you have identified as your strengths and weaknesses.
But we think that it is very important for you, as you begin studying the arts, to acquire the habit of reflecting on the
learning you are undertaking. We are sure that future study will stimulate you, and that you will be introduced to, or renew
acquaintance with, a wide range of topics. Thinking about these, as well as writing about them, will form a process for you
which you will experience over the course of your studies. We think that you will be a better learner if, at the outset, you
are able to reflect both on this learning process and on the knowledge that your studies will bring you.

To encourage this, we suggest that you keep a separate section in your notebook in which you can comment on the work you are
doing - perhaps at the end of a section that you found particularly interesting or stimulating, or occasions where you found
the work hard. Try to write a short comment to yourself on why this was so. This on-going diary of reflections will help you
to identify your own learning style, and to build upon your strengths. You will benefit greatly from disciplining yourself
to keep a reflective self-assessment of how you have developed in the course, both in terms of your study skills and in your
own study patterns.

Back