OU...?

I did a short course starting in May and am now nervously awaiting the results. I'm still looking for inspiration for my next course, although I've noticed they have a degree you can build yourself from lots of different modules, which might be a good place to start.

Good luck with your results - what was your short course?

Mine is archaeology!

Yes - the open degree - acquire 300 points from anything, as far as I can work out, and lo and behold your degree. I don't think you can get an honours degree with the 'open' degree, but even though I have one I don't quite understand the difference!

It was digital photography.

I think the open degree will be more useful for me as I haven't got a clue what to do so I'm hoping something will grab me along the way and I can then move in that direction (ever the optimist!)

Archeology sounds interesting - are you a history buff then?

Sort of - but never really educated in it, just interested. my original degree was politics so I suppose that's mostly history. I was torn between doing archaeology and a shakespeare short course, but the RSC's schedule for this/next year meant that I chose to do the shakespeare one next, start in Feb. (the two plays are Romeo and Juliet and Taming of the Shrew, both of which are on in Stratford/London early next year). My friend at work wanted to do Archaeology, so here we are.

The other one is a foundation arts course - first thing to read is Dr Faustus. Not exactly holiday reading, but i'll have a bash at it in Turkey in a couple of weeks!

Oh and I meant to say - I dont' know where mine will take me either, all I know is that it seems like a very good idea to study the subjects I love and see what happens, so if you're an optimist then so am I!

what's next for you then? lots of new short courses (and full 30 or 60 point) courses this year from what I can work out.

I'm starting the digital photography one (thanks to my flickr friends) in October. I'm actually quite nervous in some respects as I've not done any education in over 10 years and what I did then was all FE not HE.

I'm sure I'll be fine though.

Ooh how bizarre - I've just looked up the course code of the one I was considering first and it's AA100! Haven't signed up for it yet - just seen the closing date is 5/9 so need to get my skates if I'm going to!

Excellent! well if you do it we can be OU twinnies (ick) - I don't know anyone else doing it, so that would be great.

We can try to fathom out Dr Faustus together.

Melawen - don't worry - from what I can see from my archaeology stuff, which obviously I have NEVER studied, they start right at the beginning and it really doesn't matter what sort of prior experience you have.

You'll be fine on the T189 - I knew nothing about my camera except how to use the auto setting, and now feel fairly confident on manual - just need to develop my 'artistic' eye now to match my new found technical abilities ?

It's either the OU course or an extension to my last management qualification [yawn] which my friend is keen for me to do with her, not sure if I can cope with another year of management gobbledegook though

I did beginner's german the year before last and I loved it, and it has given me a lot more confidence to go for things I didn't think I could do.

Enjoy it

That was one alternative for me - a management qual of some sort; or even an MBA.

Nah. (!)

The other way to go was an OU masters, but although they say they would accept me onto a humanities MA, I just don't feel I have the depth of subject knowledge in any of the lines of study they offer.

The course I could do is a short cut to MBA- with the one I have I only need to do about 18 months more to MBA, whereas after the course only the final year - but I don't really think I want to do the MBA... in fact the more I think about it, the less I want to do it.

Hmm, it's looking like OU - provided they accept me of course!

ETA - have you heard the Mark Steel lecture on Aristotle? (Noticed Plato is included in Book 2) - well worth a listen if not

They'll accept you; of course they will!

good luck with whatever you choose; let me know if its AA100!

i have to go and work out how to use my course dvd for archaeology....

Oh, AA100, thats the one I want to do!

I'd like to do enough to get a BA (Hons) in Humanities, with the emphasis on Classical Studies.

Am hoping to start that course in October too.

I am a swot and have already got my set texts - they arrived this morning.

Terrifying but fun