Random acts of kindness

Was inspired to write today when faced with the idea of random acts of kindness to others and how you go about repaying them. Recently I was offered most of the course books for my future MA course for free by a student of the OU who had completed their MA and wanted to ensure the books went to a good home. I received them gratefully but despite my efforts the student declined to let me pay for the postage, so instead I suggested making an equivalent donation to charity.

After reading about the RSPCA inspector Emma Hoskins, who successfully completed the Freedom Challenge in 2011 to raise funds for the RSPCA  Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and Cattery in Nantwich, Cheshire. I decided that would be the charity. Having only completed a few ½ marathon charity walks I can’t imagine the fatigue involved in 1,500 miles, even if it was for a good cause, very inspiring indeed. Just after I completed my donation I saw someone had just donated £500, so Emma is only £4000 away from her £15,000 target.

Anyone wanting to donate can do so at…    http://www.justgiving.com/EMMA-HOSKINS

 

What Emma's website says about her trip

'The Run

In October 2011 I will be running 1,500 miles across South Africa, from Durban to Cape Town.  

I will be following the Freedom Trail, which is a mountain bike trail used for a race called the Freedom Challenge.  This journey will take me approximately two months including a few days for rest and travel.  I will need to be running on average 25 miles per day depending on where I can eat and sleep.'

Finally registered

Hooray, finally got my registration sorted for A330 'Greek and Roman Myths' Open University course for September this year. The OU have been forced to change the fees for adult learners (by the UK government) as they are losing fee contributions. I am lucky that as I am half way through my BA Literature I can carry on at the same fee structure of £750 per annum +/- instead of £2500 which new students will have to fork out...

It looks like a great course and i'm already very excited (as always).

As you can see I'll be kept busy for a good while with this one :)


The course consists of an introduction and four main blocks.

In the first two blocks the main emphasis is on obtaining knowledge of a specific range of myths and mythical characters and their function, and on critical analysis of the presentation of myths in a variety of sources, such as history, poetry, drama and art.
The later blocks add more detailed analysis of poetry and its very influential reception in medieval and Renaissance poetry and visual art. In the final block, philosophy is added to the range of sources to be studied and analysed.

As the course progresses, you are expected to develop a degree of independence in learning to the extent that you are able to complete independent analyses using the skills you have learned in the course of your study, leading to a project-type essay at the end of the course.
The course makes use of a DVD-ROM relevant to each of the blocks to present audio discussions by experts of key issues raised in the written material. The DVD-ROM also illustrates key sites and architectural features, as well as images depicting mythical subjects.
ICT is also used to give access to the range of specialist websites that comprise works of reference and scholarship in the field, as well as more general works of reference (e.g. Wikipedia).
You are introduced to the course content as follows:

In a short Introduction, we ask basic questions like ‘What is myth?’, and ‘Why Greek and Roman myth?’ There are sections on ‘catch-up’ reading for those unfamiliar with classical antiquity, learning outcomes and the basic structure of the course. This leads to a ‘taster’ that introduces you to the mythical narrative of the Roman poet Ovid, and how the famous myth of the Fall of Icarus is represented in Renaissance and modern art and poetry.

In Block 1: The myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra you trace the development of a particularly influential myth through the Greek and Roman worlds. This is the myth of the Greek youth Hippolytus, whose tragic fate is explored through the contrasted presentations of a range of sources from Greek drama to Roman and early Christian art. This block concludes with a study of the cult of Hippolytus at Nemi near Rome and the famous treatment by Sir James Frazer in the Golden Bough.
In Block 2: Myth in Rome: power, life and afterlife you concentrate on how myths of origin and power functioned in the Roman Empire. You investigate the role of myth in the validation of Roman imperial rule, and how myth related to history. At the other end of the social scale, you explore how myth impacted on everyday life and related to Roman attitudes to death.

In Block 3: Ovid and the reception of myth you focus on Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a key source for the literary interpretation of Greek and Roman myth. There is close reading of selected sections from this seminal poem, with a concentration on different types of interpretation. This includes recent scholarship and with reference to its influence in medieval and Renaissance reception in literature and visual art, in particular looking at allegorical interpretation of the classical myths.

In Block 4: Myth and reason you examine the relations and tensions between ‘mythical’ and ‘rational’ thought in Greek culture. Starting with origins, i.e. how the world began, this block progresses to consideration of emerging rational and scientific modes of thought. This is principally in the Presocratic philosophers and in Hippocratic medicine, of the sixth to fourth centuries BCE and then progressing to a consideration of how human life ends, i.e. myths of the afterlife in Mystery religion and the philosopher Plato.

New poem

I float in the water

By Carla Riley


I float in the water,
And you drag me under.
I try to reach the bottom,
To stabilise myself,
But it, and I
Are in too deep.
If I let you go,
I can swim to safety.
If I keep holding on to you
We may both reach the side,
Or sink.
I cannot decide,
Which is what I want, or need to do.
Each moment in the water
Is different,
Guilt, sadness, anger, loss and loneliness,
Of what could have been,
Or, the more frightening,
What might still be?

(c) 2008