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Lia Harness, Author at The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

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Lia Harness


OCA wellbeing: What’s in your wellness toolkit? thumb

OCA wellbeing: What’s in your wellness toolkit?

It’s a challenging situation we find ourselves in, and I realised that all of my usual ‘wellness tools’ are unavailable to me owing to the restrictions in place, so it’s no wonder even little day to day issues feel more difficult.

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Are you ready to become a spatial dreamer? thumb

Are you ready to become a spatial dreamer?

If you think interior design is just about choosing fabrics and collecting colour charts, think again. The newest degree to join our expanding range of courses, the Interior Design degree is not an architecture course, nor is it ‘cushions and curtains’ – it sits somewhere between the two.

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Without music, life would B flat thumb

Without music, life would B flat

As a youngster who liked to make as much noise as possible, the violin was a natural choice for me… What I enjoyed most though was playing my own harmonies alongside someone else’s tune… Perhaps composition is your thing too, and with a distance learning Music degree centred upon practical work, you should definitely take a look at our courses if so.

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What we do have are a very particular set of skills… thumb

What we do have are a very particular set of skills…

It’s all very well being open-access, but what if you’ve never studied before? With distance learning you can’t turn up at an office and ask for help. Well, you can, but Barnsley is a bit of a trek for most of our students. So what can you do when you need a (virtual) cup of tea and someone to help you make sense of it all?

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Find your tribe thumb

Find your tribe

What do you get if you mix parents, carers, artists, teachers, retirees, and those whose career took them down a different path to their artistic leanings? No, there’s no punchline – our student body is made up of a diverse student community from around the world and all find their place within OCA.

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I’m sure I recognise them; aren’t they off the telly? thumb

I’m sure I recognise them; aren’t they off the telly?

The tutors you will work with across your studies are not just experienced tutors at HE level. All the Open College of the Arts tutors are practising artists, photographers, designers, writers or composers, with an understanding of the difficulties of distance learning – some of our tutors studied with the OCA themselves!

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Scroll free September: Interview with Joanne Mulvihill-Allen, Academic Development Officer. thumb

Scroll free September: Interview with Joanne Mulvihill-Allen, Academic Development Officer.

I decided to be a night owl, because a lot of the time I’m on my phone when the football’s on and it’s just something else to do while my partner is watching that. I thought if I put that away then I could do something else more productive. I thought I’d be good at it!

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Scroll free September: Interview with Emma George, Student Support Adviser. thumb

Scroll free September: Interview with Emma George, Student Support Adviser.

It was my birthday so I was looking forward to getting all of my happy birthday messages as nobody posts cards anymore – I can’t have a birthday without Facebook! I haven’t looked at it though.

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