Inaugural lectures

In her inaugural lecture, on Thursday 3 April 2025, Carol Azumah Dennis, Professor of Education, Policy and Practice in The Open University’s Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, looked at decolonising education, offering a manifesto which envisions an alternative vision of what the sector might be.

In her inaugural lecture, on Thursday 21 November 2024, Anna De Liddo, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Director of Research at the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, pointed out that the biggest problems of our time call for collective action.

In her inaugural lecture, on 24 October 2024, Cinzia Priola, Professor of Work and Organisation Studies in The Open University's Faculty of Business & Law, explored her research on inclusion, diversity and inequalities in the workplace and social lives.

In her inaugural lecture, on 26 September 2024, Naomi Moller, Professor in Psychology and Psychotherapy in the School of Psychology and Counselling in The Open University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, talked about her research into relationships.

In her inaugural lecture on 20 June 2024, Clara Mancini, Professor of Animal-Computer Interaction in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, presented her research journey in the field of Animal-Computer Interaction, shared with colleagues from across the world, to develop the art and science of designing technology for and with animals.

In her inaugural lecture on 9 May 2024, Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law in the OU’s Faculty of Business and Law, explored the uneasy relationship between violence, law and women’s lives.

In her inaugural lecture on 21 March 2024, Rose Capdevila, Professor of Psychology at the OU, discussed research around the gendering of power in three contexts: activism, the history of psychology and social media.

In his inaugural lecture on 13 February 2024, Advaith Siddharthan, Professor of Computer Science and Society in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, discussed the impacts of modern culture's disassociation with nature and the potential for citizen science methodologies to redress these.

In her inaugural lecture on 6 December 2023, Mary Larkin, Professor of Care, Carers and Caring, explored what ‘visibility’ means for family carers through the lens of her own contributions to the care discourse and the promotion of carers’ rights and explored her own vision of family carer visibility in the future.

In her inaugural lecture, Rachel Hilliam, Professor of Statistics in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, explored the role played by Data Science in ensuring that data is being used ethically, stored safely and analysed robustly.