kateblackham.space

I’m Kate. After two years on the NHS waiting list, I received an autism diagnosis in March 2023.

I have degrees in physics and astronomy and used to work as a freelance editor of scientific material, but had to leave that field due to mental health issues. I now work as a tutor for the Open University. I am interested in the history of astronomy and cultural astronomy (which is a recent term to describe the combined fields of archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy). I’m currently thinking that in the future I would like to pursue a PhD translating some of Tycho Brahe’s astrological writings from the original Latin (a language I learnt at school and nearly pursued at university level) as they have never been translated into English and it is thought that his unusual cosmological ideas may have been influenced by his astrological beliefs.

But right now, the OU are paying me to study for a Postgraduate Certificate in Online Teaching where part of my end-of-module assessment is to create a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on an aspect of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) in my field. I’ve decided, therefore, to orient my MOOC around the potential to use TEL in the teaching of archaeoastronomy.

To learn more about my journey to an autism assessment read my “Autism blog”. To find out more about my academic interests read the “History of Astronomy” blog. If you’re happy to read it all then you want the “Blog” link.