If you'd like to take your interest in the sort of subjects discussed on The Big Question further, the Open University might have a course for you - regardless of where you live. Many OU courses are available worldwide, making use of the web, email and electronic conferencing. The exact range of courses available to you will depend on the country in which you live.

If you're interested in a science or environmental course, and want to give yourself a solid base from which to work, you could try breakthrough to mathematics, science and technology. You'll explore a range of environmental concerns, see how science can analyse the effects humans have on the world, and looks at calculations and units in the context of familiar examples.

If you haven't decided which field of science is right for you, there's discovering science. This short course introduces a range of topics from global warming to the origin of life, ecology and genetics to earthquakes and volcanoes, chemical reactions and the structure of atoms to the origin of the universe.

For more on technology, a new style of course called you, your computer and the net - as befits its subject, the course is studied entirely online, examining how the PC and the internet developed, the implications of the information technology revolution, and how the internet affects our lives, work and business.

To discover more about the issues affecting the future of our planet, there's working with our environment. It should interest students with a science or non-science background alike, and provides an introduction to how we affect the planet when we shop, travel and so on.

understanding health explores the fundamental questions about health and wellness: What is health? What influences our health and illness? How is health maintained and who is responsible for maintaining it?

Perhaps your interests lay more with the social sciences; in which case, you should look at understanding society. This course offers an opportunity to consider selected key concepts and debates within the social sciences - for example, in relation to families, culture, global markets, migrant labour, community and social movements.

To make a first step in arts subjects, there's living arts. It's a great way to build an understanding of the key concepts in arts and humanities subjects, through the study of everything from Dickens to The Beatles.

There's also introduction to the humanities, a lively and varied grounding in the eight disciplines in the Arts Faculty: art history, literature, music, philosophy, classical studies, history, religious studies and history of science.