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The Association of Commonwealth Universities | ACU
The Internationalist

A podcast series from The ACU that takes on current debates in higher education.

Our host, Natasha Lokhun, is joined by students, academics and practitioners from across the Commonwealth to address some of the biggest questions in higher education. 

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Series two

Series two addresses two big questions - how is the digital revolution changing the work of universities, and how can universities use their position to confront the challenges posed by digital technology?

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Episode one: Digital transformation in higher education: past and present

Guests: Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, Professor Martin Weller, Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University, UK, and Professor Darelle van Greunen, Professor at the School of Information Technology and Director of the Centre for Community Technologies at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

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Episode two: Skills for the future

Guests: Dr Tammy Tabe, Lecturer at the University of the South Pacific (USP), Fiji; Dr Shikha Raturi, Lecturer in the School of Education at USP, Fiji; and Professor Sue Bennett, Head of the School of Education at the University of Wollongong , Australia

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Episode three: Equity and inclusion

Guests: Professor Sasmita Samanta, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, in India; Professor Charles Pascal, Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, at the university of Toronto, in Canada and Hriday Thakur, who is studying Biotech at Amity University, Uttar Pradesh in India.

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Episode four: Blended learning, the new normal?

Guests: Professor Jackson Too, Ag. Deputy Commission Secretary of the Commission of University Education, Kenya, Dr Luz Longsworth, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, Jamaica, and Christine Koine, a first-year information science student at Kenyatta University, Kenya

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Episode five: The future of the campus

Guests: Professor Giselle Byrnes, Provost of Massey University in New Zealand; Professor Rocky Tuan, Vice-Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and students at Massey University

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Episode six: Beyond universities: technology and society

Guests: Dr Aruna Tiwari, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, and Professor Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford, UK

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This series was produced by Gill Davies. The executive producer is Richard Miron and it’s an Earshot Strategies production. With special thanks to Natasha Lokhun and the Post-Pandemic University

Series one

Series one focuses on who gets to learn, who gets to teach? Natasha Lokhun and guests explore how universities have responded to calls to decolonise higher education.

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Episode one: Does decolonising higher education matter?

Guests: Professor Adam Habib, incoming Director of SOAS, University of London, UK and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Professor Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Stellenbosch and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa

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Episode two: How can the curriculum be authentic to where it's taught?

Guests: Meera Sabaratnam, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at SOAS, University of London, UK and Chair of the Decolonising SOAS Working Group, and Margaret Forster, Associate Head of School of Maori Knowledge – Te Pūtahi-a-Toi at Massey University, New Zealand

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Episode three: Belonging at university - an equal future?

Guests: Larissa Kennedy, President of the National Union of Students, UK and Candace Brunette-Debassige, Acting Vice-Provost & Associate Vice-President (Indigenous Initiatives) at Western University, Canada

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Episode four: What's the place for reparations?

Guests: Professor Shaun Ewen, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) of the University of MelbourneAustralia and convenor of the ACU’s Peace and Reconciliation Network, and Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Committee

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Episode five: Name and face - living with the past in the present

Guests: Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Dr Vagishwari, Professor in the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History at Christ University in India

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Episode six: International collaboration - a fairer future?

Guests: Kirsty Kaiser, Implementation Manager at the Research Fairness Initiative, which is based in South Africa, and Professor Imran Rahman, Dean of the School of Business at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

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This series was produced by Lindsay Riley. The executive producer is Richard Miron and it’s an Earshot Strategies production. With special thanks to Natasha Lokhun, Alex Wright and members of the Commonwealth Peace and Reconciliation Network.