Cambridge Quaranchats

This is the final episode of Cambridge Quaranchats. This time, Simone Eringfeld is the one being interviewed! Guest host Eleanor Ryan asks Simone everything about Cambridge Quaranchats, how the podcast developed and what she has learnt along the way. Simone talks about her research on post-Covid futures of Higher Education, her use of podcasting as a research method and what the future will bring! Watch this space: a new podcast by Simone Eringfeld will soon be launched! 

PODCAST SPECIAL, Part 2 (of 2): Today, we continue the conversation we started last week, about the connection between the sciences and humanities. Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre are the hosts of the BlueSci Podcast for the Cambridge University Science Magazine, and have recently released a series of episodes on some of the science behind COVID-19. In this second joint episode, we talk about how collaboration can help us get out of the Ivory Tower. Examining our own biases and motivations in our research is crucial for making academia more equitable, as well as improving the quality and impact of research. We also talk about some of the similarities in the issues faced by both the sciences and humanities, such as ownership of knowledge and ideas, the challenges of building up a career in academia, and the constant pressure to be productive and a ground-breaking 'genius'. What can the current situation teach us about the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration? How can we make research accessible to everyone? This episode offers plenty of laughs, and lots of food for thought!

You can listen to the BlueSci Podcast on all major digital platforms via: https://anchor.fm/bluesci-podcast and follow them on Twitter for updates (@BlueSciPod). Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Twitter (@CamQuaranchats) and leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you like what you hear.

PODCAST SPECIAL, Part 1 (of 2): Ruby Coates and Simone Eizagirre are the hosts of The BlueSci Podcast for the Cambridge University Science Magazine, and have recently released a series of episodes on some of the science behind COVID-19, interviewing scientists researching different aspects of the pandemic. In this collaborative podcast special, we bring some of the best fragments from both of our podcasts, connecting to the central theme: 'How can the sciences and humanities come together to address the societal issues caused by Covid-19?' We also talk about how collaboration and communication between the sciences and the humanities can be more effective, and we examine how power structures within academia and prejudices across disciplines affect society as a whole. We continue this conversation next week, in part 2 of this special episode!

You can listen to the BlueSci Podcast on all major digital platforms via: https://anchor.fm/bluesci-podcast and follow them on Twitter for updates (@BlueSciPod). Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Twitter (@CamQuaranchats)

Will McInerney is a Gates Scholar and PhD Candidate at the Cambridge Faculty of Education. His research focuses on gender equality, masculinity and men's violence against women. Will is also an award-winning and highly talented poet, who has been using poetry as a vehicle for transformation in violence-prevention programs working with young men. In this episode, he shares his insights from years of experience as a peace practitioner and as a researcher, as he looks for new ways to engage men in working towards gender equality. He also brought along some of his own spoken word poetry to perform for us! I ask Will all kinds of questions, like: Why are men generally more violent than women, and is it true that 'boys will be boys', or can this be changed? Why do some men feel alienated from feminism, and how can we move from 'patriarchal' or toxic masculinity towards more healthy, peaceful conceptions of masculinity? Is violence against women a 'women's issue' only, or does it involve men too? Will powerfully makes the case for poetry, arts and community-based approaches to build trust, create space for vulnerability and to radically redefine what it means to be strong, courageous and brave, whilst also (in the words of bell hooks) being 'disloyal to patriarchy'. 

Professor Susan Robertson is the Head of Faculty of Education, at Cambridge University. She is currently leading the Faculty in its transition to online education as a consequence of Covid-19. She is also a Professor of Sociology of Education, and her work explores themes around global governance and political economies underpinning education systems around the world. In this interview, we discuss some of the challenges as well as opportunities that the Faculty has encountered during its shift to online teaching and learning, including connected issues like communicating clearly in times of uncertainty, recruiting new Faculty members remotely, and expanding digital and tech literacy amongst students and staff. Questions such as 'How can we move examinations online whilst maintaining fairness and integrity?' and 'Should the University reconsider its commercialized business model?' are also addressed. Professor Robertson explains why, for her, the saying 'Never waste a good crisis' has been informing her approach to the Covid-19 pandemic both practically and intellectually. She reflects on possibilities to work towards a 'mixed economy' of both on & offline education, whilst preparing for the upcoming academic year at Cambridge University. Follow us @CamQuaranchats on Facebook and Twitter and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. 

Kevin Atkins is a college porter at Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He previously also worked as a porter for Trinity College. In this episode, Kevin talks about what it's like to be a porter during the pandemic, what his job contains and how his life and profession have changed since the start of lockdown. He speaks about his experiences both at Clare Hall and at Trinity, possibly the two most different colleges in Cambridge in terms of size, culture, infrastructure and therefore also the 'porter's experience'. In this interview, he shares rare insights into essential porter tasks like managing tourists, bringing round mail and regulating who gets to step on the grass and who does not. We also talk about the importance of community during the pandemic, and how he has spent his 12-hour shifts on college grounds. Kevin is not only a porter, he was also in the British Navy and has crossed many waters in that capacity, working in places all around the world. I ask him what it has been like for him to go through such a drastic shift from the seaman's life to becoming a settled porter in Cambridge. Find Kevin's page on Clare Hall here, and follow us on Twitter @CamQuaranchats. 

We continue the conversation about institutional racism at Cambridge University, in the light of current protests around the world against racial violence and inequality. Collin Edouard is a Gates scholar who studies choral music & conducting at the Department of Music. Collin has multiple experiences of being attacked and treated differently, simply for being Black in an institution that privileges whiteness. One particularly violent incident involving a Cambridge college porter, earlier this year, inspired him to start the #SpeakOut movement. Collin emphasizes the importance of being vocal and speaking out against racism, whenever you experience or witness it. Support for the movement has grown rapidly and has been joined by people from across the Cambridge community, to speak out against all forms of exclusion, from xenophobia to ableism. In this episode, we discuss why not being racist is simply not enough. In order to be an ally in the fight against systemic racism, we all need to be actively anti-racist, every single day. 

Read about Collin's movement #SpeakOut here: https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2020/04/06/this-coronavirus-gave-xenophobic-people-justification-speaking-out-against-racism-during-the-pandemic-135183. Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Twitter (@CamQuaranchats) and leave a review if you like what you hear. 

Nia-Cerise Conteh is a postgraduate student undertaking a Master's in Arts, Creativity and Education at the Faculty of Education. This episode  discusses the tragic recent losses of black lives in the US, as a consequence of racial violence and police brutality. Nia-Cerise talks about her experiences of being black within a predominantly white institution and relates her numerous encounters with institutional racism at Cambridge University. Police violence and racism do not just occur in the US, but persist around the world, including in the UK and within its academies. This episode addresses the culture of whiteness that prevails within Cambridge, and highlights the struggles that BME students experience on a daily basis. Nia-Cerise also shares insight into how we can become more aware of the ways in which racial structures socialize us and impact every aspect of our lives. More than anything, she stresses the importance of 'listening'. 

Join the protest march to speak out against racism on Saturday the 6th of June, at 2 pm starting at Parker's Piece in Cambridge. 

Find Nia-Cerise on Instagram or Twitter @niacerise (https://twitter.com/niacerise) and on Youtube under the name 'Crowned in Faith'. Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Facebook or Twitter @CamQuaranchats (https://twitter.com/CamQuaranchats). #JusticeforGeorge #BlackLivesMatter

Tiara Ataii is the founder and director of SolidariTEE, the largest student-led charity in the UK. She is also a final year undergrad in 'Middle Eastern Studies' and a member of Robinson college. In 2019, Tiara was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Social Impact Award for her organisation. SolidariTEE raises awareness and funds for the refugee crisis by selling t-shirts on over 40 university campuses across the UK. When Tiara started the campaign in her first year at Cambridge, she sold 600 t-shirts on her own, off her bike. Three years later, the campaign has almost 500 volunteers involved and raised over 150.000 pounds last year. Funds are invested in providing legal, sustainable aid to refugees in Greece. In this interview, Tiara reflects back on her journey with SolidariTEE: how it all started, what hurdles she overcame along the way and which new challenges are currently emerging for refugees during the pandemic. 

Especially now, in times of Covid-19, refugees are exposed to even further risks. Threats to their health and wellbeing have worsened, as a consequence of living in tightly packed spaces, with no room to practise basic hygiene and social distancing. Tiara powerfully demonstrates how students can express solidarity and speak out in support of refugees. Visit www.solidaritee.org.uk to find out more and purchase your own t-shirt. Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Facebook or Twitter @CamQuaranchats (twitter.com/CamQuaranchats)

Dr. Mark Carrigan is a digital sociologist in the Faculty of Education, at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on how digital platforms are reshaping our education systems. Mark is the author of the book 'Social Media for Academics' and advises both individuals and organisations on their use of social media to build their identity and network online. In this episode, we discuss the use of social media during the coronavirus pandemic, when we're all spending increasing amounts of time online and in front of screens. Mark explains why, after publishing his book on social media, he decided to delete his personal Twitter account as a way to follow his own advice: ''Find a way to use social media that works for you.''

In this episode we discuss some of the recent issues with Zoom and the risk of increased surveillance built into these platforms. Mark points to the need to be more reflexive about the ways in which we use these tools in our academic practices, and how they influence our work and our interactions with each other. Mark has been working on a book on 'reflexivity' in connection to technology and digital platforms, and shares with us how his attitude towards them has changed throughout his time spent exploring digital media. He has also been trying to finish another work on the sociological phenomenon of 'distraction', but ironically enough, he has been too distracted to finish it! In this podcast, he explains why. I ask him everything from why social media can be so addictive, to what he thinks about the rapid digitization of education taking place today. 

Find Mark's blog here: https://markcarrigan.net, to find out more. He also has his own podcast: https://anchor.fm/theisolationpod. Follow Cambridge Quaranchats on Facebook and Twitter @CamQuaranchats.