Halftime Scholars

Welcome to this episode of Half Time Scholars. In this episode, we're joined by Carolyn Wade, an Educational Leader with over twenty years of experience in curriculum design and school-community partnerships. Carolyn began her career in primary education before advancing to senior leadership roles.

Recently, she embarked on a research project during a 12-month sabbatical to explore the impact of parent engagement on school leadership, culminating in her MEPSR study presented at education conferences from the Gold Coast to Toronto. Now pursuing a PhD at Griffith University, Carolyn is focused on enhancing educational practices and the relationship between schools and families.

We'll dive into Carolyn's research, examining how school leaders navigate parent engagement in a culture of increased consumerism. Her work, based on interviews with school leaders, highlights the spectrum of impacts that parent engagement can have, from minimal to significant pressures on school administration. Carolyn will share insights on how these dynamics could inform changes in school leader development and parent engagement strategies.

Expect a discussion that merges academic rigor with practical insights, offering valuable perspectives for educators, parents, and policymakers interested in the future of educational leadership and collaboration.

#EducationLeadership #ParentEngagement #SchoolCommunityPartnership #AcademicInsights #EducationalResearch

Priscyll Anctil Avoine is an Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of War Studies at the Swedish Defence University, specializing in Feminist Security Studies. Holding a Ph.D. in Political Science and Feminist Studies from the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada), she was a Vinnova/Marie Curie/SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at Lund University’s Department of Political Science (Sweden). Actively engaged with the Fundación Lüvo collective (Colombia, Canada), she contributes to feminist and anti-racist projects, including the publication of Revista Lüvo.

Her research, spanning over a decade, concentrates on embodied and emotional processes in contemporary wars, with a focus on the post-disarmament militancy of women ex-combatants. Her recent work delves into the political militancy of women ex-combatants in Nepal and Colombia, exploring leftist armed struggles' aftermath. Situated at the intersection of War and Gender Studies within Feminist International Relations, she has published extensively in prestigious journals and edited volumes, collaborating on interdisciplinary projects nationally and internationally.

Priscyll's expertise extends to teaching and supervision, having designed innovative curricula in Gender Studies, Philosophy for Peace, International Relations, and Feminist Philosophy. With over 2500 hours of teaching experience in Colombia, Canada, and Sweden, she welcomes student research in International Relations, particularly in Feminist Security Studies, war, DDR, leftist insurgencies, and Colombian politics. Fluent in Spanish, English, and French, she has lectured at various universities globally.

For more information on her work, visit https://priscyllanctil.com/about/.

On this epsiode we speak with Sarah Langman is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne Australia. Prior to academia, she worked as a primary school teacher and leader in regional Victorian government schools, and holds a MEd in Educational Leadership and Management.

Sarah’s Ph.D. project examines datafication in spaces of educational leadership, with a specific focus on the digital data techniques and technologies utilised by those in positions of leadership. Her research uses poststructuralist theory, particularly assemblage theory (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987), to critically explore the logics that shape the policy landscape in Australian education as a result of the processes of data infrastructuring. She investigates digital data platforms deployed by the departments of education in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales and the role they play in reconfiguring school leadership, critically considering how datafication has created new possibilities for thinking and practising school leadership.

Priscylla Joca, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Law at the University of Toronto, is deeply engaged in researching Indigenous Laws and Ecological Governance. Her academic journey includes a Doctorate in Law from the Université de Montréal and a Master's in Constitutional Law from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil. As a lecturer at both the Université de Montréal and the École d’études autochtones, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Priscylla's expertise spans Indigenous Laws, International Indigenous Rights, Human Rights, Climate Justice, Environmental Justice, and more. Her work centers on the complexities of implementing autonomous consultation and consent protocols by Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and traditional communities for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). Through documentary analyses of diverse protocols from the Americas and an exploration of the protocols' recognition within the international human rights system, she reveals crucial insights. Her research reflects on the legal-political challenges of implementing FPIC and highlights the importance of recognizing communities' autonomy in determining consultation frameworks and guidelines. Ultimately, Priscylla's work underscores the potential of these protocols to implement FPIC while respecting the rights and cosmopolitics of the communities that authored them

In this episode, we shine a spotlight on Dr. Shamara Wettimuny, a distinguished historian and specialist in ethno-religious conflict and discrimination, in Sri Lanka. Dr. Wettimuny's extensive research and unique perspective have shed new light on the 1915 anti-Moor pogrom, a pivotal episode in Ceylon's history.

With a background in International Relations and History from the London School of Economics, as well as a D.Phil from the University of Oxford, Dr. Wettimuny possesses a wealth of knowledge and academic expertise. As a Beit Scholar, she has honed her understanding of identity formation across majority and minority communities in Sri Lanka, focusing on the Sinhalese and Moor populations.

In her thesis, Dr. Wettimuny critically examines the roots of ethno-religious violence, drawing attention to the role of colonial policies and discourse that exacerbated tensions between the Sinhalese and Moors. By re-evaluating existing historiography and popular narratives surrounding the pogrom, she offers a fresh perspective on the outbreak, spread, and aftermath of this tragic event.

Moreover, Dr. Wettimuny's research unearths a comprehensive history of ethno-religious violence, exploring the complex interplay between indigenous practices, colonial legislation, and global influences. Through her meticulous analysis of religious, economic, and social spheres, she illuminates the evolution of ethnic and religious identities in Sri Lanka from the mid-nineteenth century onward.

As the Lead Researcher for the Minor Matters' Virtual Museum on Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka, Dr. Wettimuny not only unearths hidden narratives but also advises Sri Lankan and international organizations on countering hate speech and disinformation targeting minority communities.

Follow Shamara's interesting work @shamara4w on Twitter.

Welcome to Half Time Scholars, the podcast series that features the interesting work of independent and emerging researchers, who share their research, interests, and experiences. In this episode, we are joined by Li Xie-Carson, a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland Business School in Australia. Li's current research focuses on non-human influencer, virtual influencer, and influencer marketing in tourism. With over eight years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, Li brings a unique perspective to her research.

During her PhD, Li has been actively engaged in research, receiving numerous awards, including the Best Graduate 3-Minute Thesis Award at TTRA 2021 and the Best Poster Award at CAUTHE 2023. She is also open to research and teaching opportunities within and across disciplines when she graduates.

In this episode, Li will discuss her research on non-human influencers and virtual influencers, the challenges and opportunities of influencer marketing in the tourism industry, and her experience in both industry and academia.

Welcome to this episode of Half Time Scholars, where we delve into the world of circular economy and digitalisation with PhD candidate Agnes Toth-Peter. Joining us from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, Agnes is a recipient of the QUT Postgraduate Research Award scholarship and is a part of the QUT ACE Centre and the QUT Centre for a Waste-Free World.

In this episode, Agnes shares her expertise on the link between digitalisation and circular economy, highlighting potential solutions for sustainable development through new business models. Specifically, she discusses the benefits and opportunities of Industry 4.0 tools and how digital technologies can support the implementation of circular economy principles, enabling a shift towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns.

With a background in systems thinking and system dynamics, Agnes believes that the solution to any complex problem starts with a shift in our mindset and mental models. Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Agnes completed her undergraduate studies in London, Paris, and Valencia, and a Master of Business at the University of Queensland, where she received the Dean's Honour Roll Award for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Social Impact & Sustainability.

Tune in to gain insights from Agnes Toth-Peter on how circular economy and digitalisation can contribute to sustainable development and the shift towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Vibhuti Rao, a PhD candidate from Western Sydney University, is researching Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a complex disorder affecting Indian women. She's exploring the potential of Ayurvedic diet and yoga therapy to manage the condition and provide alternative, sustainable, and effective lifestyle options. Her study focuses on assessing the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a standard Ayurvedic lifestyle program for overweight/obese ethnic Indian women with PCOS. PCOS has no cure and there is a need for alternative, sustainable, and effective lifestyle options. Lifestyle modification is the first-line treatment of PCOS, however has limited research.

Ayurveda and yoga are traditional medicinal systems originated in Indian sub-continent, are now popular worldwide for their effect in managing various chronic and lifestyle-related. A lifestyle program constituting the Ayurvedic diet and yoga therapy (AY) based on Ayurvedic principles may help reduce weight and improve metabolic and reproductive outcomes in women with PCOS.

This exploratory, sequential and mixed-method study will be conducted in Australia and India, aiming to present a standard AY lifestyle program and assess its feasibility, acceptability, and safety in ethnic Indian women with PCOS who are overweight/obese. This study will include a randomised feasibility trial of over 12-weeks. Follow Vibhuti's interesting work on twitter @drvibhutirao 

Rubina Mulchandani is a graduate in Life Sciences and post graduate in Clinical Research, currently a PhD scholar in Clinical Research at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India. Her research area is interdisciplinary and combines the fields of cardiovascular epidemiology and pharmacovigilance. Rubina is actively involved in teaching post graduate students and health professionals in the ongoing academic programmes and short-term training at the institute.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible for a third of all global deaths a majority of which occur due to heart attacks and stroke. About 80% of these deaths occur in the developing countries, with mortality being the highest for the low- middle income countries.

Rubina’s research includes establishing a cohort to assess the neuro-cognitive changes among statin users over time. This is a longitudinal study where adults prescribed statins for dyslipidaemia in the last 1 year have been recruited from the Cardiology Out Patient Department of the study hospital. Her study hopes to add to the knowledge pool for this under-researched area of study in Asians, hopefully shedding light on the statin safety profile. This could help generate new hypotheses and provide a leeway for larger studies, with the ultimate aim of enhancing patient care. Please follow Rubina’s interesting work on Twitter  @Rubina_BigB_EF

Enas Aref is a board-certified Ergonomist, researcher and instructor with experience in the areas of Ergonomics, Occupational Safety, Human Factors, Usability, Statistics Product Design, and Project Management. An Ergonomist designs or modifies the work to fit the worker, not the other way around. 

Lucas Whittaker is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology (BEST Centre) at the Queensland University of Technology. His research focuses on the application of synthetic media such as ‘deepfakes’ within marketing contexts and psychological factors which may influence consumer appraisal of such media.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have given rise to the deepfake, a method of creating highly realistic yet inauthentic digital audio, images, and videos. For marketers, deepfakes present new opportunities for customer value creation and engagement, but factors such as the level of realism inherent in the media and the presence of disclosure may influence consumer appraisal. Cognitive biases and predispositions to modes of information processing may also influence how deepfakes are perceived.  Lucas’ PhD conceptually and empirically explores such factors pertaining to deepfakes and the wider implications of such synthetic media for marketing.

Please follow the Lucas's interesting work on Twitter@LucasWhittaker  

Dr. Pradyumna Jairam’s research is placed within the broader domain of how the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party constructs its idea of Indian history through an identity-centric rubric. Using history textbooks, the party prescribed in the north-western state of Rajasthan in 2017. His research uncovers how in order to branch out its national ideology of Hindutva to suit a regional context, the party regionalises the history of the nation, in order to satisfy a state-oriented narrative.

Dr. Pradyumna Jairam completed his PhD in Politics and Education from King’s College, London in 2022. His research examines how the Bharatiya Janata Party constructs a particular narrative of Indian Identity, centred around Hindu majoritarianism in the school history textbooks of Rajasthan. He is at present a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He is also a yearly Visiting Lecturer at City, University of London. He was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of War Studies, King’s College from 2017 to 2021, and prior to his PhD was a school history and political science teacher in New Delhi, India from 2012 to 2016.

On this episode we speak with Giuliano Sansone who holds a PhD in Management from Politecnico di Torino. He has been visiting Ph.D. Student at the MIT Sloan School of Management under the supervision of Fiona Murray in 2018.  Broadly, Guiliano's work focuses on working on Entrepreneurship in three distinct areas:
1. Organizations that support the creation and the development of startups (e.g., Incubators, Accelerators, Startup Studios, Science Parks, etc)
2. Social entrepreneurship (e.g., for-profit organizations with strong positive social/environmental aims)
3. Entrepreneurship education and student entrepreneurship. 

Currently, Guiliano is a post-doc researcher at Prague University of Economics and Business in the Department of Entrepreneurship under the supervision of Martin Lukeš. Giuliano’s research is dedicated to entrepreneurial creation and development and social entrepreneurship. His research was published in international journals such as Technological Forecasting and Social Change and International Entrepreneurship. His research was presented at more than 10 international conferences such as R&D, IPDMC and CINet. Giuliano also worked for the European+ project named Entrepreneurship Education Ecosystems in Engineering and Technology (E4T) and he is working for an international research team named Social Innovation Monitor (SIM).

Melissa Vasi is a doctoral candidate in Business Administration at Uninettuno University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Vincent English.  
Her research focuses on the influence of open innovation and dynamic capabilities on the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involves the implementation of a practical framework that supports firms in preparing for, during and recovering from an economic crisis caused by exogenous factors like pandemics, climate emergency, trade wars.

Melissa received her B.Sc. in Computer Science in 2015 from University of Milano-Bicocca with a thesis on IT architectures that enable marketing communications and CRM development. She obtained her MBA in Business Administration and Digital Technologies (summa cum laude) in 2020 from Uninettuno University with a thesis on digital innovations and business models applied to insurance processes. Please follow Melissa’s interesting work on Twitter: @melissavasi or visit her website Website: www.melissavasi.com

On this episode we explore how emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence offer great opportunities, but also pose existential threats to humanity and the natural world.

Our guest is Rebecca Johnson a PhD researcher from the University of Sydney, Faculty of Sciences. Rebecca’s work specifically looks at the ethics of artificial neural networks; the deep learning side of AI with a view to contribute to experts making better choices when deploying these new technologies into our world.

Tools such as AI have no capacity for a sense of morality and values, yet we increasingly permit artificial agents to make choices and decisions for us. From autonomous vehicles to recidivism risk algorithms, distribution of health care services to algorithmically adjusted school grades, hiring of new employees to management of non-renewable sources; we have given huge amounts of agency to our artificial agents.

Rebecca has long been fascinated by the interplay between humans and technology - sociotechnical systems. Sociotechnical systems (STS) approaches help us to better understand relationships between technologies, social structures, and the emergent phenomena that arise from those relationships.

Follow Rebecca’s fascinating work at @https://sts4ir.com/, or Twitter: @VoxBec

In this episode we speak with Dr Amanda Källstig who did her PhD in Politics at the University of Manchester, whose research explored what stand-up comedy in Zimbabwe can tell us about resistance and subjectivity. Amanda's research interests include comedy, postcolonial international relations theory, resistance, and subjectivity particularly in the context of the African continent.

Amanda’s research deals with what stand-up comedy in Zimbabwe can tell us about resistance and subjectivity. Through a fieldwork-based approach she looks at how stand-up comedy intervenes politically exploring how the genre interrupts the way both state and society constructs 'Zimbabwean-ness'. Follow Amanda’s work on twitter @DrKällstig. Amanda joined the Stockholm University in August 2021 as a lecturer in International Relations.

Development’ discourse in the mainstream, is often defined in terms of economic growth that privileges modernity, urbanization, and scientific expertise. Across the Global South, this model has been internalized and reflected in a national focus on science—and recently STEM—education.

Our guest today is Aizuddin Anuar a researcher from the University of Oxford Department of Education specializing in Comparative and International Studies.

In this episode, we explore and focus on rural young people’s aspirations related to development, as they engage with (STEM) education as the state’s instrument for national development in Malaysia. Please follow Aizuddin’s work @aizuddin_anuar.

In this episode, we examine how the Australian and Taiwan governments produced higher education enrolment policies between 2005 to 2009.

These policies transformed both country's higher education systems in an endeavor to meet the national priorities. My guest is Leo Ren-Hao Xu a researcher from the University of Sydney, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Their enrolment policies include the 2008 Bradley review and the Labor government’s response, 2009 Transforming Australia’s Higher Education System (colloquially called the demand-driven system), in Australia; and the 2009 Conditional Standards of Developmental Enrolment and Resources for Tertiary Education and the amended University Act of 2005, in Taiwan. 

In an endeavor to meet the national priorities, both policies were shaped as a way of governing student enrolment through changing the quantity of government-supported university places within different areas of study. This study adopts Foucault’s concept of Governmentality and Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) to frame the understanding of how governmental interventions were produced in the specific political-cultural climates. This qualitative study employs semi-structured interviews (n=40) and policy document analysis. Data are primarily drawn from 19 interviews with senior politicians, policymakers, and university executives in Taiwan who engaged in the formation of selected policies between December 2019 and March 2020; and 21 equivalents in Australia from June to August 2020. Beyond these interviews, a considerable corpus of archival sources (e.g., policy documents and gazettes) was collected from the National Central Library of Taiwan and Parliamentary Library of Australia, and used in the analysis to support and complement the interview data.

Grace Tidmarsh is a Researcher at the University of Birmingham, UK. The PhD is a collaborative project with St Basils’ housing support service for youth (16-25 years) experiencing homelessness.

Grace’s PhD research is part of a wider project in which a mental skills training programme (MST4Life) is delivered to service users. Outcomes from the programme include improved mental health, improved life skills and re-engagement in education, employment or training.

The research itself focusses on process evaluations to develop a deeper understanding of mechanisms that work or do not work with regards to 1. Delivering positive youth development programmes in complex community settings and 2. The extent to which it is possible to train front-line service staff to deliver these psychologically informed interventions with high fidelity.

The PhD includes a fidelity assessment of the delivery style of MST4Life, a systematic review on process evaluations of PYD programmes for disadvantaged youth, evaluation of young people’s feedback on the programme and finally a protocol of evaluating the fidelity of training delivered to frontline service staff.

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Over the past 30 years, shifts in language-in-education policies have resulted in the marginalisation and exclusion of world languages in the Australian education system. This has resulted in an English-for-all literacy mindset. These policy shifts have reduced access to world languages education in Australia. On this episode, we speak with Danielle Heinrichs from the Faculty of Education at the University of Queensland. Who draws on disciplines such as sociolinguistics, and critical theories to explore the notion of response-able language practices with relation to Spanish as a world language in the Australian education system?.. Please follow Danielle's work at @danielle_uq on Twitter. 

Sri Lanka's experience of war and the tensions in its aftermath were actively narrated by way of photography. Since the 1980s, the island's visual identity has been framed as a paradise-under-siege. What does popular photography reveal about experiences of conflict and post-war political articulation? On this episode, we speak with Dr. Vindhya Buthpitiya, from the University College London, whose research explores popular photographic practices among members of the Northern Tamil community, by examining the relationship between photography, conflict, and the expression of political sentiments in the post-war context. Please follow Dr Buthpitiya at @vindib_ to learn more about her interesting work.

 Colombia has a long complex history of conflict.  The government of President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace agreement in 2016 with the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army,  which sought to end fifty years of war.  The Santos government spent great efforts negotiating with the guerrilla group but failed to communicate the value of lasting peace to the Colombian people. On this episode, we talk with author, filmmaker and researcher Dr Gwen Burnyeat from the University College London on her ethnographic study of the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the government department responsible for peace negotiations and for explaining the peace process to the Colombian people. Dr Burnyeat has been been working on peace and conflict in Colombia for over a decade as both an engaged scholar and peacebuilding practitioner and is currently a Junior Research Fellow in Anthropology at the University of Oxford, please follow Gwen at @GwenBurnyeat to learn more about her interesting work. 

Identifying global trends in screen-based behaviours of Children and Adolescents : An interview with scholar George Thomas. 

Halftime Scholars is a podcast series which features the work of independent and emerging scholars to share their research and practice. Created by Suren Ladd, a PhD candidate in Education at the University of Sydney. In collaboration with series editor Miljiana Miljevic.

The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast series does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.