The podcast was officially launched on Thursday, November 17, 2022, and it is called THESIS: Trends in Higher Education Systems in International Spheres.
– We saw a need for a more international podcast that focused on the broader issues surrounding higher education, not just for University Presidents, CEOs, or rectors, but for a broader audience. We wanted to create something that we would want to listen to, says Kelly Davis.
Davis is a 2nd year student in the Master of Philosophy in Higher Education program. She is the executive producer and host of the podcast.
She saw a need for a podcast that could integrate concepts learned in the classroom while filling a void in the market.
A seed was planted during the first semester of the study program at the Department of Education, University of Oslo.
Kelly Davis decided to discuss the idea with her classmates, which resulted in a team of five international students who took steps to make the idea a reality.
Making the podcast is education in practice
The students rely on the skills and competencies they have gained in the classroom when deciding on the topics and formats for the episodes. The students themselves are hosts in the podcast studio.
– The concepts we have learned in the study program have provided a solid foundation for researching episode topics and having a general framework for understanding the many facets of higher education. With this background, we aim to translate academic terminology and theory into dialogue with our guests in a more accessible format, says podcast content researcher Ayla Rubenstein.
The team chose the first topic based on the master thesis topic of Ekaterina Kurinskaia, another content researcher for THESIS.
– We were inspired by the events that are happening between Russia and Ukraine and decided to explore the idea of soft power and geopolitics in higher education, she says.
The students are happy to see the receptiveness of the scholars, administrators and practitioners they have connected with through the podcast. Tracy Waldman, the podcast’s communications lead, shares her thoughts:
I have been pleasantly surprised by the scholars’ willingness to talk to us and share their research.
Davis, Rubenstein, and Waldman all come from the United States, while fellow THESIS team members Ekaterina Kurinskaia and Maria Angeles Hidalgo Benitez, come from Russia and Ecuador respectively. Having a diversity of international voices and perspectives presented was also an important feature in selecting the guests to be interviewed.
Planning for sustainability and future seasons
This is a passion project for the students. The first season is already finished with ten recorded episodes, ready to be published every other Thursday. The second season is in the planning stages and they already have ideas brewing for the third season.
– It works so well because it is a collaborative process where we work well together. We hope to include the next generation of students in order to have continuity, says Maria Angeles Hidalgo, editing and marketing lead.
The team has reached out to the first year Higher Education Studies students, and has already recruited one new member, Alba Guivernau from Catalonia. This will ensure that the podcast can continue after the students graduate.
Professor Peter Maassen at the Department of Education is responsible for the master’s programme option Higher Education Studies. He was interviewed in the very first episode.
– It is impressive to see how the students are able to apply what they are learning in a very concrete way, says Peter Maassen.