11 episodes

'The New Social Contract' is a podcast that seeks to contribute to a national conversation on how the relationship between universities, the state and the public might be reshaped as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Universities have existed for close to a thousand years. Across the centuries they have been places for making sense of the world and for shaping it. But under the pressures of war, political, social and economic demands, these institutions have often been remade.

Join us as we begin a conversation about the kind of higher education sector our society needs.

The New Social Contract Impact Studios at UTS

    • Education

'The New Social Contract' is a podcast that seeks to contribute to a national conversation on how the relationship between universities, the state and the public might be reshaped as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Universities have existed for close to a thousand years. Across the centuries they have been places for making sense of the world and for shaping it. But under the pressures of war, political, social and economic demands, these institutions have often been remade.

Join us as we begin a conversation about the kind of higher education sector our society needs.

    Introducing: Impact at UTS

    Introducing: Impact at UTS

    From the makers of The New Social Contract comes a new 7-part podcast series

    Impact at UTS

    Now more than ever, we need to rethink:

    what research we do, how it's done and the impact we want it to have.

    The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is filled with award winning engaged and impactful research that's making a huge difference in the world.

    Join Associate Professor Martin Bliemel, along with some of the top thinkers at UTS to learn how to deliver excellent research with impact that transforms society and reshapes our world.

    To find out more visit impactstudios.edu.au/impact

    The Impact at UTS podcast is made by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, an audio production house funded by the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research.

    • 3 min
    8. The future of higher education - who will set the settings?

    8. The future of higher education - who will set the settings?

    In the season finale of The New Social Contract, host Tamson Pietsch is joined by Dr Gwilym Croucher, Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, to consider for the final time how the relationship between universities, the state and the public might be reshaped as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In this episode we look beyond Federal Education Minister Tehan's proposals to ask three questions:

    •What is the vision for higher education that lies behind the Coalition Government's plans?
    •What bigger questions about universities do they raise?
    •What might be some of the other ways those questions could be answered?

    • 43 min
    7. The purpose of universities in the 21st century - A Vice-Chancellor and Shadow Education Minister's perspective

    7. The purpose of universities in the 21st century - A Vice-Chancellor and Shadow Education Minister's perspective

    Higher education leaders and policy makers in Australia are facing a lot of hard decisions right now.

    The New Social Contract Podcast spoke with UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs and Shadow Minister for Education and Training Tanya Plibersek to find out their different perspectives on the purpose and role of universities in the 21st century.

    There are lots of factors contributing to the uncertainty in the tertiary sector at present - will international students return? How much debt can be sustained? What will happen to research funding?

    But one thing that would make it easier to act in the present, is a clear plan for what universities should do in the future. What are universities in Australia for? The answer to that question will shape the kind of system we get.



    *Note: The interview with Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs took place on Tuesday June 9 2020.
    The interview with Tanya Plibersek, Shadow Minister for Education and Training took place on Tuesday June 16 2020.

    • 39 min
    6. Universities and Communities - who should they serve?

    6. Universities and Communities - who should they serve?

    Who is it that makes up the constituencies of a 21st century university? And what should different sections of the public be demanding from those institutions?

    These questions go to the core of higher education's purpose. Do universities create communities - or do communities create universities? And why might we be seeing the answers to these questions change?

    Thanks to The New Social Contract episode six guests:

    Matthew Cox - Director of Logan Together, a whole-of-community initiative based at Griffith University and within the Logan community

    And Professor Jim Nyland - Chair of Engagement Australia and Associate Vice-Chancellor Brisbane at the Australian Catholic University.

    • 42 min
    5. Universities and the nation's workforce

    5. Universities and the nation's workforce

    What kinds of work will we be doing in 2040? What industries will still be going strong and which will have fallen away?

    The training and education we need now will depend on the kinds of work - the industries and services - around which, as a nation we want to build our economy and society.

    Australia is facing possibly the worst economic downturn in its history. So how should that sobering prospect reshape the relationship between universities, government and society - including industry?

    Thanks to The New Social Contract episode five guests

    Alison Pennington, a Senior Economist at the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute

    &

    Megan Lilly, is head of Workforce Development at the Australian Industry Group (or AIG) - Australia's peak industry association.


    The news grabs and additional audio in this episode of The New Social Contract podcast came from the following sites:

    'From Back in Black to recession', reported on AM, ABC, June 4, 2020.

    'The recession we couldn't avoid' on RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly, Abc, June 4, 2020.

    'Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia has officially entered recession' from ABC News, June 2 2020.

    'Treasurer warns the worst is yet to come as Australia's economy enters recession' from ABC News, June 3 2020.

    The Paris Riots of 1968 'French students again clash with riot police, Paris, France', published by British Pathe on Youtube.

    'The May 1968 protests that paralysed France', published on Witness, by the BBC.

    'May 1968 Paris Riots' on The History Hour, published by the BBC.

    • 56 min
    4. Universities and climate

    4. Universities and climate

    After a savage summer of devastating fires, universities, society and even some Australian states have recognised that the country needs a social and economic framework dedicated to the conditions of habitability - so how might the imperatives of climate change remake the social contract for universities in the 21st century?

    COVID-19 has not only shown that public goods are the key to well being and health, but it has revealed that the consent of populations and their willingness to participate in collective action is just as crucial to effecting transformation as is expertise.

    What does that mean for universities and their purpose in the 21st century?
    What new set of obligations and expectations will students face?
    And what should we be asking of our institutions as we confront the implications of climate?

    These are the questions the sector should be asking as we face lengthening months and possibly years in which the world of higher education in Australia, and the lives of all those who rely on it, is likely to grow more precarious rather than less.

    Special thanks to The New Social Contract guests:

    Professor Mark Howden, Director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University

    &

    Associate Professor Lauren Rickards, co-leader of the Climate Change and Resilience research program of the Centre for Urban Research

    For show notes and transcript visit: https://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-community/initiatives/impact-studios/projects/new-social-contract-podcast


    News and audio grabs used in the podcast feature the voices of:

    Abc journalists Hamish Mc Donald on ABC News in the news item: Flames rip through towns, fears death toll will rise as bushfires rage on' ABC News

    Abc journalist Karina Carvalho on ABC News in news item: Flames rip through towns, fears death toll will rise as bushfires rage on' ABC News

    Journalist Eddy Michah Jnr from DW News in the news item: 'East Africa braces for severe tropical storms' URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkXx7MzJaxs

    Former US President Barack Obama, giving a speech at the. 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. News source from Euronews.
    URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWKy9zN90A)

    ABC Journalist Sarah Dingle on RN Breakfast in the news item: 'Scientists believe Earth is now in the Anthropocene era' from the 8 January 2016.
    (URL: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/scientists-believe-earth-is-now-in-the/7075730)

    You also heard the voice of the Mayor Carol Sparks from of Glen Innes, on ABC The World Today in the news item:'Climate change debate refuelled amid bushfire crisis'.
    URL: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/climate-change-debate-refuelled-amid-bushfir...

    • 41 min

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