Cher. Madonna. Elvis. People so significant to culture and context that they went by one name. To this list, we add Janet. Christopher and Judith are delighted to be able to present our recent Think Education podcast with Dr Janet Ilieva, founder and director of Education Insight . Known by all in the international higher education sector, Janet is a font of knowledge and expert analysis and the conversation predictably touched on many different topics. Janet talked about the current landscape o...
Jun 04, 2025•50 min•Ep. 90
Professor Ian Mabbett Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Research Culture, Swansea University Returning to our former pattern of having a Welsh connection in our Think Education podcast, Chris and Judith are joined by Professor Ian Mabbett. In a deeply engaging conversation that was parts philosophical, ethical and practical. Ian talked about his background in chemistry and revealed the wonderful titbit that his PhD was about ‘watching paint dry’. His main focus was on looking into how we can make t...
May 22, 2025•47 min•Ep. 89
As a continuation of our last episode, and indeed part of the current podcasting series, Prof Judith and Prof Christopher discuss change in the university context. Over the course of this session, we think about change as a concept and how we approach and respond to it. How do we manage change itself? What are the mechanisms in place? How do we assess needs and then respond to them? Judith ponders the philosophical reality of change and seemingly manages to present both sides of the argument sim...
May 08, 2025•31 min•Ep. 88
Just under a year ago, Judith and I talked about the value of reflection and taking time away from the office to recharge. We clearly took this far too literally as this is our first podcast since August 2024!! In the time since then we have reflected, and we have continued talking and thinking about all things international education. And we finished writing and submitted our third book – and even began our fourth in the trilogy. Given the current climate in higher education (and our interest i...
Apr 25, 2025•32 min•Ep. 87
I have seen quite a few posts on Linkedin in the past week or so about fake reviews, fake journals and general fakeness all around. It reminded me of a fascinating conversation I had with Professor Perry Hobson last year about fake conferences and their impact on academia. For those who didn't get a chance to hear this when first published, please enjoy. In this latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talks to Professor Perry Hobson, Director of BUas Academy for Tourism at Breda University...
Aug 01, 2024•34 min•Ep. 86
In this latest Think Education podcast, Christopher talks to friend of the show, Dr Tendai Charles – Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, British University in Dubai – about AI and its function to support an inclusive learning environment. Tendai talked about his recent attendance and presentation at the Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2024, held at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and how AI dominated the conversation - even on sessions not necessarily focused on it. We talked...
Jul 18, 2024•40 min•Ep. 85
In this latest Think Education podcast, Chris and Judith talk to Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, about her journey from Australia to the USA to the UK – with all stops in between. This marks the second in our current series looking at women in leadership and international higher education. Jessica talked about her background in music and how this creativity and willingness to follow her own path – even while studying in a heavily male-dominated engineering discipline at university – as helped her thr...
Jul 11, 2024•52 min•Ep. 84
In this latest Think Education podcast, Chris and Judith talk to Dr Lobar Babakhodjaeva, Associate Professor, Global Education Department, Westminster International University in Tashkent – Uzbekistan. We spoke to Lobar about her journey through education, to senior leadership, to a focus on her research and teaching. This podcast is the latest over the past year, grounded in our ongoing interest on voices and journeys in education and is linked to the book we are currently finishing (writing, n...
Jul 04, 2024•55 min•Ep. 83
In an attempt at a meta-session, Chris and Judith took a little time today to think and talk about podcasting. This episode was motivated by several factors: we thought it might be nice to talk and think about something other than what is going on in the sector at the moment; and a colleague and friend of ours, Fabrizio Tfifiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/1234591/ has just launched a new podcast Experiences of International Education ( https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:72048...
Jun 12, 2024•31 min•Ep. 82
International Student Perspectives: Taiwan and the UAE In a companion type piece to last week’s look at international student mobility in Australia, today we asked students to reflect on their experiences with and at university. This episode of the Think Education podcast includes reflections from postgraduate students from the College of Education at National Chengchi University (Taiwan) and the Faculty of Education at the British University in Dubai (UAE). We talked about what they hope and ho...
May 30, 2024•53 min•Ep. 81
International student recruitment caps in Australia – a review and discussion In this latest episode of the Think Education podcast, Judith and myself were delighted to be joined by return guest, Dr Douglas Proctor, Pro Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement, Swinburne University of Technology. We were delighted to have the opportunity to talk to Douglas again – even if the subject matter wasn’t all that cheerful in nature. Douglas provided a deeply insightful and reasoned discussion regarding the re...
May 23, 2024•51 min•Ep. 80
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith and Chris talk to Sharon Davies-Smith, College Director/Principal and Chief Operating Officer – The College, Swansea University. In addition to this being a fascinating conversation, it has been a few months since we spoke to somebody from Wales and this could clearly not be allowed to stand any longer! Sharon talked about her background and journey through education, hall tutor, teacher, commercial buyer for Sainsbury’s and Next and then ba...
May 16, 2024•57 min•Ep. 79
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith reflected on her recent attendance at the UUKi’s International Higher Education Forum 2024 – held in London, UK. Judith highlighted the honesty and reflective nature of presentations and discussions seen now as normal and the value that this bring to the community and understanding. Three key issues emerged from Judith’s reflections and they are all connected to the shifting realities of higher education: International student mobility and t...
May 09, 2024•43 min•Ep. 78
AI and Origami: Responding to New Challenges with Old Techniques In this latest Think Education podcast, Judith and Chris continue their previous conversation about resilience and change, but with a focus on the use of technology in education – particularly AI. Chris reflected on a conference he chaired - The 2nd Global Conference on Research in Education and Research (GCEL 2024) – this past week in Dubai, and talked about the challenges some participants had faced due to the floods in the UAE. ...
Apr 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 77
Judith and Chris have been away from the podcasting world for a few weeks – holidays and life – and are now recording this in the midst of some fairly significant natural disasters and home issues. The current situation prompted us to think about resilience and how we cope with crises in both our personal and professional lives. And because this is us, we managed to include Jurassic Park, Bruce Lee and King Solomon along the way! This podcast is an attempt to talk about our approach to coping wi...
Apr 18, 2024•41 min•Ep. 76
Judith and Chris discussed the issue of success and how we measure it. We talked about the problems with the terms and approaches we use here and how we are often trapped by a framework of our own making. We talked about time and partnerships. How long it takes to set them up; how long they take to actually take; how long we should stay in them before we consider them a success or a failure. We also debated what success and failure actually look like in educational partnerships. Somehow, we foun...
Mar 28, 2024•41 min•Ep. 75
There are more things talked about in this podcast than in your imagination. Language always pulls us back and forms a strong element of many of the conversations Judith and I have. We like language. We like books. We like talking about language. We like talking about books. Judith reflects on our recent conversations and podcasts and talks about how we learn languages at school and out in the real world. We talked about school trips abroad and exchange visits, what this meant for us at the time...
Mar 07, 2024•41 min•Ep. 74
Judith and Chris wander down the often problematic, and always fascinating labyrinth that is the nature of culture. What do we think of when we hear the word culture? Judith reflects on what the term means in the boardroom as compared to in the ‘outside world’. Inward and outward views abound. Culture can be perhaps seen in different ways: from the personal perspective thinking about other places and the cultural norms that exist there (fascinating, unnerving perhaps, curious), food, language et...
Feb 29, 2024•36 min•Ep. 73
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Chris talks to Judith about her recent trip to Romania. In many ways this is the bookend to Judith’s 2023 trip to Sofia, Bulgaria with the British Council and represents a full commitment to developing sustainable approaches to partnership engagement. Judith talked about the preparation for this trip and how participants and organisers had developed the model over the course of the two events and used communication and engagement to ensure an inter...
Feb 22, 2024•48 min•Ep. 72
We return to looking at origin series again in this Think Education podcast episode and the baton passes from Judith to Chris today. Chris reflects on his initial career aspirations and how they morphed into a life in international higher education with a seamless (at least in hindsight) journey all mapped out! Judith and Chris talk about the lessons we learn along the way and how, one thing can quite literally lead to another. The ability, and freedom, to be open to possibilities is a luxury th...
Feb 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 71
In this special episode, we learn about Leif Erikson and what it means to be an explorer. I asked Sprout what it means to be an explorer and she explained how it is something we can all do, especially with the help of books. Every book is a chance to visit somewhere new and have new adventures. In this podcast, Sprout talks about Leif’s travels to America and also talked about how Christopher Columbus never actually went to America, even though we all think he did and he gets credit for it. She ...
Feb 05, 2024•17 min•Ep. 70
In today’s Think Education podcast, Judith and Chris discuss the recent Sunday Times article regarding pathways to the UK higher education sector and an excellent piece by Sophie Hogan in the Pie News outlining the issues and realities. We lamented the manner in which the narrative has been framed by the Sunday Times and the potential damage that this can do the sector and to the people involved throughout. It is important to establish facts and present them accurately rather than skew the narra...
Feb 01, 2024•34 min•Ep. 69
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, we try something a little different. As our third book is looking into the more personal nature of international higher education and the journeys taken by those of us inside this wonderful world, we thought we would start with ourselves. We flipped a coin, and Judith won. Or lost, depending on how you look at it. Judith reflects on how she began her career in international higher education – although it wasn’t remotely conceived of as such at the ...
Jan 25, 2024•54 min•Ep. 68
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Judith and Chris talk about the process of beginning book number 3 and how they have become increasingly comfortable with embracing uncertainty. Building on ideas generated in the first two books, where we looked at the landscape of international higher education (book 1) and the role and identity of universities (book 2), we are turning our attention to the individual. To the experience and journey. We talked about the process of idea generation a...
Jan 18, 2024•34 min•Ep. 67
In this latest Think Education podcast episode, Chris and Judith discuss the role of mentors throughout their careers and the journey from mentee to mentor. We played around with various titles for this podcast (as you will hear in the episode) but ultimately it is about the journey we take in our careers and the support we receive, and give, during that time. We find ourselves coming back to the notion of community in our podcasts (and indeed in our writing) and this sense of connection and eng...
Jan 11, 2024•48 min•Ep. 66
In this first podcast of 2024, Judith and Chris reflect back on the previous year (again) and think about the year to come. We don’t necessarily have a plan for the direction we would like the podcast to go but we do know that more of the same would be most welcome. Last year was filled with fascinating and insightful conversations with colleagues from around the world and we look forward to being able to enjoy more again this year. If you are interested in being a guest on the podcast, please d...
Jan 04, 2024•25 min•Ep. 65
In this, the final Think Education podcast of 2023, Judith and Chris reflect back on a year of podcasting; a year of conversations; and a year of global engagement. We managed – with a lot of help from our friends – to put up 50 original episodes (we had two repeats over the summer break) and had the opportunity to talk to people from Australia, China, Egypt, Germany Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlands, Taiwan, the UAE, the UK, the USA, Wales (of course), and Zimbabwe. We are grateful to be part of...
Dec 29, 2023•33 min•Ep. 64
In this second part of our conference podcast series Chris and Judith talk about the fun and frivolity of organizing, chairing and running a physical conference. We have both had experience with this in the past and direct experience lately and we share some tips and tricks we have picked up along the way. We talked about the creative process involved in developing conference themes and the tremendous value in being able to create a platform for discussion and presentation. Once you have been on...
Dec 21, 2023•47 min•Ep. 63
In this first part of a series on conferences, Judith and Chris discuss recent conference attendance and engagement and reflect on the value of discussion, uncertainty and working through ideas. Chris reflected on his attendance at COP28 in Dubai and outlined his participation in a panel organised and chaired by Dr Zeenath Reza Khan. The panel session was Academic Integrity as key competence for UN SDG 13 - Climate Change and brought together speakers for high schools, university, policy makers ...
Dec 13, 2023•43 min•Ep. 62
In this episode, Judith and Chris talk to Tim Rottleb - science manager at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) @BTUCS where he is an officer in the Department for Regional Transformation. Before joining the BTU, Tim worked as a researcher at the Leibniz-Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) where he was part of a research group investigating international branch campus development from urban and economic geographic perspectives. He recently submitted hi...
Dec 07, 2023•51 min•Ep. 61
