Victoria University of Wellington - Podcast

COVID impacted many organisations including Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington where in-person classes had to be replaced with online. Wanaka-born professional skier Finn Bilous was one of these students, trapped overseas competing he was able to continue his graphic design courses online. His professor, Zach Dodson, had worked to film his hilarious lectures against a green screen full of laser beams and memes. The campus is now back to face-to-face study, but over 650 students from 30 countries still log-in to learn thanks to faculty dedication to delivering compelling education regardless of format.

Associate Professor Leon Gurevitch from Te Kura Hoahoa—School of Design Innovation at Te Herenga Waka chats to Finn and Zach about their experience of online teaching and learning over the last two years.

Sustainable tourism, which takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, is an increasingly important focus for the tourism industry, particularly in New Zealand where tourism is one of our major exports. So, as we move to a more sustainable future—what will tourism look like and what will the impact on New Zealand be?

Dr Ina Reichenberger speaks with Associate Professor Christian Schott and Associate Professor Ian Yeoman about sustainable tourism in New Zealand.

Dr Christian Schott is an Associate Professor in Tourism Management at the Wellington School of Business and Government and is an expert in sustainable tourism development, tourism’s interrelationship with climate change, and sustainable tourism education. Christian is currently leading a research-driven VR-for-sustainability project which was recently awarded the Gold Award in the highly competitive Sustainability Category at the QS-Wharton Reimagine Education Awards 2020. The same project was also awarded AACSB’s prestigious ‘Innovations that Inspire’ honour in 2018.

Associate Professor Ian Yeoman, who describes himself as a professional crystal ball gazer, is a futurologist specialising in travel and tourism. Ian learned his trade as the scenario planner for VisitScotland where he established the process of futures thinking within the organisation using a variety of techniques including economic modelling, trends analysis and scenario construction. Ian was a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management at Edinburgh Napier University and University College, Birmingham. He has extensive experience within the hospitality industry, for which he was a hotel manager with Trusthouse Forte.

Dr Ina Reichenberger is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management at the Wellington School of Business and Government. She previously taught at MCI Management Center Innsbruck in Austria after completing her PhD at VUW in 2014. Her industry experience includes tourism market research, destination development and consultancy roles in Germany. Ina's research interests centre around tourist experiences and the social aspect of tourism, with a particular focus on popular culture, value co-creation, tourism lifestyles, backpacker travel and consumer behaviour. Recent projects focus on sense of community through popular culture in a tourism context and charitable behaviour in natural conservation tourist attractions

On the 17th of March we held a webinar discussing climate change for University alumni with a focus on the US and New Zealand.

This was hosted by Dr Fraka Harmsen who is the University’s Director of Engagement in the US. Panelists Professor Tim Naish, Associate Professor Rebecca Priestley and Professor James Renwick discuss melting ice, rising seas and local and global options to halt global warming.

On Thursday 25 of February an online alumni panel discussion took place focusing on London-based entrepreneurs and the impact of the pandemic on entrepreneurship.

The University’s Alumni Regional Ambassador for London, James Clark, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrjclark/) hosted the discussion with a panel of four University alumni. Panel:

• Todd Nicolson, Founder and Director of Beer at the New Zealand Beer Collective http://www.newzealandbeer.co.uk/

• Stu McKinlay, Founder and Creative Director at Yeastie Boys https://yeastieboysuk.myshopify.com/

• Jessie Healy, Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Webtopia https://webtopia.co/

• Tubbs Wanigasekera, Founder of SACRED https://sacredcafe.co.uk/

On 21 October Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Wellington School of Business and Government, Professor Ian O. Williamson, hosted a panel event on the The pandemic trade challenge: NZ/US trade relations and COVID-19 .

He was joined by New Zealand’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Rosemary Banks, NZ Trade Commissioner and Consul-General, New York-based Hannah Lee-Darboe, and from Wellington, Chair for Pacific Region Business and former Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Professor Alan Bollard.

They discussed how the pandemic, politics, social upheaval and uncertainty are changing our interconnected economies. As well the experiences of Kiwi exporters on the ground in the U.S.?

This was recorded on 21 October 2020 via Zoom webinar for Alumni.

In advance of being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the University at the December 2020 graduation - Professor Jennifer Windsor, sat down with Elizabeth Knox.

They discussed Elizabeth's life and work including her latest novel, The Absolute Book.

This was recorded on 3 November at an alumni event in Wellington.

The Absolute Book and all of Elizabeth's other novels can be purchased at Victoria University Press -- vup.victoria.ac.nz

Content Warning: This podcast includes strong language

This was recorded at a live alumni event at The Court Theatre in Christchurch on Wednesday the 21st of October.

Professor of Theatre David O'Donnell spoke with three of the University’s theatre alumni about their roles, the impact of Covid-19 and their career highlights.

Hosted by:

Professor David O'Donnell

Panel:

- Dan Pengelly, Artistic Director, The Court Theatre

- Melanie Luckman, Co-founder and Artistic Director, Cubbin Theatre Company

- Holly Chappell-Eason, Co-Artistic Director of Two Productions and Artistic Director of Little Andromeda

On Friday 9 October we held a webinar on New Zealand’s Housing crisis.

This was part of a series of four online panel discussions delving into some of the big issues facing New Zealanders in the upcoming election.

The session was moderated by Simon Chapple.

Panelists were Mark Southcombe and Claire Achmad.

Hosted by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, you'll hear from Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project; Professor Jack Vowles, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations; and Dr Maria Bargh from Te Kawa a Māui/School of Māori Studies.

They discuss their predictions for the 2020 NZ general election. This was held as a webinar on Friday 2 October.

On Tuesday 29 September we held a webinar on the Cannabis Legislation and Control Referendum.

This was the second in a series of four online panel discussions delving into some of the big issues facing New Zealanders in the upcoming election.

The session was moderated by Professor Jonathan Boston.

Panelists were Dr Carol Shand, Emeritus Professor Peter Thirkell and Dr Jessica Young