S1 Ep5: Episode 5: Animals, student protests and community impact

University Registrars Talking About Stuff

Episode 5 in the series of podcasts featuring two university Registrars talking about higher ed stuff. Dave Hall of the Open University and Dr Paul Greatrix of the University of Nottingham talk through a number of areas of university life including the challenging issues around supporting animal research, student protests and occupations and the impact that students can have on the local community.

We look at the difficulties associated with building a new animal research facility, the desire of universities to be more open about the research they conduct involving animals and the benefits this brings together with the need to engage with those holding very different views. Protests on campus are often student led and these can be very challenging as with the example of student objections to a particular sculpture results in an expletive utterance directed at the Registrar by the protestors. Oops. Having explored why students are not snowflakes and the success of major student led campaigns around sexual violence and harassment and decolonisation the issues of student impact on local communities are also considered. University life in all its rich and diverse glory.