For those who might not have come across them before I wanted to highlight these two podcasts I’ve been doing for a while now.

My Imaginary University

The more recent of these is My Imaginary University in which a notable sector figure is asked to create and describe their ideal imaginary university. My Imaginary University is a sort of Desert Island Universities concept but without the desert island, the music, the book or the luxury. 

Will their imaginary university be a bit Christminster, rather Rummidge-like or more in the Manchester Medlock mould? You’ll have to listen to find out. And to discover what kind of VC our guest will be and what their university’s anthem is. Here are a couple of examples which give you a flavour of the kind of impressive creations people have come up with, in this case universities created by sector legal legend Smita Jamdar of Shakespeare Martineau and Alex Usher, international HE consultant:

University Registrars (and Others) Talking About Stuff

Now into a second season this is a series of podcasts in which, as the title strongly suggests, two Registrars (or similar) talk about higher ed stuff. I like to think the podcast has a lot to offer for everyone working in universities and colleges.

As we all know, higher education is a wonderful and frightening world and university Registrars have much to say about most of it. Across the 50 episodes in Season 1 and into Season 2 there is much to enjoy and learn from a wide range of sector leaders in the UK and beyond. Here are a couple of the most listened to examples featuring Professor Chris Husbands, until recently the VC of Sheffield Hallam University, and Lucinda Parr, Registrar and Secretary at the University of Bristol:

You can also find the very latest one, in which I talk to a recently retired academic colleague about his life in research, teaching and music, here:

There are plenty more examples of both My Imaginary University and University Registrars (and Others) Talking About Stuff to catch up with should you wish and there will be new ones along in due course.