The Teaching and Scholarship Podcast

What do comedy, public engagement, viral social media sketches and Sir Paul McCartney apparently remembering his own birth have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Dr Zara Gladman is Public & Community Engagement Manager at the University of Glasgow, where she works to help academics and researchers connect their work with wider audiences in creative, meaningful and accessible ways. In the episode, we talk about what effective public engagement actually looks like, why it matters, and how universities can build stronger connections beyond academia. Zara is also a podcaster, comedian and creator of the hugely entertaining West End Mum social media sketches, as well as co-host of The Spiralling Podcast. We talk creativity, comedy, communicating ideas, putting yourself online, public engagement, and the increasingly strange places a good conversation can go. Funny, thoughtful and gloriously off-piste, this one covers a lot of ground.

In Episode 92 we explore near-peer teaching in undergraduate medicine at the University of Glasgow. In this epiopsde I am joined by medical students Hannah and Reza, who have taken on student leadership of the near-peer teaching programme, alongside Dr Claire Fitton, academic lead for the Head, Neck and Neuro block and staff lead for the project. We chat about what near-peer teaching actually looks like in practice, why students can be such effective teachers of other students, and what learners gain from stepping into a teaching role themselves. Hannah and Reza reflect on their experiences of moving from participants to leaders of the programme, while Claire shares the staff perspective on designing, supporting and embedding student-led teaching within the medical curriculum. We also consider what makes near-peer teaching sustainable, and why it can offer much more than simply another way of delivering curriculum content. A great conversation about students as educators, partnership in curriculum delivery, and what happens when we give learners the opportunity to lead - check it out!

In this episode of the Teaching and Scholarship Podcast, I'm joined by Dr Hannah Mathers, Senior Lecturer in the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Drawing on her experience of running fieldwork and excursions with her students, we explore what this type of activity and associated residential trips can bring to higher education, how students learn through direct, lived experience, and some wider questions about teaching and pedagogy.

In episode 90 we welcome back Simon Guild to the show, who has now retired from the University of Glasgow. Simon shares his personal story and talks about how life rapidly changes as you move from a busy senior position, to full retirement. This is not a subject often talked about, but it should be, especially because academics often find it difficult to fully retire.

Episode 89 sees us leave the studio and get out and about in the department for some hot takes from NUNC 26. In this we chat to staff, students, organisers to show you what it's like on the day of NUNC!

In episode 88 we chat to students at Glasgow who have experienced some new EDI initiatives, both interms of curriculum intergration and academic culture. We chat to undergraduate students April, Eilidh and Holly about their experiences of studying within this context, and what they like and have learned from some of these newer developments. 

In the latest epiosde we chat with David Faulds and Fiona Stubbs about Employability. David is an empoyer engagement manager working alongside academics at the Univeristy of Glasgow, to help bridge the gap between academia and industry within the field of biological sciences. Fiona is a careers and employment manager, in the same area, and supports students in developing discipline specific employability skills during their degree. In this epsiode, we chat about the importance of these experiences and opportunities in modern degree programmes to ensure that students are equiped with everything they need to enter the workplace and thrive, once they graduate. Along the way we may or may not digress a little and mix in some conversation about pubs and David's love of golf! it's a fun little listen, check it out.

In this episode I chat with anatomy students Holly and Cat who both added a year to their undergraduate BSc studies to obtain an MSc. April is currently applying to the programme now and wants to know what she can expect - who is this pathway right for? Join us for the conversation. 

In this episode I have a chat with Consultant Neonatologist, Lesley Jackson and Consultant ENT/Head & Neck Surgeon, Cat Douglas. They are currently Head and Deputy Head of student support respectively, within the Glasgow Undergraduate Medical School. We chat about the importance of student support in modern higher education settings and discuss changes over the last decade or so - including greater awareness of mental health issues and openness about asking for help when it comes to welfare and welbeing. It's a great little convo, so come join us!

In this episode we chat to Professor Matthew Walters MBE, who is the Head of the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Glasgow. He is an academic physician whose clinical and research interests lie in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease. In the summer of 2026 Matthew will step down from his role as Head of School, so we take the time here to reflect a little on the highs, lows and where things are heading at the moment. We also delve into his background and youth (including an interesting rugby related story that involves him wearing a tutu!). It's an interesting conversation, so get stuck in!