Dual Degree DYNAMITE

Sometimes, extraordinary innovation is hiding in plain sight. It's one of the reasons I love the Australian International Education Conference (AIEC) so much - it's the opportunity to discover countless ingenius projects, initiatives and approaches... all under one roof. And today's episode features one of my favourite discoveries of the 2023 conference: the dual degree arrangement between Edith Cowan University and the University of Portsmouth in the UK. But WAIT... before you tune out and say "Aw, dual degrees aren't relevant to me", I say, "Hold your horses cowboy! Thar be gold in them there hills!" (Sorry, I'm not quite sure what just happened there... at least you can be sure that this description wasn't written by ChatGPT 😂) In this conversation I'm joined by Simon Davies-Burrows (ECU) and Neil Weston (Portsmouth) to dig deep into the details of the collaboration between their institutions. And I've gotta say, it's THE BEST example of dual degrees that I've seen in 20+ years in international ed, and an extraordinary example of institutional collaboration that is relevant to everyone in our field. I guarantee you're going to find some nuggets in here! We start at the very top (i.e. What's a Dual Degree and how do they work?) and get deep into the nitty gritty of how international educators might leverage these for learning abroad, recruitment and international engagement. This episode was recorded live on Kaurna Country at the Australian International Education Conference in Adelaide, September 2023. Simon and Neil are two fine gentlemen who are extremely generous with their knowledge... so much so that I even forgave Simon for kicking my butt in the Tony Adams Fun Run at the 2012 AIEC conference in Melbourne... what can I say, the pain of that defeat ran deep. But I digress! Without further ado, enjoy this revealing, educational and tactical conversation with Simon Davies-Burrows and Neil Weston.