How Australian universities will fare in a post pandemic world depends on an influential but rarely talked about relationship.

This is the relationship between the state, its institutions, and the public: what’s often referred to as “the social contract”.

The social contract universities had when COVID-19 erupted, was one that patched together a variety of largely unstated hopes and expectations and this has enormous consequences for where we find ourselves today.

What is the new social contract for Australian universities in the 21st century and how did we arrive at this place?

This podcast is hosted by Associate Professor Tamson Pietsch and produced by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney.

Episode One Guests:

Dr. Hannah Forsyth, Senior Lecturer in history at the Australian Catholic University

Dr James Waghorne, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne

For show notes and transcripts visit: https://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-community/initiatives/impact-studios/projects/new-social-contract-podcast

News grabs in the trailer feature the voices of:

Alison Barnes, National President of the NTEU on Sky News ‘Govt university package all 'smoke and mirrors'.

Lisa Jackson Pulver, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney on the ABC, Education in the Age of Covid-19, Q+A.

Professor Des Manderson interdisciplinary scholar, (ANU) on Radio National Big Ideas ‘The purpose and future of the university (part two)’ - a broadcast version of an event presented by the ANU College of Law and the ANU Centre for Law, Arts & the Humanities, that was curated and facilitated by Natasha Cica of Kapacity.org at the National Library of Australia on 17 March 2020.

Professor Claire Macken Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching College of Business and Law at RMIT University on the KMPG podcast series, Talking Tertiary.

Mark Scott, Head of the New South Wales Education Department, on the ABC, Education in the Age of Covid-19, Q+A.

Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, on the ABC, 7.30 Report, 16 April 2020.