GCU Common Good Podcast

Professor Bruce Wood joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about UHatch, GCU's incubator hub that provides support and mentorship for young entrepreneurs taking their first steps in business. Professor Wood reveals the key ingredients required to become a success, how UHatch ties in with the University's mission, and his burgeoning collection of guitars.

Dr Catriona Miller joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about her new book Cult TV Heroines. Dr Miller explains what we mean by "cult TV" and why she wanted to explore how women are portrayed in shows like The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files. She also talks about fandom, how representation can be increased in the televisions writers' room and the process of writing her book.

Douglas Little, GCU's Director of Estates, returns to the Common Good Podcast to look in depth at the University's Safe Return to Campus programme. Douglas goes through the various guidelines and discusses how they will be implemented when students and staff are back on campus later in the month.

Law lecturer Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about social justice and how it underpins everything our law students are taught at the University. Seonaid also discusses her background in industry and her move into academia, GCU's celebrated Law Clinic and the new GCU Law Podcast.

Dr Romana Ramzan joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about video games and how different religions and genders are represented within the medium. Dr Ramzan also talks about how she got into video games as a child, her experiences in industry and academia and her passion for encouraging young girls into pursuing video games as a career.

Dr Patrick Ring joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to look at the UK Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic through the context of risk management. Dr Ring talks about resilience and why some governments performed better than others, before looking at businesses, society and whether or not people have become their own risk managers.

Dr Ben McConville, the head of GCU's journalism department, joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about the future of the industry. Looking back over his long career working at regional and national titles, as well as a spell in New York, Dr McConville analyses how much journalism has changed over the past three decades and where it goes next.

Dr Christine Hazelton joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about her research into the links between people who have experienced stroke and eyesight problems. Dr Hazelton discusses her background as an optometrist, why she pursued a career in academia and her recent grant from the Stroke Association to study this area.

Dr Christopher Hand returns to the Common Good Podcast, four months after his last appearance, to look back over the lockdown period and examine the psychological effects it might have had on the British public. Dr Hand touches on the phenomenon of "online shaming", the knock-on effects of Dominic Cummings' trip to Durham, conspiracy theories and why some people are unwilling to wear masks in publ...

Stuart Martin, a Senior Student Communications and Events Officer, joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about how the GCU has kept in touch with its students over the past four months. Stuart discusses the best methods in communicating with students, how the pandemic has effected the way he works, the various campaigns he and his team have been involved in, and how they help...

Christina Kelly joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about the support GCU offers its student carers. Christina, a Student Wellbeing Officer, defines what we mean by the term "student carer" and discusses the difficulties they might face during their time at university, as well as debunking any myths and misconceptions surrounding them. She also tells us why GCU received a G...

Glasgow Caledonian University is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health. Professor Rachel Baker, Director of the Yunus Centre, is joined by Professor Pamela Gillies CBE FRSE, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of GCU, and Professor Cam Donaldson, Yunus Chair, to chart the last 10 years and discuss the Centre's beginnings, its research and its impact, and wha...

Rose Cawood, a Social Innovation Manager at GCU, joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about her work into research, innovation and enterprise at the University. Rose provides a broad definition of social innovation and explains how it ties in with our motto as "the University for the Common Good". She talks about the projects she and her team have been involved in and the challenges brought about...

How will we physically distance in our gyms? Will we be able to exercise as normal? And can we still use the changing rooms? Kathleen Campbell, manager of the ARC at Glasgow Caledonian University, joins the Common Good Podcast to about the reopening of our gym and steps required to make sure it's safe for use. Kathleen also talks about online exercise classes and how to maintain a positive mindset...

Robotic devices like Amazon's Alexa are becoming increasingly prevalent in our households - they help us organise our lives and can sometimes indulge us in conversation - but will there come a point when these machines can put us in touch with God? And can they ever achieve their own sense of spirituality? Professor Mike Mannion joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about his research into artific...

Dr Lesley Holdsworth is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at GCU and the Clinical Lead for Digital Health and Care with the Scottish Government. She joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about how she successfully mobilised two-thirds of Scotland's clinical working staff to work remotely using Microsoft Teams, and got 70,000 carrying out remote consultations during the coron...

GCU's Director of Estates, Douglas Little, joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about how he and his team have maintained the University campus during the lockdown. Douglas talks about the day-to-day challenges he's faced, the steps involved in re-opening the campus and what social distancing will look like and how it will be implemented.

Alan O'Neill, Glasgow Caledonian University's Director of IT, joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about how he and his team successfully transitioned GCU to remote learning and teaching at the start of the lockdown. Alan talks about how quickly the IT department reacted to the coronavirus pandemic, how they tackled any issues and what the future holds for working from home.

Chris Dolan, Leader of GCU's MA TV Fiction Writing Programme, joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about the rapid evolution of television over the past 20 years. He discusses how consumers have moved away from "appointment" TV to bingeing boxsets and streaming services. Chris also looks at how changing technology has played its part in dictating how we behave as well as the...

Professor John McKendrick joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to talk about his research into poverty. He gives a definition of the term and examines its prevalence in modern Scottish society, before looking at how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the situation for people living in poverty. Professor McKendrick also speaks about research conducted by the Scottish Poverty an...

Ben Parkinson from the Department of Nursing and Community Health joins the latest episode of the Common Good Podcast to discuss how stroke survivors can benefit from mindfulness. Ben talks about how mindfulness helps the community deal with stress and anxiety and whether or not it can be used by families in lockdown.

Scotland's drug problem has become a "public health emergency", with 2018 seeing the highest number of drug-related deaths ever recorded in the country. Kirsten Trayner, a PhD researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University, joins the Common Good Podcast to discuss the crisis, outlining the prevalence of drugs in Scotland, particularly in Glasgow, as well as the rise in numbers of people who inject dr...

Eilidh Fulton, the GCU Students' Association Student President, joins the Common Good Podcast to talk about her role in guiding the University through the coronavirus crisis. She discusses the challenges the student community have faced over the past six weeks and how she and her team have provided support. Eilidh goes on to talk about what motivated her to get involved with student politics and h...

Professor Cam Donaldson, Glasgow Caledonian University's Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), joins the Common Good Podcast to explore the discipline of health economics. He examines it within the context of the current coronavirus pandemic and explains why health professionals make the decisions they do in terms of testing and treatment. Professor Donaldson also discuss how he and GCU's Executive Boar...

The latest episode of the Common Good Podcast stars Sebastien Chastin, a Professor of Health Behaviour Dynamics at Glasgow Caledonian University, who talks about the best ways to stay physically active in the current climate. Professor Chastin also talks about the best way to break sitting behaviours at work and the importance of getting a good night's sleep.