Teaching in Higher Education: Critical Conversations
A podcast that explores critical perspectives on teaching in higher education. Each episode features candid discussions with authors of articles from the journal 'Teaching in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives', addressing topics such as pedagogy, policy, theory, and academic culture. The conversations challenge conventional thinking and reimagine what university teaching can and should be.
Episodes
Getting published in TiHE - part 1
In this first episode of a new series of podcasts, Ibrar Bhatt sits down with some of the journal's Editors to go behind the scenes to explore what TiHE is really about, and giving prospective authors an honest and grounded sense of what the publication journey actually looks like.Guests:Aneta Hayes (Chief Editor)Karen Gravett (Executive Editor)Greg Misiaszek (Executive Editor)
Special Issue on Conflict, Peace & Teaching in Higher Education
In this episode, I talk with Kevin Kester about the special issue on 'Conflict, Peace & Teaching in Higher Education' which he guest edited with Greg William Misiaszek.You can read Kester and Misiaszek's editorial and the whole special issue here:https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cthe20/31/3
How does GenAI affect trust in teacher-student relationships?
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Jiahui (Jess) Luo about her article ‘How does GenAI affect trust in teacher-student relationships? Insights from students’ assessment experiences’.And you can read Jess’s article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2024.2341005?src=
Cut the bullshit: why GenAI systems are neither collaborators nor tutors
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Gene Flenady about his article ‘Cut the bullshit: why GenAI systems are neither collaborators nor tutors’ (co-authored by Robert Sparrow)You can read their article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2497263
The intellectual bankruptcy of anti-AI academic alarmism
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Daniel Plate about his article ‘The intellectual bankruptcy of anti-AI academic alarmism: a rebuttal’ (co-authored by James Hutson)You can read their article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2562594
Assessment as pedagogy: inviting authenticity through relationality, vulnerability and wonder
In this episode Ibrar Bhatt talks to Claire Timperley (Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand) about her article 'Assessment as pedagogy'. Claire advocates an alternative approach to assessment where authenticity signifies meaningful learning outside the confines of the classroom.You can read Claire's article here: https://www.tandfonline.co
The critique of culture: A Chinese hermeneutics for teaching the humanities
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Shuchen Xiang about her article ‘Problematizing the critique of culture: an alternative Chinese hermeneutics for teaching the humanities’. Xiang argues that in the humanities, there is a pervasive tendency to view criticality in terms of the deconstruction of normative socio-cultural relationships, especially in traditional, non-western cultures. In contrast
Gaza: an indictment of critical philosophy
In this episode Ibrar Bhatt speaks to Alison MacKenzie about her article titled 'Gaza: an indictment of critical philosophy'.You can read Alison's article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2502382?src=exp-la
Student silence as voice
In this episode Ibrar Bhatt speaks to Carla Briffett-Aktaş about the role of student silence for criticality.You can read Carla's article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2449650
Rethinking critical thinking in the dawn of dark times: the role of Greco-Roman philosophies
In this episode Ibrar Bhatt speaks to Yulong Li about the role of Greco-Roman philosophies in mediating the thought processes necessary for criticality.You can read Yulong’s article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2449640
Critique and 'Qi' as onto-epistemology
In this episode Ibrar Bhatt speaks to Jialei Jiang about how Qi onto-epistemology, rooted in Chinese philosophical and aesthetic traditions, can decolonise critique in higher education by challenging Eurocentric conceptions of rational, self-sufficient subjects. You can read Jialei's article here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2465999
Habermas as an ethnic thinker
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Irfan Ahmad about his article ‘Habermas as an ethnic thinker Par Excellence: on critique, Palestine and the role of intellectuals’. While Habermas is often regarded as a philosopher of universalism and critical rationality, Irfan challenges this view, arguing that Habermas is, in fact, an ethnic thinker. His approach to critique and universalism operates uni
Islam, coloniality, and the pedagogy of cognitive liberation
In the episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Joseph Lumbard about Eurocentric intellectual dominance within the academic study of Islam in higher education. Such imbalance, both in the West and in Muslim communities, discourages critical heuristic engagement with the rich intellectual heritage of Islam. This is a missed opportunity, as Islamic intellectual traditions, particularly in metaphysics and the
Critique as a means of Jiaohua (Cultivation): insights from Confucianism
In this episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks to Canglong Wang about critique as a means of 'jiaohua', or 'cultivation', in the Chinese philosophical tradition. Critique in Confucianism is not merely a challenge directed at external individuals or society; rather, it is viewed as a personal moral and social responsibility. Canglong draws on fieldwork conducted in Confucian schools to demonstr
A critical practice for contemporary times
In this podcast, Ibrar Bhatt speaks to Karen Gravett about her article ‘A critical practice for contemporary times’. Karen suggests that there is a need to re-examine critical theorising in contemporary higher education, where critique is at risk of becoming stale, meaningless, even harmful. She proposes a move towards critical practice. Rather than critique being a cognitive individualised proces
Criticality and Ecopedagogy
In the episode, Ibrar Bhatt talks with Greg Misiaszek about criticality for environmentalism and ecopedagogy.His article in the journal is available here:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2025.2465997
