• Narrating the pandemic: COVID-19 as a feature of Turkey’s political landscape

    Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 2018 presidential election victory appeared to seal his party’s domination over Turkey’s politics until the end of his term in 2023, or even 2028. Since this victory however, he has presided over an ailing economy. The Turkish lira has plummeted, foreign reserves have shrunk as the Central bank intervened to stabilise the…

  • Art, Music and Death Amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic:

    Musings on Julio Nakpil’s “Deus Omnipotens et Misericors (Requiescat et pace), Marcha Funebre” (1943) The Research Center for Culture, Arts and Humanities of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, was in the middle of retrieving and publishing the works of the Filipino composer Julio Nakpil (1867-1960) when we were locked down by the pandemic. Manila…

  • Caught in the middle? Italy and China after COVID-19

    If we look only at trade figures, Sino-Italian relations might not be considered worth our attention. In fact, they are very lop-sided. For Italy, China is not a significant partner, accounting for 3.4% of exports and 7.2% of imports. For China, Italy is even less important, representing less than 1% of both imports and exports.…

  • Covid-19 and Nigeria

    Nigeria confirmed their first COVID-19 case on 27th February and since then Nigeria’s centre for disease control has been the leading institution for reporting and tackling the pandemic. By June 2020, there were 22,020 cases and 542 deaths recorded. Nigerians have to adapt to a new reality, after initially only hearing the news via media platforms…

  • A New Cold War? Can we maintain good academic relationships with China post Covid-19?

    As a social scientist working in the field of Chinese politics, I note with interest the speed with which perceptions of China changed these last months. A Cold War mentality is detectable. We hear from many parts of the world that China’s rise as a superpower is a challenge to the status quo. Politicians and…

  • Computer Says ‘No’: Digital Resistance and Online delivery in Tasmania

    As Covid-19 spread rapidly throughout the world, the Australian university year was just beginning. Student introductions had been made, course material had been outlined, but deep learning had not been initiated. As swiftly as Covid-19 took hold, so did the need for Australian academics to restructure their courses from on-campus to online delivery, while attempting…

  • “In times of trouble the wise built a bridge and the fool a dam” a Nigerian proverb.

    The COVID-19 pandemic and its ripple effects became real in South Africa with lock down at the end of March 2020. No one, not the most prepared, respected or skilled lecturer, could have prepared for what was to come.  Initially, we higher education lecturers, waited patiently for the government and Minister of Higher Education to…

  • A View from Tasmania: Has the pandemic influenced health and health behaviour?

    Over the past four months humankind has endured a combination of forced challenges and changes that few in history have experienced. Underlying the need for these constraints is arguably the cornerstone to our existence – health. Amongst all the uncertainty, unpredictability, panic, and novelty that has become part of a newfound daily routine for many,…

  • Observing Different Worlds: Action Research and the Musical Learning Community

    Just as the COVID-19 pandemic began five members of the Action Research Network of the Americas established a foundation. The Musical Learning Action Research Community was approved. A month later, we had a fortunate encounter with another member working from Java, Indonesia, and now this action research community is working on 16 different projects to…

  • A View from China: Will COVID-19 Change the Way We Teach?

    Isolating at home has become the norm, in what feels like an ultra-long winter vacation! The Chinese Ministry of Education has decreed that “classes will be suspended, without school suspension” and so, like the rest of the world, we have had to turn to the webcast. Webcast teaching has a number of advantages. It provides…

  • Coping During the Current Global Pandemic: A View from Australia

    The current COVID pandemic has hit us all both professionally and personally. Personally, I am very relaxed and easy-going person who manages stress in my work and personal life easily through a combination of regular exercise, prioritizing, and controlling what I can control and not worrying about what I cannot control. The current pandemic is…

  • The Asian Century is Underway – but will Universities in the West lose out?

    UK universities suffer worst-ever rankings in world league table while Asian institutions rise. Sure, we can blame a lot on a nasty virus, but truth is we all know this has been building up for some time. If you are surprised that the Asian Century is now well and truly underway then frankly you’ve not…

  • Tip of the iceberg: COVID-19 and the welfare state in Israel

    It is probably known to most readers of this column that Israel is home to an existential conflict between national-ethnic groups. This conflict is often manifest in clashes between narratives on how Israel was established, and the history of the very land upon which it sits. Yet, few realize how polarized the discourse among Israelis…

  • Seeking International Perspectives on a Global Pandemic

    Over the last few months, ISR has attempted to capture the EHU view of the pandemic. This proved to be wide-ranging, thought provoking and at times, challenging. Yet a pandemic is by its very nature a global, or at a least trans-boundary phenomenon. We have seen many countries attempt to deal with the pandemic in…

  • To the Moon and Back: Summing up the ISR/EHU Covid-19 Blog

    When we had the idea to ISR blog in the week after lockdown in late March, we could not have imagined that it would have such resonance. Since the start of April we have had nearly 50 posts, charting our immediate response as an academic community to a once in a 100-year event. In receiving,…

  • Staging Apocalypse: Endgame, by Samuel Beckett

    HAMM: This is not much fun. But that’s always the way at the end of the day, isn’t it, Clov? CLOV: Always. HAMM: It’s the end of the day like any other day, isn’t it, Clov? CLOV: Looks like it. HAMM (anguished): What’s happening, what’s happening? CLOV: Something is taking its course. Samuel Beckett’s Endgame…

  • Returning to ‘normal’: Better or Worse for those with special need and/or disabilities?

    In uncertain times, it is unsurprising that evoking the idea of ‘normal’ provides a source of comfort. ‘Normal’ implies a predictability and coherence that many of us crave. Both a return to the ‘old’ normal and a re-imagining of a ‘new’ normal are presented as potential reassurances of a more familiar and comprehensible future. It…

  • Covid-19: Liberation from the Clock (for some)

    The development of electronic communications over the past few years has made home working a possibility for many of us, the current Covid-19 pandemic has made it compulsory for even more of us. If we set aside the pressures of social isolation, this is a development that could have many benefits. In the early days…

  • Listen up! Schools have always been much more than places for Education

    As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, schools in England have radically shifted form. After temporarily closing for the majority of children, they have remained open for some. The sector is in the midst of planning how to bring more children on site safely. Alongside this, extraordinary attempts have been made to sustain relationships with…

  • Experts at Bereavement?

    Following a series of family bereavements;  including my father, mother and only brother over a 2 year period, my elder daughter responded very positively when I said she was coping very well.  ‘Dad’, she said, ‘we have become experts at bereavement!’ Notwithstanding, I required counselling having been devastated by my losses; she is now a…