University News: Here is a summary of significant articles published on ForeignAffairs.co.nz on July 1, 2025.
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Universities – Selina Tusitala Marsh appointed inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate – UoA
Source: University of Auckland (UoA) Notable New Zealand poet and academic Selina Tusitala Marsh ONZM, FRSNZ has been announced as the first Commonwealth Poet Laureate. The professor of English at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is a former New Zealand Poet Laureate and award-winning writer, known for her three collections of poetry and most […]
MIL-Evening Report: Aamir Khan’s big screen comeback, Sitaare Zameen Par, features an all-star neurodivergent cast – a Bollywood first
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication, Media and Film Studies, University of Adelaide Bharti Dubey/X Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s return to the big screen after a three-year hiatus has been far from ordinary. Sitaare Zameen Par (2025) which translates to “stars on Earth”, is the first major […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Climate change is making it harder for people to get the care they need
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Maria S. Floro, Professor Emerita of Economics, American University The world is witnessing the consequences of climate change: long-lasting changes in temperature and rainfall, and more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, flooding and drought. All make it harder for families and […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: South Africa’s 36.1% electricity price hike for 2025: why the power utility Eskom’s request is unrealistic
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Steven Matome Mathetsa, Senior Lecturer at the African Energy Leadership Centre, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand South Africa’s state-owned electricity company, Eskom, has applied to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to approve a 36.1% electricity price hike from April 2025, a 11.8% price increase […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Post-flood recovery: lessons from Germany and Nigeria on how to help people cope with loss and build resilience
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola, Senior Research Associate, United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), United Nations University Extreme climate events — floods, droughts and heatwaves — are not just becoming more frequent; they are also more severe. It’s important to understand how communities can recover […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: New discoveries: three tiny species added to South Africa’s spectacular marine life
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Jannes Landschoff, Marine biologist at Sea Change and Research Associate at Stellenbosch University’s Department of Botany and Zoology., Stellenbosch University South Africa’s marine realm is globally unique because of the two major ocean currents that meet here. The cold, slow-moving Benguela and the warm, fast-flowing Agulhas currents create […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Discovery of a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age settlement in Morocco rewrites history
Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Hamza Benattia, Prehistory, Universitat de Barcelona A new archaeological discovery at Kach Kouch in Morocco challenges the long-held belief that the Maghreb (north-west Africa) was an empty land before the arrival of the Phoenicians from the Middle East in around 800 BCE. It reveals a much richer […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Why your holiday flight is still not being powered by sustainable aviation fuel
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Salman Ahmad, Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management, University of the West of Scotland Fahroni/Shutterstock As you wait in the departure lounge for your flight this summer, you may notice your aeroplane being pumped full of fuel ahead of takeoff. And then you may start to wonder […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: First fossil hyena tracks found in South Africa – how expert animal trackers helped
Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Charles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University “The art of tracking may well be the origin of science.” This is the departure point for a 2013 book by Louis Liebenberg, co-founder of an organisation devoted to environmental monitoring. The connection between tracking […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: African countries need more PhD graduates but students are held back by a lack of money and support
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Oluwatomilayo Omoya, Lecturer in Nursing (Teaching and Reseach), Flinders University Moyo Studio/Getty Images Over the past 15 years there’s been an increasing demand from within and outside the higher education sector for African countries to produce more PhD graduates. For this to happen, it’s important to know what’s […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: What one university’s 30-year transformation reveals about Afrikaans and language planning in South Africa
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lloyd Hill, Lecturer, Stellenbosch University Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, five of the country’s universities used Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. There were also two bilingual universities teaching in Afrikaans and English. Stellenbosch University, about 50km from Cape Town, […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Who owns digital data about you? South African legal scholar weighs up property and privacy rights
Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Donrich Thaldar, Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal alexsl In the digital economy, data is more than just information – it is an asset with immense economic and strategic value. Yet, despite its significance, a fundamental legal question remains unresolved: Can data be owned? While privacy laws worldwide focus […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Universities must teach students what freedom is – a South African course is trying to do just that
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Pedro Tabensky, Director, Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, Rhodes University A typical student wants a university degree as a ticket to a salary. For this young person, education is a journey towards “having”. And the way to complete the journey is mainly to remember, repeat or reproduce […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump’s Afrikaners are South African opportunists, not refugees: what’s behind the US move
Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand South Africans are wearily attuned to governments’ Orwellian misuse of language. After all, South Africa is a country where a one-time government passed a law (the Natives Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents Act of 1952) which […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Education in Zimbabwe has lost its value: study asks young people how they feel about that
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kristina Pikovskaia, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh Zimbabwean students and graduates are actively seeking change to the education system. AFP via Getty Images Education, especially higher education, is a step towards adulthood and a foundation for the future. But what happens when education loses its […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: 9 million Ethiopian children have been forced out of school: what the government must do
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tebeje Molla, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Deakin University More than nine million Ethiopian children are currently out of school. They are caught in the crossfire of armed conflicts, natural disasters, tribal tensions and economic hardships. In 2023, Ethiopia had a total school-aged population of 35,444,482 children, about […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Films can change the world – why universities and film schools should teach impact strategies
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Liani Maasdorp, Senior lecturer in Screen Production and Film and Television Studies, University of Cape Town When was the last time a film changed the way you saw the world? Or the way you behaved? Miners Shot Down (2014) countered mainstream media narratives to reveal how striking mine […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Here’s a way to save lives, curb traffic jams and make commutes faster and easier − ban left turns at intersections
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Vikash V. Gayah, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Penn State Research shows left turns at intersections are dangerous and slow traffic. Benjamin Rondel/The Image Bank via Getty Images More than 60% of traffic collisions at intersections involve left turns. Some U.S. cities – including San Francisco, Salt Lake […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: I analyzed more than 100 extremist manifestos: Misogyny was the common thread
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Karmvir K. Padda, Researcher and PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Waterloo Two years have passed since a 24-year-old former student walked into a gender studies classroom at the University of Waterloo and stabbed the professor and two students. The attack left the campus shaken and sparked national outrage. […]
MIL-OSI Submissions: Why the traditional college major may be holding students back in a rapidly changing job market
Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By John Weigand, Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Interior Design, Miami University Rethinking the college major could help colleges better understand what employers and students need. Westend61/Getty Images Colleges and universities are struggling to stay afloat. The reasons are numerous: declining numbers of college-age students in much of […]