At the August 30 video-conference, the NITRO-Oceania Executive:
* signed off on the agenda and report for the NITRO-Oceania annual business meeting on Tuesday September 21 from 11am to 12.30 AEST. It will be co-chaired by Iain Gordon and Gabriele Bammer.
* debriefed on the online seminar by Erin Leahey (University of Arizona) on August 23, 2021, 12-1pm AEDT “Universities’ commitment to interdisciplinary research: Some causes and consequences.” There were 46 attendees and Rachel Parker was commended on her chairing of the seminar. A recording of the seminar is now also available – see https://nitro-oceania.net/activities/seminars/.
* discussed potential speakers for future seminars.
* discussed how NITRO-Oceania could strengthen its activities to benefit Indigenous peoples, including recognising indigenous knowledge.
* noted that four new members had joined NITRO-Oceania (Anna Peeters, Mindy Blaise, Pierre Horwitz, Paul Arbon) – see https://nitro-oceania.net/members/
* discussed whether and how to engage in discussions about whether or not interdisciplinarity is underpinned by a short-term instrumentality, the relationship between disciplinary ‘knowledge’ and ‘methods’ on the one hand and interdisciplinarity on the other, and what it is to be a university especially the nature and practices of university leadership.